I am flying up to Connecticut and then renting a car to drive to Vermont and then shipping my haul home via Fed Ex, so my question is what is the best method for shippers to make sure they are kept as warm as possible? Thanks for the responses and suggestions!
Use an internal heating source otherwise there is nothing you can do to keep things warm. Although I suppose if you use styrofoam you may be able to slow down temperature changes and hope the bottles don't sit out in the cold too long. I doubt that will do enough though.
Extreme hand warmers are about only thing I can think of. Styro shippers can't have shit for R value. Though I suppose better than without. Never seen multi-day hand warmers though.
Buy an extra luggage, pack it like you would a fedex box and pay the extra fee to fly it with you? The extra $20-30 that you pay for it to fly with you should give you alot more peace of mind
Just buy a styro shipper or 2 and check them on the plane. Might cost a few bucks more in the long run, but you shouldn't need to worry about the temps, just the TSA.
I've flown and checked in beer and wine in winter from Germany. Didn't have a single problem, saved money and didn't worry about anything freezing. It'll be easier in the US that you don't gotta declare anything with customs. Just check it in, fly and get it. It won't freeze that way
The short answer it doesn't much matter what shipper you use, because unless you include a heat source inside it, the container itself is going to have a negligible effect on keeping the beer warm. The longer answer that you probably don't want to hear is that you absolutely should not be shipping any beer out of Vermont this time of year. It regularly gets below 10 degrees at night (and often not much better in the day), which is more than enough to turn your beer bottles into ice bombs. You're simply asking for a problem if you hand that over to Fedex. Bring an extra suitcase and only purchase what you can carry with you.
Anyone heard of the impending merger between Fedex and UPS ? The new company will be called FedUp Barump bump bump !!
I'd say early April... http://vermont.stateguidesusa.com/a...the-average-monthly-temperatures-in-vermont?/
The only issue is that Im not sure when I will have the chance to be in Vermont again so I am planning on purchasing a big hall and airlines only allow two checked bags, 1 of which will be for my personal belongings. Looks like I'm in trouble.
Get as big a carry on as possible. Take as much of your personal belongings in there, fold your clothes to take up the least amount of space possible.
Any serious backpacker knows that it's 10 degrees warmer inside your tent if you have a good rain fly. Do you have a tent?
Take the largest carry on that you have. Fill carry on with barest of essentials. Upon arrival, visit nearest Goodwill/thrift store and buy clothes. Also buy largest suitcases you can find at above store. At the end of the trip, donate all the clothes and fill the suitcases with beer.
Might make more sense to ship clothes back then to buy more. That way you have more room in your checked bags.
Correct me if I am wrong, which I probably am, but if a coolers job is to keep cold things inside of it cold by keeping heat out and retaining the cold within, wouldn't that also mean if you put something in a cooler at room temp it would keep the cold out as well? If my thinking is true I'd go for a cooler inside a box. *And not a cheap $3 styro beach cooler, a real one.
Thanks. I'm headed there in mid-March, although I can ship back from Boston instead, which is hopefully a few degrees warmer.
Purchase only >10% beer to eliminate the freezing problem. (That's the only good stuff that comes from there anyway, no? )
It will keep the cold out for a period of time. How lnog? Depends on how well the box is sealed and how thick the insulation is. But still, eventually all of the contents inside the cooler will reach the same temperature as the surrounding environment. And I would also add that it will likely happen in just a few hours.
You'd only slow the freezing process down a bit. Ultimately the temp inside is going to reach close to the temp outside. Think of how you put ice in a cooler in the summer and it melts. Or coffee in a thermos eventually goes cold. Insulation only goes so far without a heat source inside it. And this process will happen over hours, not the days it requires to ship.
I agree; while not cheap, I bet a Yeti Cooler would do the job. Especially if you made sure the cooler/beer were warm when you sealed the cooler. Maybe even throw a few hand warmers in there.
