Hey everyone, I was looking for some recommendations from the beer collectors. I'm currently building up my collection and have about 40 beers right now. Assortment of bombers and 12oz. I've done some research online and the proper way is to avoid sunlight, keep at 45-55 degrees and stand the bottles upright. Currently, they are in one of my closets and close to 60-65 degrees in the house. However, living in texas during the spring/summer the temperature can be 80-90 in the house. I read that wine fridges are good but the problem is that the bottles would be laid on their side and 12oz won't fit well. My question is what would you recommend for a beer fridge in order to keep collecting and not ruining the beer?
One possibility is just an old refrigerator. Mine doesn't have a temperature guage, just a setting for "colder" & "warmer", but with a thermometer hanging inside it will stay around 55˚F on the warm end, although I keep it at @ 45˚F and store other things in there (sealed bags of grain, dried yeast, etc.). And once closed/sealed it'll hold its temperature for a long time so it's not running all of the time (I'm not so sure how well a wine fridge would work as it's not as big and has less insulation).
I've been considering those mini fridges that hold 80-120 cans and have removable racks. I could remove some of the racks and put the bombers in. As an added bonus it would be neat to have a window (tampered glass) to view the collection...Not sure if that's counter productive though with light in the kitchen.
My recommendation would be to look for used wine coolers on Craigslist. I was able to find a couple for really cheap and they have worked out great. Most have removable shelving so you can adjust to fit your needs. No need for a temperature regulator. The ones that I got do have some sort of tinted glass front for viewing, however I added some blackout film on the inside of the door to avoid any potential issues with light getting through. In my experience most refrigerators stay too cold for desired cellaring temp, even on the warmest temperature setting and require a temp controller. Depends on how strict you are regarding the temperature of your 'cellar'.
I inherited an old fridge from the GF's parents' garage when they moved and set it to one of the lower settings/higher temperatures and it holds roughly 45F. It's an older fridge, but I was able to fit approx. 20-30 12 oz bottles and 20 bombers as well. I really need to reinforce the shelves, because they're flexing quite a bit, but it does the trick for what I was looking for.
Don't put the beer fridge in your kitchen- that's just me though, I find it tacky. Do go find yourself a second hand fridge or glass front cooler, those work like a champ. I bet you could find a glass front cooler at a restaraunt supply or auction at a decent price. Most used coolers I see range anywhere from $500 on up to $2k depending upon the brand and the seller.
