My garage/beer fridge is packed and I thought what better time than now to being cellaring some of my RISs and barelyewines. But I have a dilemma. My fruit cellar is located under my porch and is current at 57/58*. No temp controls. My fridge runs around 44/45* and with high humidity. Any suggestions? The fridge I'm sure is fine but I wonder about the humidity. I've tried turning it down a bit but we do keep milk and eggs in there as well. Is my fruit cellar cold enough? My guess is that it is, just looking for confirmation from the experts.
My guess is that your fruit cellar would be fine. This time of year it should only be getting colder. Perhaps by the time the weather warms up you will have a more suitable option, but that should give you about 6 months.
Thanks. I've actually been reading about what some are doing and am considering a chest freezer next to the beer fridge.
The difference between 44 degrees and 58 degrees will be minimal. Use whichever is an easier place to store the beer. Decent barleywines/ris should be fine with either.
I'm curious as to what sorts of beers you're keeping (and during what timeframe) where you think non-perfect humidity and non-perfect prescribed cellaring temperature will affect them? In my opinion, people vastly over think this whole 'cellaring' concept. Without a lot of other details, your root cellar sounds like a perfect place for keeping boxes of bottles of beer to be consumed in a 1-5 year (or even longer) window.
Surly, you're right. I am likely overthinking it. I want to keep my IPAs as fresh as possible before consumption so I am keeping them frosty. The imperials will need somewhere else to hang.
