Storing bottles on their side

Only thing I can think of is if there is yeast sediment, that you'd want to move to an upright position for a couple days before serving since the sediment would kick up into solution?

I don't know...doesn't seem like the worst practice out there for storing beer...

 

Legend or not, I have seen and experienced leakage from bottles laid on their side, both with caps and corks. It is common? No. But it's possible. There's certainly more pressure with the beer against the cap/cork than not. Yeast does settle as well and most people don't like it poured into the glass, which is more likely on it's side than upright, but I personally like the yeast and don't care if there's chunks in my beer. Take it with a grain a salt, but also check your bottles once in a while.

 

Yeast sediment for sure, but you are also potentially speeding oxidation. The carbonation in beer ensures that most of the gas between the beer and the cap/cork is CO2. When you lay it down, you expose the beer directly to the outside air (obviously in only a tiny way) and more oxygen. So in theory, it could age faster. Whether it actually does, I don't know.

 

From what I know about wine aging, corked stuff should be on its side and screw caps, etc. should be upright. I keep my wines on their sides and all my beer upright.

 

I do the same, but think it applies in the opposite way for beer, unless you want to age the beer more quickly (usually not). Corked beers are the ones I would definitely not lay on their side. With red wine, you are trying to speed up a slow process (my 2000 Bordeaux was crap until it was 10 years old at least), with beer you want to slow it down, maximize how long it remains good.

 

So sounds like the consensus is that beer really shouldn't be stored on its side - corked or capped. Risk is minimal if at all, but the risk exists nonetheless.

 

That's my deduction, and why I do what I do

 

Agreed. Rearranged my beer fridge to make it happen, along with some closet space for big stouts and barleywines.

 

I thought i just saw this in another thread. too lazy to look. the consensus in that one was that the only bottles to store on their side would be those with wine like corks like cantillon. Regular caps and the cork'n'cage corked bottles should be stored upright. Storing the corked'n'caged beers on their side was bad because it lead to deterioration of the cork and subsequent leakage, i believe because those corks are already "dead." so, unless you got the loons, store them upright.

 

The cork vs cap argument is void in this case as almost all beer corks are waxed and don't dry out like wine corks (also the reason why wine has to be stored on it's side, to prevent the cork from drying out)

The main reason people do not store on their side is the surface area exposed to oxygen. The more surface area the more likely you're going to get some cardboard beer. We're talking about a cm, maybe two overall though. I think the risk isn't too high, especially if you aren't aging for 5+ years or more. I know cantillion ages their beers on their side though.

The other argument is rust on the cap which could mess with your beer. It really depends what your goals are with your cellar and how long you intend to have beers down there.