Cellaring beer - cold vs. warm

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by otispdriftwood, Jan 24, 2014.

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  1. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado

    As I've been mostly drinking IPAs and other non-cellarable beer for the most part, I'm not sure of the proper or preferable way to cellar beer. I have a beer fridge with plenty of capacity and have a few bottles of stout and barleywine in there, and I know refrigeration can help preserve the beer, so my question is: does beer stored in a fridge [@ 40 - 45 degrees all the time] age/mellow similar to if it was stored in my basement crawl space [45 - 50 degrees in winter, 50 - 60 degrees in spring/summer/fall]?
     
    #1 otispdriftwood, Jan 24, 2014
  2. JasonLovesBeer

    JasonLovesBeer Initiate (0) Mar 27, 2013 Canada (BC)

    Before someone comes in and is a dick about it, let me first say this is a very common topic in this forum. Just in the first page or two there are a couple discussions going already (links below).

    There is no scientific answer and so it's all recycled rules of thumb here. Lower temp does slow down the reactions that cause aging. Higher temps increase reaction rate and also encourage additional reactions (likely not good ones but hard to say). 50-55 is the 'safest' temperature. Doesn't mean it's perfect but generally it's the best. At 40 you won't get very much development. At 70 you'll get faster development but increased risk of the result being 'meh'. It won't spoil either way.

    Recent relevant discussions from only the first 5 pages - you can see what I mean by it's a common one:

    http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/storing-temps.147434/

    http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/how-much-variation-in-temperature-is-too-much.145258/

    http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/polar-vortex-how-cold-is-too-cold-for-my-cellar.143076/

    http://beeradvocate.com/community/t...sement-too-cold-concerns.142517/#post-2040455

    http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/cellaring-lambic-warm.133034/

    http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/can-you-celler-in-your-closet.138329/

    http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/accelerated-aging.137975/

    http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/71-degree-beer-cellar-seeking-advice.136608/

    http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/what-temperature-do-you-cellar-beers-at.122919/

    I would go with the basement for all but fresh beers.
     
    #2 JasonLovesBeer, Jan 24, 2014
  3. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado


    Thanx. I had a strong feeling there were plenty of other threads but was too lazy to look for them.
     
    #3 otispdriftwood, Jan 25, 2014
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