It's winter in Alaska. I've been enjoying my first trading exploits but the weather has me wondering when I'll have to shut down for the season. Here's my specific situation: I always ship USPS because of the cost. I never have packages dropped at my door (where they would most likely freeze if left all day). I pick up all my boxes at the [temperature controlled] post office. After a box lands at the airport in Anchorage, it generally makes it to the Anchorage distribution center and then to my local post office within hours. It's probably wishful thinking, but I'm hoping that a package wouldn't be exposed to the elements long enough to freeze. Maybe some other northerners can chime in on this one.
Northern Minnesota here. Worry not, your beer isn't going to freeze this early in the year. And even on the coldest days, a couple of hours from airport to post office isn't going to hurt anything.
This is more or less what I was thinking. Maybe if there's a freak blizzard and the cargo sits on the tarmac for a while... You would think that liquid cargo is shipped all the time and that the cold weather operators know that they can't store this kind of freight in the elements for too long.
Lots of discussion on this topic over the years. There are multiple links in this thread: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/shipping-during-winter-months.131337/ Yes, your beer will freeze & break under the wrong conditions. I hate to say, but if I were in Alaska, I'd shut it down from December through February at a bare minimum. My personal rule is not shipping if it's going to be 10 degrees or less on the route to or from. Using this rule of thumb I've only had one frozen beer break in over 300+ trades over many years. Below zero? Don't do it. The risk skyrockets.
I agree with you for the most part. However, if you are absolutely in need of a beer mail over winter, it's do-able. Ship express overnight or two-day and there's a very strong chance your package won't see much more than a half hour or so of the extreme cold. Sort facilities are heated (though not always able to keep bay doors closed) as are cargo planes. The only time your box sees the outside elements is when it's on its way from building to plane, vice versa, or out for delivery. The latter of those is the biggest risk but that's easily circumvented by having it held for pickup instead of having it sent out for delivery. The way overnight shipping from FedEx and UPS is structured makes it very possible. Expensive as all hell, but possible.
I had a crowler that froze solid when I forgot I put it in the freezer to chill. I stuck it in the fridge and it thawed. Tasted perfectly fine. So as long as it doesn't freeze enough to to break the container, I wouldn't worry about it
There are two problems with frozen beer...The loss of good beer...And getting caught shipping beer. It doesn't happen often, but several people were caught & subsequently tagged. They then struggled with apprehended shipments, both to & from, that were returned, or worse, seized & disposed of. I err on the side of extreme caution, particularly when shipping low abv beers. I prefer overnight lows that are high 20s or low 30s. Iowa winters are capricious as hell. Illinois, Wisconsin & Nebraska aren't much better. Minnesota is worse.
