Why Doesn't Alcohol Freeze In The Freezer? - How It Works Magazine

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Why doesn’t alcohol freeze in the freezer?

by How It Works Team · 15/11/2014

The type of alcohol that people can drink is called ethanol and has a freezing point of -114°C, much lower than a domestic freezer can reach. However, ethanol is always mixed with water and other flavourings before being drunk and this raises the melting point.

The amount of ethanol in a drink is described as the percentage Alcohol By Volume (ABV). The freezing point of a particular drink depends mainly on the percentage of ethanol in it: the higher the percentage of alcohol the lower the freezing point.

This means it is unlikely that you could freeze vodka, gin or whiskey in a domestic freezer. Beer and wine, however, have a lower percentage of alcohol and so can sometimes be frozen. A lot depends on the freezer. Domestic freezers tend to work at around -20°C but this can vary enormously.

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