The top 10 beer and wine hacks you need to know!

It’s Friday and it’s nearly the weekend! We encourage responsible drinking here at Starts at 60, but what about smart drinking? We have 10 beer and wine hacks that will make your Friday night glass all the more enjoyable.

1. Chill white wine with frozen grapes

If you are a bit of a slow drinker but don’t like to use ice to chill your drink, why not plan in advance and freeze some white/red grapes (depending on your preference)? They will cool down your glass without watering it down – genius!

2. Wine storage

If you’re anything like me, you’ll have a cupboard full of wine that has been gifted to you or just left at your house. If you plan to drink them at a later date, here’s how to store wine properly so it tastes as good as ever:

• Keep it in the dark – cool, dark pantries are great for wine
• Store corked bottles on their sides
• Store wines together and away from food – this avoids smells clinging to the wine and ruining the taste
• Red wine can take 2-10 years to mature, white wines usually last 2-3 years

3. Add salt to ice to chill drinks faster

This is a great tip: put salt in your esky and your warm drinks will be cool in no time. The salt reacts with the ice to form a reaction…it’s complicated, but just trust us!

4. Freeze leftover red wine

It might look silly to the untrained eye if you have ice cube trays with red wine in them, but this nifty trick means that when you need to make a sauce or gravy, you have some wine ready to go.

5. Use bull clip to stop beers rolling in fridge

It’s the eternal annoyance: placing bottles carefully in the fridge in a pyramid, only for them to fall down as soon as you shut the door. Simply get a bull clip and attach to your fridge rack, like shown:

6. Make $3 wine taste expensive

If you’re on a budget but dying for a glass, all you need to have great red wine on a budget is a blender and the cheapest bottle you can find. Pour the bottle into the blender and blend on high for about 30 seconds. It will aerate the liquid, making it taste much better.

7. Quickly cool wine or beer by wrapping in wet tea towel and putting in freezer

Wine and beer is no good if its warm. If you want to get drinking and fast, wrap your bottle in a wet tea towel or even paper towel and put it in the freezer for 5 minutes. Ta da!

8. Clean red wine off with white wine and salt

Oh no! You’ve spilt red white on the carpet! Don’t panic: just pour some more on it! Then throw on some salt. That’s right, white wine counteracts the red staining properties and the salt helps to lift it out. Press down on the stain with a clean tea towel and clean with carpet cleaner.

9. Use screw and fork

We’ve all been there: staring at a bottle of wine but there’s no bottle opener to be seen! If you’re desperate, a rogue screw and a fork can help you out: twist the screw into the cork with a bit of leeway, then slip it between the prongs of a fork and lift.

10. Put a CD around lip

We’ve all been guilty of knocking our bottle over but if you don’t want to make a splash, this is a great idea: put an old CD (preferably blank!) around the neck of the bottle. It looks a little silly but if you knock the bottle over, the CD prevents any liquid from coming out!

What are you drinking tonight? Do you have any other tips to add? Tell us below!