My basement will not hold a constant temperature. In the winter the basement is about 63 and in the summer it can get to 85. Therefore I do not want to store my beers at those kinds of temperatures. However, I have a beer fridge that I can set on the highest temperature which works out to 48 degrees. So my question is; is it okay to age my beer in the refrigerator and if so how does it compare to regular cellering. How much slower will it age? Thanks for the help.
It's certainly OK in a fridge, and better than 63-to-85. It's hard to quantify "how much slower", but you're right that it will be slower.
I think I recall Charlie Bamforth saying that the rate of beer staling (aging) halves with every decrease by 10 degrees Celsius. So at 48F you're looking at roughly half of the rate at 63F and a quarter of the rate at 85F.
