So What is the Coldest beer fridge?

I decided to buy a mini beer fridge and went a little nuts doing research. You know how it goes. A simple – hey let me go buy a cooler – turns into – whoah, total confusion. Next thing you know you’re reading dozens of reviews on Amazon and end up more confused then you started. An hour later you give up. Since I already suffered through all that I figured I’d save you the hassle.

Coldest beer fridge from each category

You can see the categories over on the left. There are a bunch of notes below on all the different aspects of these beer coolers also known as mini fridges. I didn’t find fridges made specifically for beer. So these are just fridges. You can see the criteria I used to make my choices below.

And the winner is: The coldest beer fridge – The mini beer refrigerator I purchased

I choose this mini beer fridge because it has a very good capacity and was the only one I found that would get down to 29F-32F and stay there. It actually has beer froster in the name. It really does keep temperatures down to 32F.

• Pro: Cold. Holds temperature down to 29F-32F.
• Pro: Cold enough to slightly frost beer glasses
• Pro: Capacity is great. I can hold 38 bottles with room left for a few beer glasses.
• Con Reviews: Reviews are not great. Some reviewers claim it breaks down. I’ve had it for 2 years now and it still working perfectly.
• Con Noise: Other say it is loud. I do not have anything to compare it to so it is hard to say. We have it in our dining room and it doesn’t bother us.

SPT BF-314U Stainless Steel Under-Counter Beer Froster

$602.41

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08/08/2023 02:15 am GMT

Criteria: What makes a good beer cooler?

First. let’s set up some criteria. I figure you want the cooler to cool beer down to 37 degrees. To hold that temp I am looking for fridges that can go down to 32F so I can have a little extra cooling power to adjust for ambient temperature. Whether or not you actually keep all your beer at that temp is up for debate. But if your buying a fridge just for cooling beer chances are you want it to go down that far. I know I do. Second, how much beer can it store? I prefer to keep my beer upright. So I’ll do my best to estimate how much these fridges can hold. More beer = better.

What is the best beer fridge in terms of capacity?
How many beer bottles can the fridge hold?

Stay away from fridges made specifically for wine. Their shelves will be grooved to hold a standard wine bottle lying down. Also, note that wire shelves will make it harder to balance the small footprint of beer bottles. All but the higher end units (which use glass shelves) use wire shelves. I’m not to concerned about this as I figure I can put some kind of flat material (like plastic lexan) on top of the wire shelves to smooth them out). If you want to store bottles upright here are the storage counts for each fridge reviewed on this page. These are my best estimates. I arrived at these by looking at pictures of each fridge, looking at dimensions etc to make a best – conservative – guess.

1. Winner at 60 Bottles Marvel ML24BCG0LS Beverage Center . It is a bit wider than most other mini beer fridges so it gets one more column of bottles in there.

What is the coldest temperature they can hold?

I know, I know. Certain types of beer should be stored no lower than 40F, even 45F. Especially Stouts. While that is true, I like my summer ales cold and crisp. Just above freezing in fact. Whether you agree with these temps or not, why not get a beer fridge that can go to lower temps and adjust higher of needed. I am also assuming that some of these fridges won’t actually cool as low as they say they will. So a lower temperature rating will help in case they don’t. OK, on to the winners. IF we are purely looking at temperatures here are the winners.

Coldest Mini Beer Fridge Winner!
As I mentioned above. This is the one I bought. It is the coldest mini beer fridge with confirmed temperatures down to 32F

Fridge Types: What are the differences?

A quick word here about this. Little did I know there is a difference. There are three terms you should now.

I reviewed countertop beer coolers and undercounter beer refrigerators separately.

Freestanding beer refrigerators

Freestanding refrigerators are units that are designed to be, well, free standing. That means manufacturers have paid more attention to the outside surfaces. Typically they are painted black or on higher end models stainless steel. These units have vents in the back or in a few cases through the side plates. A fridge that is vented in the back must have clearance. Since they are free-standing clearance isn’t an issue. However, some have used these types as under-counter fridges with success. It seems you can get away with it if you leave ample clearance. If you slide it into a cabinet just make sure there is space around it. I’d play it safe with 2-3″ an all sides. Remember, it really does affect the performance of the fridge. If you really want to build your fridge into a cabinet and have a professional appearance then go with an under-counter fridge.

