Recommended beverage coolers for cellaring

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by BarrelAgedBrian, Apr 5, 2013.

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  1. BarrelAgedBrian

    BarrelAgedBrian Initiate (0) Mar 31, 2013 Massachusetts

    I know a lot of you have taken old wine coolers and refurbished them to accommodate standing bottles upright, but because I don't have handyman skills nor the tools for it I was thinking of just getting a beverage cooler to use as is. Problem is a lot of the ones I've seen on Amazon are meant for wine, and the ones that are used for canned beverages don't seem to have adjustable shelves. Any recommendations?
     
  2. stupac2

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

    I'm confused about what you're looking for here, you want to cellar cans? And yeah, all temperature-controlled units are meant for wine, because that's 99% of the market. Mine is meant for wine but all I did was remove the shelves and it was good to go for beer.
     
  3. BarrelAgedBrian

    BarrelAgedBrian Initiate (0) Mar 31, 2013 Massachusetts

    I want to cellar bottles, but standing upright.
     
  4. stupac2

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

    Yeah, so just take the shelves out of a wine one and use it, mine needed no other modifications past that. Pick a model with internal dimensions that will let you do it.
     
  5. cgskippy

    cgskippy Zealot (530) Apr 6, 2013 New York

    Is it ok to just get an old dorm fridge with a temp controller and use that? What temp would you use?
     
  6. stupac2

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

    Okay for what? When you're talking about cellaring you really need to specify your goals. If you just want to keep beers for a while because you're backed up, but don't really want to age them very long, then a closet or a fridge is fine. If you want to keep beers for a few years to see how they develop, then a closet is probably okay, a basement almost certainly fine, and temperature-control will work great. If you want to keep beers for the long haul, 5, 10 years, even longer, then you probably want a real cellar, something that's completely underground, or a large temperature-controlled unit.

    As for what temperature, the consensus estimate is around 55, but I don't think that being a few degrees off from that will matter much. But the longer you intend to age the closer I would stick to 55, just because that's where the experience is.
     
  7. cgskippy

    cgskippy Zealot (530) Apr 6, 2013 New York

    Thanks I think a dorm type fridge with a temp controller in my basement will do the trick for now. And they're cheep on craigslist
     
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