Cellar too warm?

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by itsmePB, Oct 20, 2017.

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  1. itsmePB

    itsmePB Initiate (0) Oct 15, 2017 Pennsylvania

    Hi, I am new to BA and to cellaring beer. I started by accident 2 years ago when a friend gave me a Brooklyn old fashioned, I forgot about it, dusted it off and drank it a few months ago. Really amazing, I only wish I'd had it fresh to compare.

    Now my cellar is up to 18 bottles--12 unique beers and a couple in multiple vintages.

    I searched the forums a bit for my question but didn't find an answer.

    My beers are in my basement which is I think cool enough in the winter (55-60) but gets up to 70 in summer. Am I wasting money and beer keeping them in down there? I've seen that graph that shows the relation between temperature and aging time, but I'm still curious for others' opinions.

    Cheers!
     
    loebrygg likes this.
  2. BlunderfulGuy

    BlunderfulGuy Zealot (567) Nov 23, 2016 Nebraska

    A basement is usually just fine for aging most things. Some people I know wax or wrap their beers in plastic wrap if they're destined for very long aging in a space where the temperature fluctuates, or put them in a styrofoam container.

    If you have some prized bottles then I suggest that you A: stock up on more, if you can; B: get a small fridge that you can set to cellar temperature (50-60°F), if you can; and C: don't be afraid to pop them open now and then to see how they're doing. C, when I was aging a lot of stouts and sour reds, was the most important to figuring out how things behaved and also the most fun.

    If you start to get more, I'd also suggest putting some of a beer right on the basement floor and others of the same beer in the fridge (again, set to just a smidgen higher than 40°F works well in my experience), checking one now and then but not moving them between the fridge and the floor.

    Really though, I think the most important thing is to not worry about it. If you're enjoying it and it isn't hurting anything, then keep doing it. If you aren't enjoying it or it's hurting something, then stop doing it or try changing something.
     
  3. maximum12

    maximum12 Grand Pooh-Bah (4,686) Jan 21, 2008 Minnesota
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Most of what was said above is spot on. To your specific temps, this is close to where my basement is over the course of a year too (around 50 - 70). We pulled out a 2009 Mirror Mirror recently & it was sublime, & have had plenty of others in the 5-10 year range that fared just fine. So don't sweat it - those temps have been good to us.
     
    Bitterbill likes this.
  4. captaincoffee

    captaincoffee Pooh-Bah (2,218) Jul 10, 2011 Virginia
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I have the exact same issue. I don't worry about it, but I do move up my cellaring timeline a bit to compensate. If you really do want to worry about it, get a fridge for storage.
     
  5. CoreyC

    CoreyC Initiate (0) Mar 16, 2015 Wisconsin

    I'd suggest you get "Vintage Beer" by Patrick Dawson. It's very cheap on Amazon and it's the Bible on aging beer - really interesting. He goes into more detail, but he advises that 65 or less is recommended to keep the beer below it's fermentation temperature. Having said that, before I got a freezer/controller set up, I used my basement which went from 52 in January to 72 in July for a few years and never had a problem.
     
    Bitterbill likes this.
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