Expanding barrel system for cooling beverages

A self-contained, closed-loop cooling unit for rapidly cooling a beverage container and a beverage retained therein, the cooling unit comprising:

• (a) a system support structure;
• (b) a barrel chiller attached to the system support structure, the barrel chiller including a generally cylindrical array of hollow elongated chill elements arranged generally parallel to one another circumferentially about a central longitudinal axis of the array, the cylindrical array adapted to receive a beverage container therein, each chill element adapted to transfer heat from a beverage container to a hyper-chilled coolant circulating through the chill element;
• (c) a closed-loop coolant circuit including
• (i) a hyper-chilled liquid coolant retained within the coolant circuit;
• (ii) a coolant reservoir attached to the system support structure, the reservoir having an coolant inlet port and a coolant outflow port, the coolant inlet port being in fluid communication with the array and adapted to receive coolant therefrom, the coolant outflow port being in fluid communication with the array and adapted to supply coolant thereto;
• and
• (iii) a pump in fluid communication with the reservoir and the array, the pump adapted to propel coolant throughout the coolant circuit;
• (d) a refrigeration circuit in thermal communication with the reservoir adapted to remove heat from the reservoir, and maintain the coolant in the reservoir at a hyper-cooled temperature;
• and
• wherein the chiller is adapted to receive a beverage container within the array and to rapidly chill the beverage container and beverage retained therein during a cooling cycle, and
• wherein during the cooling cycle, the pump propels hyper-chilled coolant from the reservoir through the array, whereby heat is transferred from a beverage container into the circulating hyper-chilled coolant and from the hyper-chilled coolant into the environment by operation of the refrigeration circuit.