How to Cellar

The best way to cellar in my opinion is to actually have a cellar that's at least 9' underground and has no windows.

The temperature should remain constant then, not including washer/dryer and furnace so keep that in mind. If you have a separate room apart from that stuff you should be fine.

The final factor is moisture, so it shouldn't be a damp basement.

- - - - That's just the best way to cellar in my opinion, but if a fairly constant temperature and humidity without sunlight can be maintained in a different space you're pretty good. This could be done in any area that doesn't have great seasonal variations very easily - and I'll say, seeing that you're from Connecticut, that getting cold is better than getting warm.

 

My first caution would be make sure you've had the beer before you start putting any in a cellar. I think a lot of people fall into the trap of buying faster than they can drink and they cellar a bottle until they can get to it. Then they end of forgetting about it and by then they've accumulated more beer on top of that. By then, they have no idea what it was supposed to taste like fresh when it was released or so much time has passed that it is past its prime flavor wise.

Bottom line: if you have multiples, sure cellar some and drink over time to see how it changes/develops/peaks/improves/gets worse, whatever. However, if you only have one and you've never had it - drink it.

 

Yeah, the problem with the garage is the heat in the summer because the garage door isn't that well insulated.

The answer in your situation, I'm thinking, is a fridge set to 55F. Old fridges are easy to find, often for free, and it won't use much electricity because it'll mostly be off. Then if you decide not to continue to age beers you've still got a beer fridge in the garage that you can drop to 40F.

 

The general guidelines seem to be find or create a dark, reasonable dry, stable temperature space that will stay in the low 50s. And as @MattOC said, don't go too crazy, a minifridge whose temp you can control should be more than enough. I keep some stouts in a bottom cupboard in my kitchen that stays cool and what little overflow I have (mostly stuff I actually want to let sit for an extended period) is in a box in my storage unit, which also stays very cool

 

As one of the few older guard than me that appears to still be around, why not in a furnace room? I've had my cellar in my furnace room for well over a decade now with no ill effects that I can think of. I've never heard anyone say this before.

Right there, put them right there! This is exactly my setup. Shelving in a basement area that fluctuates from the low 50s in the winter to mid-upper 60s in the summer. I tend to age my favorite beers for 2-5 years, & I can't see how a furnace (unless it's blowing lots of 110 degree air directly into the basement) will have a negative effect.

 

I just looked & the closest cellar beers to my furnace is about 8 feet. In all seriousness, I can't imagine a reason to keep sealed beers out of a room with a furnace in it. Hundreds of beers have passed through my cellar since 2008 without discernible harm.

 

This. And don't set your expectations too high. Some people think cellaring will transform their beers. Most are subtle changes, and most not for the better. But some beers (barleywines especially) go to another level after a few years.

My "cellar" is an old fridge (was given to me by someone who wanted to get rid of it) and a temp control device to keep it at 55. There's enough space that I can store a lot of beer, but not so much space that I'll overdo it.