Newly purchased beer fridge/cellar -- too cold?

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by jdhowe, May 26, 2013.

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  1. jdhowe

    jdhowe Initiate (0) Mar 18, 2013 Georgia

    I recently purchased a refrigerator for the sole purpose of storing beer (pictured below)

    I have a few questions/concerns about it:

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    First: temperature

    I have kept multiple open glasses/flasks of water in the refrigerator with thermometers to gauge the temperature. The top shelf (with the Downtown Brown pictured) seems stable at 44 F. The door (by the Blind Pig IPA) is stable at about 48 F. This is on the lowest power setting for the refrigerator. I've moved the top shelf glass down to the second shelf (pictured by the Black Xantus and Speedway Stout) to get an idea of just how cool it is down there... not sure if the temperature variation is back-to-front or top-to-bottom for now.

    I'm considering investing in an external controller for the refrigerator, but would rather avoid it if possible.

    Is 44-48 F too cold for any of the beers I might want to store? It's my understanding that this should really just slow down aging, but I wouldn't want to damage anything and come back to it in a year or so and be disappointed.

    Second: the light

    For sake of not overpopulating the apartment fridge with my beers I've moved all of my beer into this refrigerator. The top shelf, parts of the bottom shelf, and some amount of the stuff on the door is stuff I plan to drink in the near future, and so I will be in and out of the refrigerator pretty regularly. Should I go to lengths to disable to refrigerator's light bulb (maybe just tape down the switch)? I'm not sure if the bulb emits much in the UV range, but wouldn't want the exposure to hurt the beers. Similarly if it's likely the act of opening the door and exposing the beers to ambient light (direct sunlight would not be a concern at this spot, but indirect is definitely there) could be harmful, should I be moving my "things I plan to drink soon" away from the "cellared" beers, or should this not be a conflict of anything other than temptation?

    I don't know how quickly the photoreactive components in beer react to light exposure, so I am not sure how careful I need to be with beers that I would like to be able to enjoy years from now.

    Third: humidity

    Should I be concerned about condensation inside the refrigerator. The air here is not particularly arid, so opening the refrigerator results in some amount of condensation. I'm not worried about this, but am also not sure if I should be. There doesn't seem to be much mention of it other than "don't store your beers in a wet/dank/damp place" but then again, I could think that humidity could affect seals/corks, and figured I'd put it in the thread just in case.
     
  2. stupac2

    stupac2 Pooh-Bah (2,031) Feb 22, 2011 California
    Pooh-Bah

    I'm always confused when people worry about things being too cold. What do you think is happening with it being too cold? All that "too cold" means is that chemical reactions happen somewhat slower (and any yeast are going to metabolize more slowly), but I doubt the 7 degrees from 48 to 55 is that big of a deal.

    The light that damages beer is UV light, which I highly doubt your fridge bulb is putting out in meaningful quantities.

    There's no reason to be worried about humidity from condensation, the fridge will dry that out really quickly. If anything a fridge is a problem for cork because it'll dry it out, but unless you have some pretty old beer in there that's not an issue, modern corks are either synthetic or coated to prevent this (I believe).
     
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