Aging and storing beers and wines

[The Goatreich]

Currently I have 40 bottles of Coopers Aussie ale which has been in the bottles about a month, 40 bottles of Coopers Irish stout which has been in there a week, and tonight will have 30 bottles of Cantina 7 day wine (which I realise doesn't require aging).

I understand the brew more than you can drink philosophy, but the main thing I'm lacking is space to do that. The 80 bottles I have in my shed at the moment are ok as I was lucky enough to get some beer crates cheap from adtrader, but if I was to do another brew or two while they condition, plus also some WOW etc...I'm going to end up with a literal shed-load of bottles and nowhere to keep my lawnmower.

How do you all store your brews to age nicely? Any good tips? I would love to have bottles and barrels of various homebrews, all aged nicely and drinkable, whilst all the time have brews at various stages of readiness ticking away in the background.

 

[graysalchemy]

Bigger Shed :lol: :lol: .

Don't be fooled by the ready to drink in 7 days, dish water is ready to drink after doing the washing up it doesn't mean that it will taste any good.

Do you have any space in the house under the stairs, kitchen cupboard? Don't be tempted by a loft as temp fluctuations will be too great.

I brew at work in a 3500 sq ft shed so not a problem for me. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[markp]

I gave my lawnmower away :grin:

It's just one of those things you have to cope with I'm afraid......I use stackable crates in the corner of my shed....I've got to admit these do need seriously topping up though

 

[The Goatreich]

I thought 7 days was a little ambitious to be honest. The clearing has already taken longer than it says in the destructions, so it's still sitting in a bucket waiting to clear before the final rack off and bottling. We don't actually drink very much, so the 21l of wine will likely last a good few months, unless her indoors gives lots away.

I've got nowhere really that is any good for storing apart from the shed, so I guess what I need to do is have a good clear out of it and get some racking and shelving up. My plan one day is to have one shed for brewing/aging, and another for tools.

 

[graysalchemy]

Beer crates aren't always the most space economical way to store bottles, shelving may be better.

 

[Wolverine]

I started under the stairs but then got carried away and had to find more space now I have a pressure barrel on the fridge a fv full of wine on the worktop 6 fermenters and two cornies under the stairs a pub style double beer fridge full of bottles and a baby 11 liter corny in the utility room that usually gets wine tgat I can't be bothered to bottle .
have you thought about kegging your wine ? Space saver and you can pour a glass at a time if you don't want to open a whole bottle. ( I've have better results kegging White than red )

 

[The Goatreich]

I've just found wine racks on ebay that were reasonably prices and will store upwards of 40 bottles. I think that will actually serve me pretty well to start with, at least for the wine. I'll look into sorting something out in my shed for the beers.

 

[guyb]

Do you have any space in the house under the stairs, kitchen cupboard? Don't be tempted by a loft as temp fluctuations will be too great.

Interesting comment on the loft, do you mean long term storage in the loft, as in winter / summer?

I have been storing my beer in the loft the last four weeks, it's quite cold up there, in fact I have converted part of it and it's my office where I spend the majority of my time mon - fri.

I don't store the beer up here in the summer though.

So I was wondering the fluctuations, are these longer term over multi seasons?

 

[Bertie Doe]

Beer crates aren't always the most space economical way to store bottles, shelving may be better.

Agreed, it's amazing just how many bottles you can stack on shelves. In a room that used to be the outside loo, I managed to fit six 910mm x 360mm shelves.

Four shelves hold 60 .5L beer bottles each and 2 shelves hold 48 .7L wine bottles each. That's a grand total of 336 bottles. Next to it, is a defunct coal store, of slate and breeze construction - which I have my beady eye on ... :whistle:

 

[31bb3]

someone posted a few months ago using the space under the kick boards of the kitchen units nice and cool aswell :hmm:

 

[mattybabsy]

what about as the winter comes in? I have lots of room in my garage but am scared of the beers freezing

any ideas?

 

[The Goatreich]

Yeah this is a good point, if we have a winter like our last one then my beers will definitely perish in the shed. Perhaps I need to rejig the utility room.

 

[PhatFil]

old blankets/quilts etc can be used to pile on top of the beers and insulate them, on a cold n frosty night the chap with PET bottles rests a lot easier..

 

[eggman]

I've taken over the spare room to store mine, got three kegs and loads of bottles in crates stacked up. Used to have the crates all over the place but it doesn't go down well when the girlfriend stubs her toes on them :shock:

 

[PhatFil]

Just what is the danger temp? the alcohol in the beer should act as an antifreeze to a degree, so assuming a 4%abv beer (all mine seem to be stronger than that).. what temp is it gonna freeze at.

Im assuming that freezing and breaking bottles is the only danger involved here, or is there a threat to the beer itself with low temps?

I have frozen commercial beers in an attempt to flash chill them in the freezer n subsequently forgotten them all too often, and while the tins deform generally they hold and on melting the beer has seemed great..

 

[eblis]

5% beer will typically freeze at around minus 4 to 5c if left for 90 minutes or longer.

During the freezing months of winter the only suggestion is to store your beer in the house somewhere or may well freeze.

If you have your beer in PET bottles then they will crack and once defrosted the beer will be no good, if you glass bottles then it could possibly pop the cap off the end.

This is because when the molecules in water freeze, they expand because of their crystaline structure and the way the molecules are arranged and bonded. So when you take your frozen cans from the freezer they cans are always deformed.

 

[The Goatreich]

Right, I'm kicking my lodger out and having his spare room as a beer/wine cellar. :twisted:

 

[PhatFil]

5% beer will typically freeze at around minus 4 to 5c if left for 90 minutes or longer.

During the freezing months of winter the only suggestion is to store your beer in the house somewhere or may well freeze.

If you have your beer in PET bottles then they will crack and once defrosted the beer will be no good, if you glass bottles then it could possibly pop the cap off the end.

This is because when the molecules in water freeze, they expand because of their crystaline structure and the way the molecules are arranged and bonded. So when you take your frozen cans from the freezer they cans are always deformed.

: I only bottle up hlf a dozen or so bottles per brew n keg the rest so think that my few crates will be ok covered up in the garage fingers crossed... -4 eh will bear that in mind and if we get days that cold i may have to worry.

 

[bluebell]

I only really bottle up as I use it and keep the DJs on top of wardrobes - I know it is probably a bit warm but it is a constaint temperature and they appear to do ok :) But then none have been up there more than 6 months :whistle:

 

[graysalchemy]

Do you have any space in the house under the stairs, kitchen cupboard? Don't be tempted by a loft as temp fluctuations will be too great.

Interesting comment on the loft, do you mean long term storage in the loft, as in winter / summer?

I have been storing my beer in the loft the last four weeks, it's quite cold up there, in fact I have converted part of it and it's my office where I spend the majority of my time mon - fri.

I don't store the beer up here in the summer though.

So I was wondering the fluctuations, are these longer term over multi seasons?

Summer is probably more of a problem than winter, you could try wrapping them up to insulate them.

Just what is the danger temp? the alcohol in the beer should act as an antifreeze to a degree, so assuming a 4%abv beer (all mine seem to be stronger than that).. what temp is it gonna freeze at.

I think some people did report their beer freezing in sheds last winter during the cold snaps. However if you keep beer off the floor and insulate it a bit this would probably be enough to keep the frost at bay. Having said that if it goes down to minus 15c again then I would bring them indoors.