Questions about storing beer

If you're storing it long term you shouldn't lay it down. The yeast will settle on the side of the bottle and form some residue there that will make your beer not taste as intended. As for the temperature, if you buy it out of a cooler it is fine dropping back down to room temp. Again, over time you want as little temperature fluctuation as possible

 

Do not lay on side. Along with what Steve said you have oxygen in contact with a greater area of the beer speeding up oxidation.

 

This. Age all beer upright.

 

I'd love to hear a chemist's comments on this. If you assume the bottle is a sealed vessel, over time there should be no difference due to surface area *inside* the closed vessel; the volumes, molecule counts, etc are constant.

/me braces for hate

 

Actually I have thought about that very thing but that's what Ive always been told.

 

Beer is full of legend, rumor and superstition!

 

I think, in terms of the oxygen contact, it is less when the beer is upright. You have beer-to-air contact about the size of a quarter in the neck of the bottle. Laying it on its side increased the amount of beer touching air. How much it affects it, I have no idea. But I think that the general consensus is to limit the amount of surface beer in contact with the air.

 

I'm the blasphemous one who stores my beer horizontal, in the white wine section of a dual zone wine fridge and the red section has all the red wine. I've never had any issues with bottles and wouldn't expect any difference unless you are talking decades of storage. In my opinion the constant temp and lack of sunlight is more important than whether it is vertical or horizontal. My father started buying Thomas Hardy's every year in the 80's and always stored them horizontal in a wine fridge. He still has some left and every time we open one they still taste pretty damn fine. I don't think it makes as big a difference as people think it does.

 

It's not like the gas/air in the bottle stratifies and stops making contact. For *short* times (like hours) maybe, *maybe* the smaller surface area makes a difference, but over time things move about in a sealed bottle and assuming there's no gas exchange across the cap you should end up at the same place.

 

Right. I was just saying I think that's the general consensus. I have not read up on anything about it, but I would think that would be the train of thought. I believe you are right though, given a long enough period of time, it doesn't much matter.

 

Can you age any beer?

 

I mean, you could if you wanted. Almost all will get worse. Will it improve or change is a positive way is the question you should be asking. Most beers do not benefit from aging, only a few particular styles (and then you need an environment with no sunlight and pretty constant temperature). Most are meant to be enjoyed fresh.

What beers are you asking about?

 

I've stored beer upright and on its side. I've never noticed a difference in flavor or aftertaste. I have, however, noticed that some beers (in bottles) tend to foam excessively when opened right after laying on their sides in a refrigerator or cooler.