Cellaring Stock....

[fretlessman71]

I'm just wondering what everyone's procedure is for cellaring your beer might be, i.e., what temp, how much light, humidity, what part of the house, whether you leave the bottles upright or lay them down, etc....

[davesarman]

Here's what I do and it seems to work fairly well. I keep beers in beer cases in my basement. I keep the lids closed at all times, to keep out any light, but my basement is usually dark anyway. It remains relatively cool and stable. THe temp ranges anywhere from about 50 degrees to about 60 in the summer, never fluctuating more than a few degrees at a time. I keep each case on the floor to maximize the cool temps. I keep an inventory of each beer and what particular case I'm storing it in on an Excel file, so I can find it without having to open up many different cases. (I have 11 cases right now, posted on the "what's in your fridge" thread.) For the big bottles, I get empty wine cases from the liquor store and use those. I can tip the box and keep those on their side (if corked), but you have to be careful. I put the opend end of the case against the wall, and overlap the flaps to avoid it all spilling out, causing a terrible tragedy! Anyway, that's the system I use and it works pretty well. My cellared beers rarely if ever suffer from bad flavor or aromas due to how I keep them.

[chazwicke]

I keep mine in almost the same condition as Dave. I have not inventoried them but I will today and also use excel to keep a listing. Mine are always kept in the dark in my basement storage room in beer cases on the floor under some shelves. My temps are similiar to Daves as well.

[b3s]

lacking a basement, i keep mine in a dark closet...i don't cellar much because i'm concerned about the temp.

right now i've got some chimay in boxes and some honey wheat in boxes as well.

[BluesHarp]

How much change in flavor do you see in cellered beers?
I have some Celebration Ale, 90min IPA's, and plan to pick up some barley wines and other "big" beers this winter...is it worth my time to cellar some to drink next year???

[b3s]

another question on cellaring...my local paint store puts most of this stuff in the cooler...is it fine to pull it out of the cooler (which is at drinking temp) and cellar? i can't see any reason why not, but thought i'd check.

[davesarman]

Taking a beer from a fridge to a cellar shouldn't be a problem.

The change in beer over time varies from beer to beer, but what typically happens is the sharpness of the hops mellow out, flavor complexities increase and the beer generally attains flavors closer to what you might find in a cask conditioned beer. Of course, beers that are bottle conditioned (yeast in the bottle) will change more than others and like I said before, it will vary from beer to beer. I like doing small vertical tastings, comparing 2 or 3 vintages of the same beer side by side and note the subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) variances in flavor, aroma, etc.

[threecb]

yeah, without the basement, and tight in space as it is, I have a small corner of a dark closet.
I could probably get away with cellaring up to 2 cases at a time, but right now I have about a case of mixed. Including a great score yesterday of a 4 pack of Heavyweight Brewing's Old Salty Barleywine. It's a mixed pack of this years and 3 prior years vintages...nice!

[paul84043]

I keep mine in the basement, it averages about 60F in the winter and 65 to 68 in the summer. A little warm in the summer, but things seemed to have gone very well so far.
I have quite a few beers that I made in Feb. and March that are still in perfect drinking condition.
I lack the organization skills to inventory my beer, I have a tendency to just move them to another box when the one they're in starts to get close to empty and I need it for a new batch of beer...the nice thing about that is every now and then I pull out a surprise "Hey, I thought these were gone!" beer.

I keep them all closed from the light.

I have been working on better storage units, cardboard boxes are okay for a while, but begin to get weak after a few uses.

My pesonal feeling has always been, the beers that mature faster and are lower in alcohol and hop content don't cellar as well. (duh...) Unfortunately, I have yet to intentionally keep a specific beer long enough to test my theory out.

[davesarman]

Originally posted by paul84043
I have been working on better storage units, cardboard boxes are okay for a while, but begin to get weak after a few uses.

