US Military Tested the Effects of a Nuclear Holocaust On Beer

pigrabbitbear writes "Is bottled beer nuclear bombproof? The United States government conducted a couple tests in the 1950s to find out—it exploded nuclear bombs with 'packaged commercial beverages' deposited at varying distances from the blast center to see if beer and soda would be safe to drink afterwards. The finding? Yep, surviving bottled and canned drinks can be consumed in the event of a nuclear holocaust, without major health risks."

Aha! so that's what Indiana Jones was doing...

[xevioso]

in the refrigerator. Searching for beer!

Re:But what about Nuka Cola?

[myowntrueself]

Too bad they didn't test Nuka Cola as well.

This is how you MAKE Nuka Cola.

Re:Waste of money

[Anonymous Coward]

Were you paying taxes in 1955?

Fallout

[iive]

Who would want normal beer, when you can drink Nuka-Cola. Keep the caps.

Re:Aha! so that's what Indiana Jones was doing...

[Razgorov Prikazka]

In the microwave. Searching for nuked beer!

Re:Waste of money

[The Grim Reefer]

First, beer surviving the holocaust is not something I see as a useful way to spend my tax dollars.

I have to disagree with you. It was a rather important first step to decide if it's even worthwhile trying to survive the holocaust.

A massive sigh of relief

[Grayhand]

At least we know now the Irish can survive a nuclear attack

Re:Aha! so that's what Indiana Jones was doing...

[Grayhand]

in the refrigerator. Searching for beer!

After reading the script I would have been searching for a beer too.

Re:A massive sigh of relief

[Penurious Penguin]

Sorry mate; it only works on American beer. Try that shit on Guinness and not only will you defile it beyond repair, you'll infuriate a bunch of micks and be pullin' bits o' shoe and clover out yer teeth for a good long while too ;) Blighted taters is one thing, but don't mess with the drink.

Re:Premature

[rubycodez]

Twinkies, which last on the order of geological time, have these few main threats against their long term shelf life: 1. subduction under an adjacent tectonic plate 2. expansion of sun into red dwarf, though as the sun becomes less dense the earth and unconsumed twinkies may survive by increasing orbital axis 3. collision of earth with another major major astronomical body, eastimated to be on the order of every five billion years for event sufficient to destroy most or all twinkies 4. proton decay and/or quantum tunneling, 10^100 years or more

Rugged is Archaic

[Penurious Penguin]

Bahh. That was back in the day when "beer" meant beer. The strength of the old steel can was intended to compliment the beer with a sense of substance -- and it was built to last. This newfangled bubbling pansy fuddle is put into aluminium for morale. The poor excuse for men who feebly molest the frail cans of today need the extra confidence that the lightness of aluminium provides; it makes them feel strong and capable, like their ancestors. These modern milksop piss-containers couldn't survive fallout from a wet cherry-bomb.

Power Vacuum

[fragMasterFlash]

The world will be dearly in need of leadership after a nuclear war. I think these tests need to be repeated with politicians to see how they fare.

Re:A massive sigh of relief

[Immerman]

On the plus side Guinness is dense enough to block even high-energy neutron radiation, so only the first row of bottles will be ruined. As an added bonus the irradiated beer can still be distilled into a potent scotch that will give you superhuman alcohol consumption abilities, not that anyone will notice.

I ordered some Twinkies from the US just to see

[SmallFurryCreature]

I ordered a box of Twinkies at an insane price from the US, just to finally taste this product of American culture so often mentioned in movies. It says on the box that they can only be kept for a short time, so I decided to taste this over a long period. 1 year and still going. Taste? Still the same. GODDAMN AWFUL! Next month I will try another one. I am thinking of turning myself in for unethical testing on a dumb animal.