Aging beers in a closet, thoughts and inputs please.

2 parties exist:

A) Beer can only be cellared at 55F, anybody that does otherwise is ruining beer.
B) Nobody I've met can taste the difference between a beer cellared at 55F or 70F.

No really good evidence has been provided from what I've seen on either side of the coin. As such, trust your feelers.

 

Start drinking

 

my working theory - temperature fluctuations and exposure to sunlight harm the beer more than the 65-70 degree temp. The beer may be negatively impacted in years 4 or 5+, but the majority of my stock is gone by year 3 and i have yet to see any negative impact from my "cellar" conditions.

 

Unless you are storing them under constant sunlight or flourescent light, or at temperatures below freezing or above 75 degrees, your beer will almost certainly be just fine. Now, the conditions WILL affect how your beer ages, but will it even be perceptible? Nobody knows.

 

I live in south west florida area. That means no basement and a whole lot of hot weather. i store mine in a closet that stays at a temp of 68-70. I have yet to notice any problems with beers after 3 years of aging on them.

 

Changing temperature like that once (or even a handful of times) will almost certainly not cause perceptible changes in the beer.

 

That is how everyone starts. You will be fine. If your gonna do long term I would find someway to get closer to the cellar temp. I couldn't taste any difference in the beers I had that were stored at around 70. I'm very lucky the place I live has a air/humidity controlled cellar in it

 

I "cellared" nearly 100 bottles at room temp in my closet while living in CA. I noticed that most of my bwines faded faster but had little off-flavors.

 

I feel a lot better having read this thread. A lot of us aspire to have a "true" cellar, but some places, like where I live, do not have basements, etc. I have stored wine in several places over the years, and as someone who is particular about subtle nuances, I only noticed minimal changes while stored in a closet (66-70). I have converted my girlfriends spare bedroom closet into my "cellar" and, having only been doing it for a year, I can say I am satisfied until I can find a temperature contoled unit.

 

Can I get people's opinion. Recently obtained 3 dark lords '11-'13 . Also have some other similar bottles. The DL's have been held in a real cellar until now. I have a fridge or my closet. I plan on drinking in the next 6-9 months. Where would you keep them for this time . Thanks for any advice.

 

Answer #1: Wherever you keep your soy sauce.

Real answer: it probably doesn't matter for that time frame, but I try to keep as much beer as possible refrigerated.

 

Personal experience + opinion: I've been "cellaring" for about two years now in a non temperature controlled basement. Over the course of the year, temperature varies at least 20 degrees, probably more. I think beer is a lot tougher/hardier than many give it credit for. Keep it out of sunlight, try to reasonably moderate temperature/humidity to the extent feasible, it'll be fine. If you want to push cellaring to the extremes by keeping beers for a decade or more, you probably want ideal temperatures/humidity (and you're still increasing your risk of failure). If you want to play it safe and cellar for an average of 2-4 years, I think you'll be fine in a dark closet.