At D.B.A. (41 First Avenue; 212-475-5097), co-owner and avowed beer snob Ray Deter keeps a lowbrow stash of Corona and Amstel Light at 32.1 degrees, the coldest beer we found. On the first sip, you taste crunchy ice crystals. Deter has fancier Belgian, German, and English brews on draft that are served warmer, the way good beer is supposed to be. But for extreme heat, the cheap stuff, served ice cold, is better — because it has less alcohol and the lack of taste isn’t noticeable at that temperature. And never, ever pour it into a glass, he says, because “the tactile feeling of a dripping wet, ice-cold bottle” is part of the frigid appeal.

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