Cellaring beers with no cellar

Craigslist is a goldmine for used wine refrigerators of all shapes and sizes.

 

I would bet you that 90% of the people that "cellar" beer don't have an ACTUAL cellar. The majority appear to simply keep their beer in a closet where light can't get at it.

So long as your beer isn't sitting at 80+ degrees, everything should be just fine. (not including IPAs, obviously)

 

used chest freezer off craigslist + tempature controller

 

you need temperature control and darkness. How ever you can achieve that is a great option.

 

Finally! Someone else gets it!

 

Yes.

Also, importantly:
I measured my basement for a few weeks straight in the spring both day and night to see what was really going on humidity-wise and temp-wise and it was an absolute roller coaster. The very highest and very lowest temp have an impact only to a point; the range however, if much more than 10-15 degrees throughout the year, can mess up your aging beers and wines big-time.

Unfortunately I had to shell out real money for a special cooling unit for my particular needs (a larger, fully sealed cellar room). For most people, however, something smaller would be fine...just do NOT trust your dark basement to keep things right temp wise. The fluctuations will do damage.

Even if you get a wine refrigerator it's important to note that if your house isnt air conditioned, then even then....you'll want to put that refrigerator in your basement where the refrigerator will have to work less and keep its temp range tighter.

 

Yeah, I'll go so far as to say that those who are keeping their beers in a closet at room temperature are not, in fact, cellaring beers. They are storing beers, perhaps improperly storing beers. Cellaring something means meeting temperature and humidity criteria (50-65F, ~70%)

Storing beer at 70F in a dark closet, while not strictly "cellaring", will generally have positive results, at least for medium-term aging. I do believe though, if you're going to go through the trouble of storing a beer for extended periods with the hopes of improvement, you might as well do it right. Otherwise, just drink the stuff before it gets worse.

Wine fridges are generally easy to convert to upright beer storage--just pull out excess shelves and put some wood or something down so that the bottles can stand with stability.

 

One argument could be made that by 'cellaring' slightly warmer at room temp you speed up the aging process and don't have to wait as long to enjoy a 5yr beer. Theoretically.

I've had no probs with my 18-24C kitchen cupboard cellar. 2-3 yrs aging tops though so far. Buying a proper fridge soon when I move.