Bottled Beer Long-term storage

[wakers3]

Finally think I have caught up enough with my bottled beer to think about longer term storage. Man I love this hobby! Anyway, this question is more around what that storage should look like. I understand upright as to not have the liquid exposed to the metal cap. I also understand cool and out of direct sunlight.

But would fridge be best? I don't really have a cellar or anywhere other than some redesigned space in a closet that would work. My garage is about the closest I could come, but the temp fluctuation there wouldn't be ideal is my guess as we can get some pretty hot temps here in Richmond in the summer. Thanks for the replies.

And how long is too long?

 

[BryceL]

High abv beers like barleywines or imperial stouts are great candidates for long term storage. Either fridge or cellar temps are fine, but a fridge will take longer to get that ” aging” affect. If you don't have anywhere with a somewhat stable temperature I would opt for the fridge though. Fluctuating temperatures are the last thing you want for adding beer.

 

[BryceL]

And a good strong beer should go for several years no problem assuming your bottling process is sound.

 

[Jarov]

Another fellow from Richmond, good to see you. Garage storage here is definitely not good, we definitely see many temperature fluctuations. For aging up to around a year to a year and a half a dark cool closet will work fine. Anything longer and you'd need a cellar fridge or something along those lines to keep the temperature at around 55. Right now I've got a closet surrounded by walls to age my beer for about a year and no longer. It keeps a cool constant 69 degrees, which isn't ideal but it works alright. If your closet is in the middle of your house, it should work well. If not, well I still think the benefit of aging would help the beer.

 

[wakers3]

thanks for the replies - I will clear some space in an interior closet!

 

[brokebucket]

Yeah Richmond!

That's all I really got.

+1 on the closet.

 

[RatchetBrews]

Before I had a house with a large basement and a gazillion refridgerators, I use to store my bottles in large plastic storage containers or in coolers. My last house had floor vents for the air conditioning, so I'd place the containers on those during the summer. It kept the bottles out of the light and cool enough.