Beer Bottle Storage on the side???

Question - thought I would ask here - anyone store beer bottles on the side, much like wine? I know for wine you have to have the site upright for a few days to seal the cork before you put them on their side. I have a nice storage area designed that works well for additional beer storage on the side, I haven't noticed anything different from those that have been upright VS the ones on their side other than the yeast settles on the side - just curious as if there are any theories/science citing again that.

The only downside is that as soon as you tip the bottle upright the yeast will get shaken up, but if you keep them in the fridge for a couple days it will settle.

The cork in wine bottles needs a bit of moisture to keep it from drying out & thus shrinking & leaking to my understanding. since most beer bottles are capped,there's no reason to store them on their side or at an angle.

I haven't laid it out and confirmed, but I'd think you'd get more bottles of beer in a given area while upright.

Not a problem if you like yeast sediment in every glass of beer you drink. I prefer to have most of mine clear.

Thanks folks!

I have no first hand knowledge but, read an article about side storing. Basically it stated that it wasn't a good idea. For some reason you don't want your beer to have prolonged exposure to the cap. I can't recall if they said after a while it imparted bad tastes or what. Also, they stated that the risk for infection is greater. I guess if the cap wasn't 100% sanitized you risk the beer touching it and ruining it.

Turning the beer on the side exposes more surface area of the beer to the gasses in the bottle. If you have any oxygen in the bottle, the increased surface area will expedite the oxidation of the beer.

Even though the cap has a liner, you're still risking interaction between the beer and the metal in the cap if the integrity of the liner isn't perfect. Or at least, that's the explanation that I've read before. The yeast/clarity issue is another one for bottle-conditioned beer.

kwadric said:

turning the beer on the side exposes more surface area of the beer to the gasses in the bottle. If you have any oxygen in the bottle, the increased surface area will expedite the oxidation of the beer.

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