# Frozen Vodka?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** liquor-alcohol
**Created:** [September 11, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551 "2013-09-11T02:54:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/1 "2013-09-11T02:54:04Z")
I have an unopened bottle of Burnett’s Raspberry Vodka in the freezer…and it froze almost solid? Wth? It’s 70 proof. That’s not supposed to happen, is it?
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### Author:  [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/2 "2013-09-11T04:05:54Z")
Not without an unusually powerful home freezer, no.
My first guess would be that some rapscallion has cut your vodka with water as a higher water content will bring the freezing point closer to 0C. If, as you say, it’s unopened, then I would check the freezer temp. It’s possible that it’s somehow managed to dip low enough for freezing to happen.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/3 "2013-09-11T04:12:38Z")
If I’m doing the formula mentioned on [this page](http://ask.metafilter.com/14128/At-what-temperature-does-vodka-freeze') correctly (and assuming the formula is correct), it looks like the freezing point of 70 proof alcohol should be about -7F.
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### Author:  [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/4 "2013-09-11T12:20:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> If I’m doing the formula mentioned on [this page](http://ask.metafilter.com/14128/At-what-temperature-does-vodka-freeze') correctly (and assuming the formula is correct), it looks like the freezing point of 70 proof alcohol should be about -7F.
Several places recommend a freezer temperature of 0F. If the freezer temp is set just a bit lower than that, or if the vodka is placed by the cold air inlet (which delivers air quite a bit colder than the setpoint when the compressor is running), the the vodka could see temps well below -7F. So if you’re right, then the vodka certainly could freeze.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/5 "2013-09-11T12:27:24Z")
Hurry, drink it!!!
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### Author:  [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/6 "2013-09-11T13:08:09Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> if the vodka is placed by the cold air inlet (which delivers air quite a bit colder than the setpoint when the compressor is running), the the vodka could see temps well below -7F.
hmmm…that might be an interesting science experiment at school:
1. Move the vodka bottle to a different part of the freezer.
2. Write a report for your teacher on the results.
3. Offer to share the bottle with the rest of the class
Who said science is boring? 🙂
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### Author:  [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/7 "2013-09-11T15:51:20Z")
Sorry but this reminds me of the day my friend’s daughter passed away suddenly. Everyone was sitting at the house in shock. Then, very quietly, the daughter’s best friend said to my friends:
“You guys have no idea how many times she stole your vodka and replaced it with water.”
And my friends replied:
"Yes we do. _Because it froze!"_
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### Author:  [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/8 "2013-09-11T16:57:44Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> Several places recommend a freezer temperature of 0F. If the freezer temp is set just a bit lower than that, or if the vodka is placed by the cold air inlet (which delivers air quite a bit colder than the setpoint when the compressor is running), the the vodka could see temps well below -7F. So if you’re right, then the vodka certainly could freeze.
Most modern residential freezers can do a lot better than 0F. For ice cream making (where you get a smoother texture the faster it freezes), you’re supposed to set your freezer as low as it’ll go. In my case that’s -10F on the "settings indicator, or about -15F on a better thermometer. What little alcohol I keep in there is pretty much always frozen, or at least seriously slushed, at that temperature. I don’t have straight vodka, but lemoncello will definitely freeze there.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/9 "2013-09-11T17:26:43Z")
I’ve often seen half-full bottles of gin and vodka slush up in the freezer, presumably because they get diluted by moisture in the air from the ullage\*. So the freezing point must not be very much lower than the normal temp of the freezer.
\*It’s a word. look it up.
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### Author:  [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/10 "2013-09-12T02:55:09Z")
Oddly, I can still scoop the ice cream from the container right next to the vodka. I wonder if I should return the frozen bottle to the liquor store and ask WTF?
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/11 "2013-09-12T03:01:13Z")
Do you have a thermometer with which you can check the temperature of the freezer?
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### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2013, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/12 "2013-09-12T05:30:21Z")
[moderating]
Since this is drink-related, I moved the thread from General Questions to Cafe Society.
[/moderating]
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### Author:  [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2013, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/frozen-vodka/668551/13 "2013-09-12T05:49:41Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#):
>
> Sorry but this reminds me of the day my friend’s daughter passed away suddenly. Everyone was sitting at the house in shock. Then, very quietly, the daughter’s best friend said to my friends:
>
> “You guys have no idea how many times she stole your vodka and replaced it with water.”
>
> And my friends replied:
>
> "Yes we do. _Because it froze!"_
I was going to ask if you had teens in the house, and just how certain are you that it is still unopened?