Undercounter beer refrigerator or cooler

These are units that are designed to be built into cabinets. They are vented through the front of the unit. Most often the vents are on the front bottom. The sides may be unfinished or rather, plain black metal as opposed to painted with finish paint. Their sizes are sometimes designed to fit in trash compacter spaces so they are narrower. Other times they are a bit wider, think dishwasher width.

Countertop beer cooler

These are units that are designed to be built placed on countertops. That means the sides are finished and they vent in the back. Countertop fridges are usually the smallest of all three types I’ve described here. I don’t see why a freestanding refrigerator could not be placed on a countertop. Just be aware that freestanding units are typically taller so the top of the unit may end up being a bit higher then is comfortable for some people

Outdoor beer fridges

These units are different in the way they are wrapped in whatever finish material they offer. For example, front doors might be fully wrapped with stainless steel where the ss goes completely around the door to the inside. The quality of the stainless steel will be tougher. The other important factor is the wrapping in the back. Outdoor units have backs that are wrapped completely in metal. This protects the coils or other parts from rain and other outdoor elements. I did not find many consumer grade fridges specified for outdoor use. That means to get a fridge for outdoor use you’ll have to go up a level to the commercial grade. That being said, it seems you could get away with using a consumer level fridge outside. It may not last as long or keep beer as cool as you like though. Many manufacturers of consumer-grade fridges specifically say “no outdoor use” or “keep out of ambient temps above 50F” or “keep out of direct sunlight”. In the last case, the reason they give is that the vinyl isn’t rated for a hotter climate. You can find outdoor fridges that are both freestanding and under counter.

Commercial beer fridges

By commercial fridges what I really mean is home commercial. There is an official rating that determines a fridge is “commercially rated”. Many manufacturers make commercially rated fridges designed to be used under counter or freestanding home use though. Those are the ones I’ve included here. For the most part, they are priced above $500 to about $1,200. Now commercial fridges can go into the $2,000 plus range as well. We are talking large double or triple door units that you see in bars or taller height units you see in delis. I did not include those in this review.

Wine cooler refrigerator

wine cooler refrigerators are a different bread. They can reach their cooling goals with higher temperatures. You cannot use a wine cooler for beer. Well.. at least not if you like your beer really cold.

Compressor wine cooler

When choosing a wine cooler make sure you are getting one with a compressor. There are also piezo electric coolers. THey do cool but very little.

How to pick beverage cooler

If you are looking for a beverage cooler (not a beer fridge) there are many more options available. It’s a lot easier for most fridges to reach temperatures suitable for soda or other beverages. Since this is the case it means you really only need to decide the size and capacity of your beverage cooler.

All mini beer fridges reviewed

Types of cooling: Thermostatic vs compressor refrigerator cooling

It is really important to know the difference between the two cooling methods used in these refrigerators. Especially if you want an outdoor beer fridge. The two types are a compressor and thermoelectric. So here is the break down of pros and cons for both. My take on this is that a compressor is better for beer – required for a beer fridge. I want my beer cooled to 32-35 degrees. The thermoelectric fridges don’t cool larger spaces as powerfully. While many of these fridges are small, and after reading the reviews, thermoelectric just seems to wimp out more often.

Thermoelectric

Thermoelectric fridges are more energy efficient because they have less moving parts and for the same reason they are quieter and have less or no vibration. The drawback is smaller cooling capacity and they are heat sensitive. Ambient temperatures will put pressure on these units to the point where they simply can’t cool to the desired lower temps. It seems a majority of the fridges reviewed are compressor units anyway. Only some of the smaller countertop units actually use thermo method.

Compressor

Compressor fridges are powerful and have larger cooling capacities. Again, if you are looking to use this fridge outdoors compressor types are the way to go. Given their stronger power, they overcome ambient temperature pressure more easily. The downside here is that they use more energy and they are louder. The compressors, by nature, vibrate. Most fridges minimize this noise, but there are some that haven’t done a good job and have complaints about noise. Relatively speaking I doubt they are really that loud though.

Duel zones fridge

Does wifey want to put a few wine bottles in the fridge too? Argh! Alright, so this becomes an entire topic unto itself. So I did a separate [LINK] dual zone fridge review.