Storing bottled beer

[Supayido]

Once you've bottled your latest batch, where do you store it? I've been searching for more creative methods than dotting shoe boxes around the house Only thing I can think of is milk crates so I can stack them. Any ideas?

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but couldn't find anything. Apologies if I'm covering old ground.

 

[obscure]

If your willing to buy them you can get plastic stackable bottle crates. Currently out of stock but I bought these ones a while back:

https://www.home-brew-online.com/eq...e-plastic-crate-20-beer-bottle-capacity-p3270
They stack nicely in the garage, sadly pricing for things like this at the moment is getting ridiculous (saw them going for close to thirty pounds from one amazon seller), but in the long run I found them to be worth the money.

 

[Supayido]

If your willing to buy them you can get plastic stackable bottle crates. Currently out of stock but I bought these ones a while back:

https://www.home-brew-online.com/eq...e-plastic-crate-20-beer-bottle-capacity-p3270
They stack nicely in the garage, sadly pricing for things like this at the moment is getting ridiculous (saw them going for close to thirty pounds from one amazon seller), but in the long run I found them to be worth the money.

That is exactly what I am after. I was trying to avoid shelling out £50 odd for a few crates, but may be worth it in the long run.

 

[BrewMeHappy]

I use standard milk crates that look the same as the image in that link. The problem with mine is that they are a bit short so 500mm bottles stick above the top so you can't stack them.

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

If you are buying crates look for the height clearance, especially if you reuse commercial bottles of different heights. The ones I bought take and stack some, but others like hobgoblin bottles for example are too tall and renders stacking obsolete.

 

[BrewMeHappy]

I'm too busy, or lazy, but I have load of spare wood planks and plywood that I had planned to make some stackable creates from. Hopefully I'll do it one day.

 

[obscure]

If you are buying crates look for the height clearance, especially if you reuse commercial bottles of different heights. The ones I bought take and stack some, but others like hobgoblin bottles for example are too tall and renders stacking obsolete.

Hate to say it but very true, I ended up, scrapping a fair few bottles as couldn’t stack with them, generally they work best with the very standard short squat brown 500ml bottles.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I'm in the process of making some shelving to store my beer under the stairs. Crates are probably best is it's a pain moving individual bottles from my "warm place" to under the stairs. I'm really only making the shelves in order to do a bit of diy in between brews, rather than it being the best solution.

This is probably the least useful response - sorry.

 

[BrewMeHappy]

I'm in the process of making some shelving to store my beer under the stairs. Crates are probably best is it's a pain moving individual bottles from my "warm place" to under the stairs. I'm really only making the shelves in order to do a bit of diy in between brews, rather than it being the best solution.

This is probably the least useful response - sorry.

I'm sure I saw a great tip on here where someone had painted their shelves or the front of them with blackboard paint and then they simply write on them with chalk to identify your stash rather than labelling the bottles.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I'm sure I saw a great tip on here where someone had painted their shelves or the front of them with blackboard paint and then they simply write on them with chalk to identify your stash rather than labelling the bottles.

That's exactly my plan
I also have a small chalkboard with 6 magnets glued down the side to which I can attach the different coloured bottle caps and write next to them what is in each bottle along with the abv.

 

[Spratt]

Once you've bottled your latest batch, where do you store it? I've been searching for more creative methods than dotting shoe boxes around the house Only thing I can think of is milk crates so I can stack them. Any ideas?

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but couldn't find anything. Apologies if I'm covering old ground.

Second hand 4 drawer filing cabinet. You can get 24 bottles in a drawer, so each cabinet holds just under 100 bottles. Can cope with 660ml bottles (i.e. slightly taller than average ones). And all in a small footprint.

David

 

[An Ankoù]

I'm too busy, or lazy, but I have load of spare wood planks and plywood that I had planned to make some stackable creates from. Hopefully I'll do it one day.

I have no choice. Can't find decent crates anywhere.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

My storage in the garage

 

[An Ankoù]

My storage in the garageView attachment 25899

A fine stock. It warms my heart to see it. :hat:

 

[An Ankoù]

I use standard milk crates that look the same as the image in that link. The problem with mine is that they are a bit short so 500mm bottles stick above the top so you can't stack them.

Cut a couple of lengths of 2x2 a bit wider than the crate and lay them across the crates, between the bottles. They'll stack nicely then.

 

[PhilBrew]

Back in the days when international travel was a thing ... trips to more enlightened countries like Netherlands, Belgium or Germany could be an excuse to buy 20 bottles of beer which would, for the cost of a few Euros deposit (refundable if you were ever going to take them back) would come in a brewery branded plastic crate ...

... that Paulaner splittable crate ... apparently it's quite common for the average German to buy half a crate of Weisse and half a crate of Dunkel for the weekend, and making the crates splittable saves lots of moving lots of bottles around in the shop ... is my prize possession. It's the top of the range from the "Mercedes Benz" of crate engineering, the two halves lock together when the individual handles are pushed down, but the two halves feel perfectly balanced when carrying them separately (into a party on a yacht in St Tropez, say )

I've got around 9 of various brands now ... who knows, some day such travel may be feasible again
Cheers, PhilB

 

[MmmBeer]

Second hand 4 drawer filing cabinet. You can get 24 bottles in a drawer, so each cabinet holds just under 100 bottles. Can cope with 660ml bottles (i.e. slightly taller than average ones). And all in a small footprint.

David

Good idea. Plenty on fleabay / gumtree, if you're able to collect.

 

[dad_of_jon]

Back in the days when international travel was a thing ... trips to more enlightened countries like Netherlands, Belgium or Germany could be an excuse to buy 20 bottles of beer which would, for the cost of a few Euros deposit (refundable if you were ever going to take them back) would come in a brewery branded plastic crate ...

... that Paulaner splittable crate ... apparently it's quite common for the average German to buy half a crate of Weisse and half a crate of Dunkel for the weekend, and making the crates splittable saves lots of moving lots of bottles around in the shop ... is my prize possession. It's the top of the range from the "Mercedes Benz" of crate engineering, the two halves lock together when the individual handles are pushed down, but the two halves feel perfectly balanced when carrying them separately (into a party on a yacht in St Tropez, say )

I've got around 9 of various brands now ... who knows, some day such travel may be feasible again
Cheers, PhilB

this is what ive done I've even taken empties back. I have 10 crates now.

 

[chthon]

I built crates from pallets. Using a Facebook group for people who give away things, I was able to obtain pallets for free, broke them up into their planks and built three sizes of crates: a type for 75cl bottles, a type for 37,5cl/long 33cl bottles, and a type for Duvel type 33 cl bottles. Took me an autumn, spending an hour every evening after work building them.

 

[An Ankoù]

I built crates from pallets. Using a Facebook group for people who give away things, I was able to obtain pallets for free, broke them up into their planks and built three sizes of crates: a type for 75cl bottles, a type for 37,5cl/long 33cl bottles, and a type for Duvel type 33 cl bottles. Took me an autumn, spending an hour every evening after work building them.

That's the way. Any photos?