I like to use the either the heavy cardboard cases that returnable longneck cases come in or else old wooden cases that I purchase once and a while at an antique store. The heavy cardboard cases are quite durable and you can get them at liquor stores if you just ask for them. Some will give them to you free, others will let you have them for just the deposit on the bottles. ($1.75 where I get them). They guy at the liquor store said there is actually more value in the case than there is in the bottles when it comes to returnables, so they never fret too much if someone returns a case a few bottles short, it's really the boxes they're after.

[Beaver]

How long does everyone cellar their beers for before drinking? Is there an certain amount of time before it has any effect? Is there a maximum amount of time before it will most likely go bad? Months? Years?

It sounds interesting, and I may try it soon! :)

[studentofbeer]

im trying to "cellar" my beers in a medium-sized dorm fridge, just keeping the fridge on the lowest setting. it gets too hot in my apartment, so im hoping this will keep the beers cool but not too cold. this is my first real experiment in cellaring so we'll see how it works. i have a westvletern 12, westvletern 8, achel 750ml, 3rd coast old ale, and expedition stout in there so far, all bought this year.

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by Beaver
How long does everyone cellar their beers for before drinking? Is there an certain amount of time before it has any effect? Is there a maximum amount of time before it will most likely go bad? Months? Years?

It sounds interesting, and I may try it soon! :)

Most cellaring is figured in years. There is definitely a maximum time but it is hard to determine. I have an 86 Thomas Hardy that I have read reviews saying it should have been drunk by now and that it apparently may be beyond the optimum taste. (Unfortunately, the beer was given to me by a friend when my son was born in 86 and I was told to share it with him on his 18th birthday which is next December not this December.) The only way you can tell if a beer is right to drink is to chance opening it. There are many beers now being brewed that are designed to be put down for up to a decade. And I have several bottles of a beer that was brewed in the 1930s, aged in special wooden casks until the 1950's was bottled and was given out to friends of the brewery back then. I am certain these are far past their prime but one day I am going to taste one. Typically you would want to consider big beers for cellaring. Barleywines or "Imperial" styles. Most beers still should be enjoyed when they are the freshest.

[hopjack13]

i have a fridge in the garage that keeps a constant 56 degrees, also the is no light in it and i wrap them in brown paper bags before i put them in. as far as actually laying them down on their sides i think is a bad idea, i hear if it has a cork it should be laid down. but that will leave a water mark on the side of the bottle from the yeast,plus by standing them up you expose less of the beer in the bottle to oxidization. im going to build a cellar here maybe next year when i get in to a bigger house. an actual walk in fridge...he he he . being a welder fabricator , mechanic , electrician and having experiance in building huge industrial freezers and ovens it should come along real easy.....i think.

[Beaver]

Thanks for the info chazwicke!

[Bryant]

I don't cellar any beer. I live in a small house (though it's paid for>:P~) and live in beer hell as well. I am planning on making a short trip to Atlanta soon and stock up on some of the local holiday brews though...I'll find some place to put it.


Bryant

[hopjack13]

guess i'll burn 600 here,
you need a beer fridge dude! even if you have to put it on the back porch. when i run out of room in my beer fridge i have to throw out food to fit it in the other fridge, beer is important!

[toneyc]

Originally posted by chazwicke the beer was given to me by a friend when my son was born in 86 and I was told to share it with him on his 18th birthday .
Oh, man, that is such a cool idea! Its only 3.5 years until my oldest son turns 18. I wonder if he would have a beer with his old man then? A real beer? I can hardly type, this idea has brought tears to my eyes. Hmmm... gotta think about this some more, what to put away, how to do it, and all that. Thanks, Chaz!

:)
Toney.

[davesarman]

My first born son, Collin was born on July 8 of this year. I already have several candidates for beers brewed in 2003 that I will have with him when he turns 18, including a bottle or two of a Belgian ale I brewed myself that is remarkebly close to Duvel, if I may say so. Who knows what it will be like in 18 years, but I made a special label for it and called it "Chip Off the Old Block Ale". I hope I can give him the appreciation and respect for alcohol that I have. Hopefully when he's in high school he doesn't bring all his buddies over and raid my beer cellar!!!