Store bottles on their side??

Quick question, is it ok to store freshly bottled beer on its side for a few weeks to a month?

The yeast is going to compact to the side of the bottle initially which might be weird, but I would assume the bottles would still carbonate and I don't think there would be any serious issues to doing so.

You want the trub/yeast compacted on the bottom of the bottles,not the side. You'll more easilly pour the trub out with it settled on the side of the bottles. This isn't corked wine we're doing here. They did that to keep the corks from drying out & leaking air into the bottles. Or carbonation out.

I've heard that having them on their side also affects carbonation rate because of the increased surface area on the head space, but the more I think about it the less it makes sense.

I personally have collected a few 24-bottle boxes and store my carbing bottles in them so I can stack them.

Yeah, that's a wine thing. I don't think there's any advantage to doing that with beer but I don't suppose it would hurt anything either. All your yeast will be on the side of the bottle and probably get poured in with your beer. If you are okay with that, go ahead. It makes more sense to store them upright though.

Actually the reason wasnt anything to do with corking or anything like that, just that I have run out of space and am thinking to keep my next batch under my bed. Yeah, I know it sounds like a strange place to keep beer haha... but they obviously wont stand up under there :/ Also a good amount of them at in 2.5L soda bottles.

Noz03 said:

Actually the reason wasnt anything to do with corking or anything like that, just that I have run out of space and am thinking to keep my next batch under my bed. Yeah, I know it sounds like a strange place to keep beer haha... but they obviously wont stand up under there :/ Also a good amount of them at in 2.5L soda bottles.

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Im thinking it would be fine, when it gets close to time for drinking them just swirl the beer around to pick up the trub and then cold crash in the fridge for a week sitting upright. I bet it would settle to bottom and be fine. Never done this but sounds like it would be ok.

My only concern is that more surface of your beer will be in contact with the air...accelerating oxidation. This might not be a great difference but its something to consider. And since you have to eventually put them upright to let them settle, why not from the start?

Is their some advantage/easier storage option by keeping them this way, I assume that if you are containing them, its easier to put them upright and stack or organize them that way

I store beer on its side in some wine racks I had before getting int homebrewing. Seems to work fine for me. I do carb them standing up in cases before moving to the wine rack. The yeast collects in a corner of the bottom of the bottle.

Calichusetts said:

My only concern is that more surface of your beer will be in contact with the air...accelerating oxidation.

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Wouldn't there be CO2 under the O no matter the angle of the bottle??

Why not raise your bed up on concrete block (or wood blocks, or plastic, or......) so you can stand the bottles upright. You can fit a lot more bottles under it that way.

RM-MN said:

Why not raise your bed up on concrete block (or wood blocks, or plastic, or......) so you can stand the bottles upright. You can fit a lot more bottles under it that way.

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Genius ^

Just put them on their side, they will be fine. Unless you're scared of a little yeast.

My grandfather stored some of his homebrew under the bed. It was really interesting when they started blowing up in the middle of the night. He couldn't get out of bed, too much glass on the floor.

RM-MN said:

Why not raise your bed up on concrete block (or wood blocks, or plastic, or......) so you can stand the bottles upright. You can fit a lot more bottles under it that way.

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This belong in the "you know your a homebrewer" thread. You know your a homebrewer when you alter your sleeping comfort to have more bottle storage space LMF'in AO

No

there is actually a thing called bed risers and they are plastic. We found ours at bed bath and beyond and come in different sizes. SWMBO is having a good deal of heartburn with this pregnancy and we put the 7inch risers on the head end of our bed.

Noz03 said:

Actually the reason wasnt anything to do with corking or anything like that, just that I have run out of space and am thinking to keep my next batch under my bed. Yeah, I know it sounds like a strange place to keep beer haha... but they obviously wont stand up under there :/ Also a good amount of them at in 2.5L soda bottles.

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If ever there was a time you wouldn't want a bottle bomb! I don't know if it sounds like a "strange" place to store beer, but I does sound an awful lot like my college days.......

Bottle bombs would probably "encourage" you to wet the bed when they go off. As previously noted though carbonation should not change as you still have the same volumes of CO2 and liquid. If they were cold the CO2 would probably dissolve into solution a bit faster, but you will still need to take into account the sediment layer. If you have the time to crash them before drinking go for it. It shouldn't hurt anything.