Beer Cellar Fridge Etiquette/Having friends over

#4 seems to be the most appropriate option. These guys are your friends, right?

 

Assumption is they are not craft drinkers. If so, certainly you have said once "hey, most of these beers are tricky to get and enjoyed on other days than a ball game" so they should know there's nothing in there for them unless you pull it out. And as Stevedore wrote, these guys are your friends. You should only have to tell them once.

 

Some version of #4. I'd just say that I'm aging a few beers and some aren't "ready" yet, but just ask and I'll be happy to show you something that's good to go right now.

 

I think it would be better form as a host to just have a wholly separate fridge/area with your collection, and either keep that fridge locked or out of sight, and allow your friends to hit the regular beer fridge at leisure.

 

Don't invite people over. Problem solved.

 

I agree. You can always ask them not to touch it, but I wouldn't want my friends to feel tempted or feel like I'm holding out on them. Also, I would find it troublesome to tell each guest and remind some others.

 

I usually just make it clear that a certain section of the beer is for aging...by saying "aging" thats a pretty clear verbal cue to anyone that you dont want it touched.

 

I like to place beers higher up at eye level for guests to see and drink.

The beers I don't want them drinking I make them harder to access which gives me time to notice what they are going for.

 

I have a dedicated beer fridge so I tell my beer drinking friends, "If it's in the door, it's there to store. If it is on a shelf, help yourself."

 

Why not pre-select enough bottles for the day and put out on the counter or wherever in an ice bucket. Be an even better host and pour the beer for everyone - if they are not the beer geek type this gives you a chance to explain each beer

 

You could text, or instagram, or tweet, or facebook, etc. your policy on said beers or you could just talk to these 'friends' about the situation like they used to do back in the olden days.

 

Get a kegerator.

 

Are they bringing beer? If so - the "only open what you brought" rule should be pretty straight forward and not make anybody butt hurt. If you're the only one supplying beer then separate it.

 

I dont think that any of my friends would ever help themselves to anything in my beer cellar. If they did, I would just want a pour of whatever they opened. Most likely I am going to be dragging them out to the garage and making them pick something from the cellar to open.

It's beer and these are your friends that you invited into your home.

 

Don't risk it. Remove all your good beer to a secondary fridge and then fill it with our your friends garbage beer.

 

I put the cellar beers in a box in the beer fridge so it's obvious to guests

 

As others have said, number 4 is the simplest. These are your friends after all. Just tell them which ones are not for current drinking. That said, if you can also mark them in some way (such as by a partition as you suggest), do that. It will help avoid mistakes. This all assumes you have only one beer fridge containing both cellar items and current drinking items. Personally, I have separate fridges so that would be less of an issue. But I also have adequate room for multiple fridges, too, so that may not be an option for you.

 

#3. Keep the infidels out of it. For their own protection.