What is the best vessel for cellaring?

I user beer boxes, but wine boxes work too, anything to keep them out of the light. Seems you have the perfect temp in your basement already

 

If you want to protect them from minor temperature changes you could have them in an insulated cooler. If your basement temp is really constant that wont really do anything for you. I use a chest freezer and temperature controller to keep a stable cellar.

 

Yeah I have a basement but the temperature fluctuates too much so I use wine fridges but if you cellar consistently stays around 50 degrees that is ideal and I would just keep them out of the light in boxes or build shelving and use light safe yellow bulbs like they use in dark rooms, assuming their is no natural light coming through.

 

Get an old freezer (chest or upright) off Craigslist for less than $100. The temp. controller is $50.

 

I went with the http://www.amazon.com/Johnson-Controls-A419ABC-1C-Electronic-Controller/dp/B0026NDC5O So I could have a digital display. You can probably cut that price in half if you don't need the digital display. I bought a heavy duty extension cord and wired it myself. easy when you find the diagram another homebrewer made.
I also went with a new Danby chest freeser roughly 7cft. A good used one would be just fine. An upright has that advantage of having more bottles readily accessible. My chest freezer I do bombers on the bottom, then a few cutting boards to make a flat surface on top of those and 6packs of 12oz on the top layer. You have to know how you organized your bombers or else you end up having to really search.

 

Currently my cellar is the crawlspace under the front entry of our split level. In the winter it's a nice 45 but in the summer it will go above 60. As long as the temp change is gradual, it won't be bad for most beers. All of my beers are in styrofoam coolers to slow the change even more. That said, I will be getting a fridge and temp controller for the garage sometime soon because I don't want my them to get above 55.

For temp controllers, are there any models that automatically shut off the fridge/freezer if they fail? My friend is offering me a free freezer and it would be nice to have that assurance.

 

On the Johnson Controls A419 there is a jumper setting that determines if the power is on or off if there is a failure to read temp. That likely doesn't cover you from a unit that reads an inaccurate temp. so if something in the probe failed and it started sending a number higher than your setting it would keep cooling and freeze your beer. I do recommend that you secure your probe in a manner that it can not be physically removed from the freezer. use tape or something to keep it in there. I've heard stories of people removing the probe to organize their bottles and then forgetting to put it back in.... then coming back to a frozen cellar.