Beer temp fluctuation query

How much temperature variation and high temp.'s did your beer experience before you purchased it? Of course you likely don't know unless you bought it all straight from the tank at the brewery. Which is the point of the question.

High temperatures speed up the beer staling process. Very high temperatures can stale a beer in a few days. High temp. is the problem, fluctuation in temp. not so much. 17 C won't stale a beer very quickly, but it will obviously do it quicker than storing it cooler. @JackHorzempa has a handy chart that explains it well, hopefully he will post it now that I tagged him.

 

No this has been discussed many times here and @JackHorzempa has a graph he post every time this subject comes up (I believe). As long as your temperature is in a reasonable range the fluctuation won't matter, 17C (62.6 F) is cooler than what I store my dark beers at, and I have never noticed any issues. Issues occur when the temperature is higher

 

As the old saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words.

As a remindes the below curve is in degrees C.

Cheers!

 

I don't really see an issue, your beer is around 50 degrees with a max temp of 62, I don't think this will have any effect on the beer. I believe you see major issues with large temp swings or freezing, others have way more knowledge but off the cuff you should be just fine.

 

From a retailer point of view, some of those delivery trucks are not conditioned, and the beer comes off hot to the touch. Never heard a complaint about these beers. Forgotten Boardwalk, Neshaminy Creek, Funk, most beers I've gotten from west/southwest jersey and PA all come in unconditioned trucks and are fine after getting them in the cold box.

Those that are cold conditioned, there's no room (not air conditioned) all the time and they sit in the back room or on the floor in a display to go from cold to warm to cold again when they are purchased and brought home. The business has been this way at this location for almost 30 years

This goes for NJ people. Not all of Hunterdons trucks are cold.

 

I would suggest that is because they have traveled short distances and have not been at elevated temperatures for long periods of times.

What would be your opinion be of a Firestone Walker Union Jack that was transported cross-country in a non-refrigerated railcar or trailer (truck) in August?

Cheers!

 

In such a case as that, it would not even be the same by the time it got here. I can see the conditioner trucks cost more and the distance isn't a problem. But I'm saying the cans are physically hot, then get cold eventually and the beer is ok.

 

Yes, I understood your point and I commented that as regards the beers you mentioned they are likely OK since they have probably only been hot for a day or two. To make a finer point of the discussion, how long a beer has been exposed to higher temperatures is a critical aspect of whether the beer will be OK or not.

The other aspect we have not discussed is how well the beer was packaged from a TPO (Total Package Oxygen) perspective is 'part of the equation' as well. A beer that was packaged with very low TPO values will be more resilient to being exposed to higher temperatures as compared to a beer with high TPO values.

Cheers!

 

Just to help those handicapped by an American education , 40° C is ~100° F and 60° is 140°

 

Both temps are achievable in the back of a truck. Yikes.

 

We used to have a few refrigerated trucks, and always instructed the other few to be parked in the shade, the motor and AC running, and to never forget your second key. The temp in the trucks on a 95 degree day is outrageous. We had a trailer of very expensive California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay stuck in a rail yard in Birmingham in July with near 100 degree days. There was nothing we could do. The wine cooked, the corks popped, the insurance paid (luckily). Heat is a true enemy of beer and wine. I never ever worried about storing beer down low somewhere in my house.

 

HEY! This is 'Murica! In Farenheit water gets bubbly at 212. Only 100 in Celsius. 212 > 100.

'Murica... f*ck YEAH!

(joking)

 

Short answer is no. I'm sure we can science a yes out of the answer. But. I'm more worried that anyone that lives with you might be finding your current behavior to be a bit strange. A few degrees is nothing. What you need to have happen is basically what happens in a car out in the sun.

 

Makes you wonder about the original IPAs. Aged in cask then subjected to temperature differences from low to weeks at tropical levels. No wonder IPA will never catch on.

 

Side Question: What happens when you store beer at lower temperatures between 0 and 10 C? This graph makes it seem like you should essentially be freezing your beer to keep it fresh for 800 days, but I know thats definitely not true. Everything I've read about aging beer has suggested much higher temperatures.

 

Beer will resist staling.

Please share your data here.

I am guessing you are referring to cellaring beer here. The vast majority of beer styles do not benefit from cellaring. There are a few beer styles which may benefit from cellaring such as Barleywine, Quad, Imperial Stouts.

Cheers!

 

If you're trying to age/evolve your beer then you want it at room temperature, or between fridge temp and room temp. Cooling in the fridge will delay or prevent aging, which is preferable for beers best consumed quickly such as IPAs.