Science question? Will beer chill faster in an empty fridge or a full fridge?

Depends on the fridge and it's temperature setting. Your refrigerator is set to a certain temperature. It will always stay that temperature. If putting beer in the fridge raises that temperature, the compressor will kick on and lower that temperature back down to its setting. If one fridge is set lower than the other, the beer will get cooler faster. A bit of trivia for you: The way a refrigerator works, it doesn't create cold air. Rather, it removes the warm air. The coils inside the refrigerator allow the refrigerant gas to absorb heat, making the inside of the refrigerator cold. It doesn't actually make cold air..

A full fridge or freezer operates more efficiently that a less full one, but that has nothing to do with the time it takes to chill items. If both fridges are set to the same temperature, they'll chill the beer at the same rate. If you want to chill your beer faster put it in an ice water bath. Water is much denser than the air in your fridge, and will put a cold one in your hand much faster.

You got me, we put ours in the freezer to speed chill....

Your husband is a wise man [he married you, didn't he?] AND a wizard, so who am I to argue with him! ;) But here's what I think, the fridge works by circulating cold air in the box/heat exchange; when you open your empty fridge's door to put in your beer you replace a large amount of cold air with room temp air which the fridge must subsequently work to cool down. A full fridge has less room, for room-temperature air to replace the cold/cooler air. ... It's also important where in your fridge you'll place the beer (i.e. top shelves or lower shelves). And then there is the matter of energy consumption in a full fridge vs. an empty fridge. In reality, though, my guess is that it will all come out in the wash, so-to-speak, as long as [we are talking about the same fridge model and temp settings and] you don't keep opening the door. Your best bet, though, is to put the beer in the freezer compartment of the fridge for 15 minutes or so; if cooling it fast [in the fridge/freezer, that is] is your main objective. Cheers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cueB7j4ZGrM .

chill faster in a full fridge for sure food and other liquids in the fridge are banks of cold energy... the more there is, the faster the warm beer will equalize with all the surrounding food & drink, causing them to increase slightly in temperature, but the beer will chill much faster.

if it's been running for more than 24 hours, it really doesn't matter. really. it's still the same temperature in the fridge whether it's full or not. i work on all kinds of appliances, including refrigerators. the temperature is regulated by measuring the air temperature inside the box. the stuff inside is cold because of this. it has almost zero effect on chilling your beer. when trying to make a warm beer cold, you should take a baking pan and fill it with ice water, and then lay the beer can or bottle in it sideways and spin it. easier with a can, but possible with a bottle if you use a deep enough dish.

A full fridge gets and stays cooler faster & longer. However, let him put his beer in the extra (empty fridge) in the mudroom, it’ll leave more room for your boxes of wine. (that's how I got my ol’man’s beer out of MY refrigerator)

True. It requires air flow to remove the heat (energy) from the beer. Air will flow faster in an empty fridge. However, it might be too small a difference to be worth arguing over.

It's the same either way, each item gets the same temperature to it :) if you want it to get cooler you could 1) turn the temp up or 2) stick it in the frezzer for a short time.