Storing beer during a roadtrip

Nope. Leave it in the van out of the sun and don't worry about it.

 

It should be fine as long as it's in a case and out of reach of the sun.

 

just keep it in a cooler.... even if you cant keep ice in it all the time, itll keep some heat out from the van.

 

Keep it in a cooler. Doesn't have to be kept ice cold, but if you can keep it in the 50-55 degree range, that'll help a lot, especially if you're buying fragile IPAs.

 

I don't believe you'll run into trouble, like the previous poster said leave the van out of the sun as much as possible and you should be fine, beer isn't affected by temperature as much as you'd think.

That said if it were me I would probably still be paranoid and buy a fleet of coolers and refill the ice constantly, because if you're buying stuff like HT where they ship it cold, you're better off keeping it cold to keep it as fresh as possible.

 

I bring an ice chest/cooler and keep gallon zip lock bags full of ice in there with the beer. I don't like the labels getting destroyed, hence the reason for the bagged ice instead of it being loose.

 

If your van will get much above 70 in the daytime, then I'd say you're risking your beer. If it hits 100+ like it can in direct sun, that's a problem.

I recently did this on a road trip to Colorado. I had several liquor store boxes that I filled with my precious cargo. I placed them on the floor in the back seat. I bought a box of gallon ziplock bags and filled them with ice from my hotel or a gas station. I packed those bags all around and on top of the cardboard boxes. I then covered it all with some blankets for extra installation. When parking, I cracked the windows for a little extra ventilation. Even after a day in bright sun during a hike, the bottles remained cool to the touch. It worked well, and only cost me a few bucks.

 

This is also a really good point if you care about bottle appearance, considering the minimal investment for some plastic bags I also think it's well worth it.

 

I would guess in a van with temps in the 80's your van could reach 100 or more. I would ice it. You do not have to keep it drinking temp just aim for about 70 or below.

 

Shouldn't have any effect at all on the van. Unless one pops.

 

Most of the harder to find beers in New England will come cold so I like bringing a big cooler to keep them cold and just refill the ice at hotels. Also, I like filling up growlers which also like to keep cold. A large cooler is my suggestion.

 

Maybe a large cooler to store the stuff you're taking home, and a medium one for the stuff you'll be drinking during the trip. Keep 'em at drinking temp.

 

Luckily I have a 'fridge in my van/RV. The rest I have packed in cartons and I park in the shade and I have a big cooler into which I put frozen bottles of water from my freezer. Very tidy. I've been on the road 6 weeks and have had no problems. You should be fine :-)

 

I don't like the labels to get destroyed either so when I'm traveling and buying beer, I buy cans wherever available. No labels to worry about and if I want to have a few they chill faster.

Just like the post above, I also use frozen water bottles for cooling and they come in handy once they thaw out. I always have ice water as well as cold beer.

 

I've kept some craft in my car for awhile at higher (80's outside, higher inside) temps for about a week due to some airport shenanigans and it was fine. Given, it was a bunch of KBS, Sunday Morning Stout, and other heavy hitting imperial stouts. Can't vouch for anything on the IPA end of the spectrum.

Most important thing, though, is to keep it out of direct sunlight.

 

I highly recommend the cooler route as well. If you invest in a fancy cooler like an Igloo Maxcold, they will keep ice frozen for 5+ days. I use mine camping and it can keep things cold for a week plus if you do two things-1) keep it closed as much as possible & 2) don't use ice cubes, use something larger (I use a few empty jumbo peanut butter jars, filled 4/5's full of water and frozen).

 

Drink it....

 

discovered these on a fishing trip a while back and have been using them on car trips ever since...get yourself a nice lightweight cooler put some cold beers on the bottom (I usually bring cans, easier to store and they don't break) and then place a few of these on top...will stay cold for hours!

and the other key - bring a few koozies with you!

http://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-10..._sim_79_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=091K5FZBKZ2DW83XCQ7N

cheers