Newbie Questions-Beer storage

[BucksBrew]

Hello all, well I could not wait for my beer to sit until 4-22 which would be 4 weeks in the bottle to taste! I tried one last nite, 8 days in bottle, well, it was GREAT!!!! I can't belive it will get better! Me and my wife were amazed at the taste and quality of my first batch!

It had good head, large and small bubbles, good Belgian lace, the color is slightly darker than the original Pilsner Urquell I cloned. And I think it may have a nice kick to it as well which was a concern when I took FG reading.

Question: After lager is aged, do I need to refridgerate all my beer? Or can I leave it out in all seasons? I'm making my third batch. 2 Lagers and 1 Ale. What is the rule of thumb for storing beer? I will have 6 cases soon!

Thanks to all who resond!
Joe

[CaptHook]

What I found over the last three years is, store at the ferment temp or lower. DO NOT!!! DO NOT!!! DO NOT!!! change temps
repeatedly. Your beer is alive, and gets really p####d, if you do that. You will get funky flavors. In the bottle, the yeast will go dorment from the high pressure and hold that state until it starts
dying. In the keg, it seldom reaches high pressure on it's own and is subject to mood swings (anyone married?) . Temp change
is the easist way to disturb them.
This is why kegging and bottling produce a slightly different product. Also, with the keg it is changing from the first pint to the last. You can sence the change daily.

[BucksBrew]

Capt:

So what you're saying is Lagers that ferment at around 50-60 degrees need to be refridged as it warms up. My beer is in garage right now at 52 degrees.

And Ales fermented at room temp 68-72 will be okay in the coolest area of house not refridgerated.

[yonkersbrewer]

Coming into my first summer with a real inventory of beer, and looking to brew more to carry me through the summer before it gets too hot, I am concerned about storage too. The coolest place that I have readily available is an inside corner of my apartment. It will heat up to the level of the rest of the house and will not be air conditioned in our New York summer. So we may see some days that get to 90 during the summer.

It is all in the bottle and all Ales. Any thoughts on storage problems? Any thoughts on solutions that don't involve a refridgerator stuck in the corner of the living room?! :)

[BucksBrew]

I'm hoping that the Air Conditioner will keep my Ales ok and I'll drink up my Lagers before summer hits or make room in extra fridge we have in garage. A family of four drinks alot of milk and OJ and other stuff!

Maybe take out sliding drawers in bottom of fridge to make better room, I don't know!

[BucksBrew]

Another Question I had, now that you brought it up and I forgot was, How long will beer keep? I know the yeast has an expiration date on it.

[Tweek]

for the purpose of long term storage and agingyour beers should be kept at cellar temperature, 55 degrees.

If you just want it to keep long enough for you to have a chance to drink it then the fridge is fine. 70 degrees and above is too warm for long term storage.

Diferent beers will keep for diferent amounts of time. How long depends largely on alcohol content.

[YamahaXS]

I have only brewed ales, and have never had a problem storing my beer at room temperature (in a closet) or down in the basement.

Your beer should keep at least 6 months. The stronger the beer and the more hops you used, the longer it will keep.

Some triples and other big beers will keep around 2 years, perhaps even indefinitatly.

[Richard English]

How long beer will keep depends also on how it's been stored. If it's in a cask, then weeks only; if it's in a keg with a carbon-dioxide blanket, then rather longer; if it's in a bottle, then years.

Obviously the stronger the beer the longer it will keep. There's not much point in keeping brewery-conditioned bottled beers longer than you need to since they wuill not improve or mature, being dead. Bottle-conditioned beers will continue to mature and usually improve for some time - even a year or so may be too little for a good BCA to give of its best.

Only wine-strength beers (12% or over) will keep as long as wines.

As I have said on this forum previously, I do not recommend the keg and carbon-dioxide option since it will not allow any beer to give of its best. If you're drinking rapidly, use a cask; if you're keeping the beer for posterity, then bottle it and allow it to condition in the bottle.

Leave pasteurisation, filtering and carbon dioxide to A-B and the other fizz-factories.

[paul84043]

I ferment my Ales, then after bottling let them sit in a room that's around 70 or so, then it's into the cooler basement, which hangs between 62 and 68 typically. Lagers pretty much have to be stored cold, I might even leave lagering for fall beers so they can store more easily through the winter..

It's been really interesting to taste the changes the beer goes through as it ages, the flavors really do change dramatically! I highly recommend sampling it continually, you will even notice changes within just a few days.

It's hard to even really say that mine have gotten better with a few weeks of time, just different. I'm really looking forward to making another batch that I have done already, just to see how different it tastes!

Congrats on your first batch Bucks!!! It's a really cool feeling isn't it!

[CaptHook]

Originally posted by BucksBrew
Capt:

So what you're saying is Lagers that ferment at around 50-60 degrees need to be refridged as it warms up. My beer is in garage right now at 52 degrees.

And Ales fermented at room temp 68-72 will be okay in the coolest area of house not refridgerated.
That has been my experience.Keeping live lagers at room temp
won't work for long. The Calif. common (steam) is a lager at
ale temps. I haven't tried one, but they say it works.

[blevfamily]

Hey Buck's Brew,

You will have fine results storing your beer @ room temp. I have never had a problem. The only storage problem that you will have is drinking it all before your next batch is ready...........Cheers...........Blev