How's Your Beer Cellar?

Agreed - thats what i do. Buy too many and forget what i have usually works pretty well. Come back a year later and realize i have Abacus or Old Guardian that i forgot about.

 

No basement, no room for a refrigerator, and I live in the south=no "cellar" for me. Yet.

 

An auto formatted spreadsheet that lights up colors to indicate a beers readiness?

You sir, you like beer

 

Yep I agree. Depending on the beer, rarity and cost, I really like to get 3 to do the same thing. Always try one fresh to then compare with one that's aged. Now That I have tried this I know for me I really like GI BCS much better with some age on it but I would have never known if I did not try fresh first. The main problem with cellaring is always drinking before its time. Lol

 

The "out of sight, out of mind thing" works really well if you A) box up your cellar stuff and jam it in a basement/closet/actual cellar/offsite cellar, and B) you find some good "go-to" staples to drink instead. I like to keep a couple bottles of each of my favorite styles in my refrigerator so I have options that don't push me toward the "aging" stuff. So for age-able stuff (like sours and stouts), find some suitable-ish year-round stuff you like, and keep those handy. So, if stouts/BA stouts are your thing, keep some Old Rasputin, Expedition Stout, and Storm King in the fridge (and a bottle of bourbon handy) and put the BCBS, Old Rasputin XIV, and Black Note in the cellar.

I've got a big cellar (500+ bottles) of stouts, BA stouts, and sours, and I mainly don't dip into a ton because I also love IPAs and keep them well-stocked in my fridge (knowing they have to be drank fresh). So that might help, too. Keep beer on hand that has to be drank fresh, and you'll feel obligated to go to it first.

 

Figure out how often you wish to drink out of the cellar, then figure out how long you want to cellar the beer on average. The number of bottles you should put in the cellar is going to be duration of cellaring multiplied by beers per duration (same units).

The important thing to actually sticking with it is to have ready-to-drink bottles on hand as well!

 

my problem is finding a legit place in the apartment to keep my bottles at a relatively consistent temperature. Is my normal refrigerator too cold for BA beers like bcbs, kbs, black note, backwoods bastard, etc.? My cellar has about 75 beers, and most of them are barrel aged stouts and ales, barley wines, imperial stouts, a few belgian dubbels and tripels. I've read over the beer advocate cellaring advice page several times and recently moved my cellar into a fridge because the weather is warming and as a result my former place for storing beers (closet in a room that did not heat at all in the winter) has recently began to warm up.

Edit. I know this may be the wrong forum, but any advice is most welcome

 

In my case keeping my regular fridge stocked with fresh IPAs keeps me out of the cellar. I try to save the good stuff for get togethers with friends.

 

Not too cold, but they won't develop as quickly if you are looking to age the beers into something different. The reactions will take place at a slower rate, so after a few years it will be only as aged as it would have been in a fraction of the time at 55F. Safer than keeping them somewhere they will exceed 75F though.

 

That's a great approach. My problem the last couple years has been holding on to stuff TOO LONG - always waiting for that special moment, or right drinking buddy to enjoy them with. I have "ideal" dates on my spreadsheet, but the color coding is better, esp as you get into the 100+ bottle range of variety

 

i overstock lambics and gueuze. i buy smaller amounts of bigger ABV stouts and what not with little intention on more than 2-3 years. i really only care about gueuze, maybe some fruit lambic

 

If you have some cherry rye don't sit on them for too long.

 

With some beer I can't wait to drink it, and with others I'm not really sure when I should. I feel like you should always keep in mind when you add a bottle to your cellar on why you're aging it. With 90% of the beer I have aging, I've had it either fresh, or I've had it before in some vintage. Remembering the way it drank the first time you had it is important. Some stuff is so rare that you want to drink it on an occasion, and I completely understand that, but don't lose sight of the fact that it is made to be drank, and usually when it's bottled.

I separate my cellar. Everything I'm aging is in their own boxes, then I have gueuzes and lambics that I age on their side like wine. Then I have wine, and finally I have everything in a box that I'm planning on drinking soon. Most of them are saisons or just beers that I have no intent on aging. I keep them at cellar temp to be safe, I typically don't like to refrigerate beers for a long time.

Good luck

 

How's my cellar? It full! I'm out of space, now seeping into hidey-holes inside the house. My wife is not pleased.....

 

Can you trust her not to drink them?

 

Well, the only other beer in there was Miller Chill, so i think i'm okay.