How do you combat light when cellaring? Please post pics...

YOUR BEER WILL EXPLODE!!!!

Kidding, of course, it'll be fine, incandescent lights won't make a lick of difference, especially for occasional periods of time.

 

Mine sit under the basement stairs... not much light 99% of the time
Also just sitting in boxes... nothing fancy

 

I have old shelves in my basement that my dad built 40 years ago to hold fasteners, bolts, wood, you name it. My beers all sit on them now, facing out, all nice like the pic above. I go to the basement once a week to grab stuff, stare a bit, and maybe rearrange. The bottles see light *maybe* 20 minutes a week at most. They're fine. Light does indeed kill, but it takes a good bit at close proximity.

 

If you are concerned about your kids leaving the lights on down there, you could install a motion activated light switch, like you see in some commercial bathrooms and storage areas.

 

Or, scold the kids violently for leaving them on. A few timeouts and missed desserts and they'll straighten up.

 

Curtains? I don't know. Most of my cellar is just kept in 750ml cases so no light gets in but I don't really care about displaying or showing off my cellar though I do like sharing it. And don't take that the wrong way. There is nothing wrong with displaying or showing it off or whatever, it's just not why I do it.

 

I vote for solid doors. Build up the mystery - instead of ostentatiously presenting your beer to the world, lie in wait, then, when the moment presents itself - 'oh, what's in that beautiful cabinet?'...

Oh, just some beer (swing open the door)...

(guest literally knocked on their ass by the sight of such a collection)...

 

You could build a descending cabinet that goes into the floor when down. Set it up to a remote, press and button and it slowly rises. That would be a real conversation piece. 100% serious. I want one of those.

 

Easiest solution might just be to replace your incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs.

 

I second the motion regarding a motion sensor light switch. You can purchase one from Home Depot for less than $30. It's fairly easy to swap a motion sensor switch with the regular wall plate switch. Some come with the ability to adjust the time before switching off. And when you're stumbling down the stairs carrying two cases of beer, it's kind of nice to have the light just switch on for you.

 

The part of the light spectrum that causes beer to become lightstruck is "...is 550 nm and below" according to the Master Brewers Association of the Americas. Incandescent (tungsten) light is usually considered relatively safe for beer, LED OTOH appears to be much worse based on the below graph. Florescent bulbs, the most common light in retail setting is also worse than the common household incandescent bulb.

 

Interesting, I didn't realize visible light effected beer, I always thought it was largely UV light that caused beer to become lightstruck; more of a 400nm and below range.

Does that mean Fluorescent may actually be best?

 

I have been wondering this - I have beer in a cooler behind UV-protective glass and out of direct sunlight, but there is still plenty of ambient light which makes me nervous. Planning to cover the glass with vinyl to be safe, but wish I could keep the visibility

 

black spray paint every bottle.

 

Personally, I dip my bottles entirely in wax and throw them into abyssal ocean trenches to cellar for 50 to 100 years or so. Trawling locations will be provided to my children in the will.

 

In brewing industry literature, fluorescent light has always been stated to be worse than incandescent. Take this quote (again, from the MBAA in their The Practical Brewer handbook):

I agree, the graph you show does not suggest that. Here's another graph (admitting that such graphs are a dime a dozen on the 'net, and vary greatly):

It should also be noted that their are different types of fluorescent bulbs and some retailers do use clear "UV" filter tubes over the fluorescent bulbs that filter part, but not all, of the harmful light spectrum.

I don't know - the science of beer becoming lightstruck is over a century old and, despite brewers' warning of "Do Not Expose to Light" and "Keep in a cool, dark place" bottled beer is still routinely exposed to light. In retail settings, it is done for marketing but once the beer is owned by the consumer, I don't understand why people who cellar would want to take a chance with any light, simply for "beer porn" reasons.

I keep my cellared beers in boxes, behind heavy wooden room dividers. Ugly? Maybe. I don't care.
(Boxed beer also prevented the dreaded "falling dominoes" affect should one bottle get knocked over...).





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Yeah, this is how I feel (both parts). I kinda wanna "display" mine on shelves in the basement (no sunlight back there, occaisional light bulb lights when i work in other parts of the basement....but at the same time I feel like the smarter move is to keep it hidden back in an old entertainment center with doors..So it'd go from ~4 hrs of lightbulb light/week to seconds (when I open to grab a beer). ...but it looks soo good!! haha