How do you organize your cellar?

I arrange by brewery at the moment. Everything is stored in sturdy boxes out of harmful light and temp controlled. Then I've got a box of really special stuff that gets the best placement in the cellar...away from anything that could knock it over and crush my little beer-loving heart. Haha

Arranging by style, year...it's all fun. I love to tinker.

 

Lol, organize

 

Where's the 'thrown randomly into a bunch of stacked cardboard boxes' option?

 

Look around at subforums. Not everything goes into Beer Talk.

 

The bottles are not physically arranged...they are all just thrown in my dedicated beer fridge at 50 degrees. But I have everything on a spreadsheet that is sorted by brewery, so that was my vote above.

 

I try and arrange them by brewery but it usually just ends up getting put in any open space that I have at the time.

 

It's incredible to me that there are people out there who keep enough awesome beer on hand that this is even necessary. One day...

 

I picked "by bottle size" because I have boxes that hold 750s, boxes that hold bombers, and boxes that hold 12oz bottles. Other than that, Treyliff's "thrown randomly" post just about covers it. I do keep track of my beer in an Excel spreadsheet though, so I know exactly what I have in stock.

Someday, I swear I'll get that cellar/beer fridge down below 300 bottles...

 

That was my initial reaction when I first came across the cellaring aspect of the craft beer hobby. Discovering how a beer changed/held up with age is and was a fascinating concept to me. I have only been cellaring for a couple years and dont have a huge collection yet but it is steadily growing. I am finally starting to get to sample some of my beers that have been sitting up in that pantry just taunting me!! LOL!!!

 

I put my entire cellar on google docs organized by:
Brewery, Beer Name, ABV, Quantity, Style, Year and Location.

My "cellar" is located in closet underneath my stairs in boxes so it's somewhat of an awkward place. The location refers to what box it's in. It works for me so that's all that matters.

 

Lucky, lucky, lucky. Are you in Columbus, by chance?

 

This, ftw. Except it's randomly organized.

 

Akron. But I love Columbus. I usually get down a few times a year for Buckeye football games in the fall, a bball game or two in the winter/spring and I try to hit the Arnold every couple years!! I love stopping at Dirty Franks for a dog and some tater-tot-chos after a Bucks game!! U ever been to Bodega? I was there a few years back and they had a pretty solid beer selection!

 

Sort an all of the above, with the exception of style. I have it divided into quarters...750s, bombers, 500s, 330-55s (12 oz). From there it is sorted by brewery (mostly), and then by age. Quick consumption beers are also on a separate shelf, for easy access (and to avoid confusion among guests).

Right now my cellar is a series of shelves in a closet under the stairs in the basement (nice and cool) that is partially unfinished. One of my projects (with my father in law) is to finish it properly with insulated walls and more shelving where I can really get into organizing more carefully.

 

I mostly sort my by age. Most of the older bottles are on the bottom, moving upward in shelves to newest/youngest and are arranged by brewery/style/size. I try to keep the top shelf arranged with beers that are for drinking now, i.e.. IPA's or bottles I really want to drink fresh.

This arrangement evolved over time and was never planned. It just seems to be what's working best for me. I also keep track of it on CellarHQ. Stuff still gets lost from time to time, but that it was makes it fun.

 

Stuff the stuff I'm going to drink last at the back, keep what I'm going to drink sooner at the front. Simples.

 

I separate by a combo of long term aging, short term aging, and drink now against bottle size and style.

Ex: Bruery Christmas collection is in the long term, big bottle. Small drink now bottles in a different section, with IPA's the most accessible and sours the least (since it matters less if I forget about them)

 

I separate by bottle size, usually putting the 750s, 500ml, and 12ozs together. I have a book that I keep all my beers listed in, and each box is numbered so I know what I have in each box. I usually go through it four times a year, and pull some beers out to drink and stock new beers in the boxes to be cellared for a few years. Keeping the boxes numbered will help out alot when looking for beers that you would want to pull out.

 

Organization? What is this concept of which you speak?
I try to have some type of system but between buying and drinking, and needing to find spaces for new stuff, that doesn't work so well. I don't really have a space, it's kind of a corner in the basement, where it's nice and dark.
I want to be able to have a system, but so far it's not an option.