Illinois-based Will Rogers of WDS Dessert Stations has developed a machine that turns beers and other alcoholic drinks into a soft scoop ‘ice cream’ that maintains its potency. The ‘Below Zero’ machine takes any alcoholic beverage and crystallizes it in under 30 minutes for a treat that can, if you’d like, be covered in sprinkles and chocolate sauce.

The drink is first de-gassed to remove the carbon dioxide, then mixed with a gel, put in the machine, and out comes the ice cream. The nitrogen ingredient additive gel allows the alcohol to freeze to a near solid inside the machine as well as adding sugars.

The machine will cost breweries US$ 6,000, but will allow them to serve all drinks, from a pint of lager to a strawberry Daiquiri, in a cone. It has been approved by the US Food and Drugs Administration and pasteurised; and since the drink contains no dairy products, it is not technically ice cream.