'Cellaring' beer in Darwin

[Mungus]

right, so i've been getting in to my beer lately, and my 'cellar' (cupboard under the sink) is slowly but surely filling with beer i'm trying to age a bit.

however after doing a bunch of reading, i'm now slightly concerned that the temperature is a) too high and b) varies too greatly for effectively ageing the beer.

i would love to just go and buy a wine fridge, however beeradvocate.com tells me that i shouldn't store beer on its side.

anyone in darwin keeping a beer cellar? or is it too hard? would be very interested in hearing what other people do.

[rec]

Indeed beer is said to be best stored upright. Importantly for bottle conditioned beer - which is the only beer worth cellaring.

Like wine, it also needs a relatively consistent temperature, and a relatively low temperate. If you're getting large fluctuations in temperature or at any point that temperate is above about 18 degrees, I wouldn't be keen to leave it there for extended periods of time.

Because of Darwin's climate I doubt even a basement would provide the best environment. It's probably best to buy a large second hand fridge and modify it with a temperate control unit.

[Aegis]

dig a deep well, fill with water, stick your beer in an esky, weight it, then lower it into the well. win.

[jabsy]

I cellar all my beer in my belly. I can take care of yours too if you wish.

No poofter beers tho thanks.

[morge]

[rec]

I cellar all my beer in my belly. I can take care of yours too if you wish.

No poofter beers tho thanks.

Silly Bogan achievement has been awarded.

[Mungus]

i guess what i'm tossing up is which is more important: keeping beer upright, or keeping beer at a steady 12 degrees.

would love to mod a fridge with a thermostat though, i have a refrigeration mate who i may hit up.

[rec]

Temperature is definitely more important than being upright, I think. I'd go as far as to say most bottle conditioned beers drink better with the sediment poured rather than left in the bottle anyway.

[morge]

As I said there are wine fridges you can keep beer upright in looking at mine I could fit about 3-4 dozen stubies upright and still have room for a couple of bottles of wine for the missus. That is a 40 bottle vintec wine fridge.

[Mungus]

how many wine bottle sized (750ml) beers could you stash upright in that wine fridge?

[Aegis]

how many wine bottle sized (750ml) beers could you stash upright in that wine fridge?

That is a 40 bottle vintec wine fridge.

lay it on its back and you'll get the lot in, upright

[fleshy]

I lager/age most of my beers in a modified chest freezer and use a modified fridge for fermentation. However, I've successfully cellared many brews (one in particular for a year), by keeping them in my downstairs workshop. The house slab temperature stays around 23-26 all year round and has had no ill effect on any of my ales, keeping in mind some beer types age better than others. So my cheap suggestion would be store on the floor/slab away from light but where air moves, else find a second hand chest freezer and add an external temperature control unit.

[rec]

To elaborate further on temperatures;

There's definitely no absolute truth that higher temperatures will necessarily have an ill effect on the beer. As Fleshy describes, 23-26 has produced good results for him. But in higher temperatures you couldn't keep it for as great lengths as you could something at cooler temperatures. And of course; aging a beer in warmer temperatures for shorter times will produce a different tasting beer to the same one kept at lower temperates for greater time.

The almost-certainty is that if there are large fluctuations in the temperate you almost always have a bad result. The greater the fluctuations, the worse off you'll be. This isn't even a subjective matter, it's science, and is all about the chemical reactions taking place inside a bottle.

Very smart people over hundreds and thousands of years have worked out that the best temperature for the best results is approximately 13 degrees Celsius depending on specific beverage, and will also maximise the potential length of storage. It's not even about being "cool enough", it's about a sweet spot between cold and hot - because it can't be too cold either, otherwise desired reactions won't be taking place and you'll stunt its development.

Finally, darker brews, dark ales and the like, hide the effects of higher temperature better than others so you can get away with a little more.

[Aegis]

Very smart people over hundreds and thousands of years have worked out that the best temperature for the best results is approximately 13 degrees Celsius depending on specific beverage, and will also maximise the potential length of storage. It's not even about being "cool enough", it's about a sweet spot between cold and hot - because it can't be too cold either, otherwise desired reactions won't be taking place and you'll stunt its development.

you lie! Celsius has only been around since the man himself died in 1744! Thousands of years indeed! - this casts your entire argument straight into the bin! *whpisH!*

sorry, bored waiting for windows to install on a server...

[rec]

Sorry, 55 degrees Fahrenheit for non-metric types.