Cellaring lambic warm

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by JasonLovesBeer, Nov 28, 2013.

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  1. JasonLovesBeer

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

    This might sound like an age-old question and I myself have read a lot of posts sweating over what is and is not an acceptable temperature to keep beers at. But all those posts haven't put confidence in me either way on lambics particularly.

    I have three places I keep beer: in the kitchen fridge (40-45F), in my cellar (4.7L converted wine fridge, 55F), or in a cabinet in the living room (70-75F, 80 over summer). My actual cellar fits about 55 beers, but I currently have 110. The remainder are spread between the cabinet and the fridge, but I am trying to rotate the ones in the cabinet into the cellar before they spend more than a couple months warm.

    I got to thinking: gueuze has a "shelf life" of 15 - 30 years, far exceeding what a stout or barleywine will typically hold up for. Based on that and the fact that they are cellared fairly warm* at the brewery, maybe up to 5 years at room temperature is nothing to concern myself about. In other words, I have reason to believe gueuze is particularly hardy.

    Anyone have experience with this, or know what temperature older gueuze is actually aged at in the Belgian breweries?

    * I have no idea, actually
     
    #1 JasonLovesBeer, Nov 28, 2013
  2. SGToliver

    SGToliver Initiate (0) Nov 22, 2012 Washington

    Any underground cellar naturally has a temperature of aprox. 11-13 celsius, or 51-55 fahrenheit. The warmer your cellar is the faster your beer will age. You can age your lambics as warm as you like but they just won't last as long. There are actual formulas that wine peeps use to calculate how long a wine can age based on the cellar temp and the chemical reactions they want to take place. (please correct me if I am wrong, I don't really know shit about wine.)
     
    #2 SGToliver, Nov 28, 2013
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  3. BrotherDylan

    BrotherDylan Crusader (489) May 15, 2012 California
    Trader

    The only concern would be which wild yeast and bacteria do best at warmer temps. If the good Brett and lacto culture thrive more than the bad off flavor producing yeast and bacteria than warm temps are good. Lacto and other wild yeasts use up the oxygen in the bottle too so oxidation should not be a problem if you make sure the cork stays wet
     
    #3 BrotherDylan, Dec 5, 2013
  4. bramsdell

    bramsdell Initiate (0) May 27, 2011 North Carolina

    I usually pop a gueuze in the oven at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes before drinking. It's like 15 years in a half hour!
     
    #4 bramsdell, Dec 5, 2013
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  5. Rutager

    Rutager Initiate (0) Oct 18, 2010 Canada (BC)

    I wouldn't worry about it Jason. If I found gueuze that had been sitting on the shelf in a store for 5 years, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Even with the warm temps (and light most of the day in a store), I'm sure it would still be fine.
     
    #5 Rutager, Dec 22, 2013
    JasonLovesBeer likes this.
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