Yes, you heard right. Cellaring is not just for wine anymore, many craft beer fans are storing their beers for future enjoyment in the hopes that the aging process will increase the flavor and complexity.
I do not have a tendency for high retention of beer in my home, if there is some good beer around, it is going to be enjoyed rather quickly. But even I realize that it can be beneficial to store away some goodies from time to time because they will get better with age, or I would like to get a “vertical” going. With those not familiar, a “vertical” is when you have the same beer but from different years, so you can try each year consecutively. Many special release stouts are meant for a vertical because it is interesting to taste the different nuances of the beer going from year to year.
Which beers should we age? Barleywines, imperial/barrel-aged stouts, strong ales, lambics. These beer are rich enough that they can handle change over time for the better. Everything else generally has too many hops and only a shelf-life of a few months.
How do I resist temptation to drink it while it ages? Yes, there will come a night where you feel like taking out something out of storage prematurely. Here’s a good tip….whatever you plan on cellaring buy at least 2 of. You can drink one of them fresh so you aren't wondering how it tastes and the suspense will not chip at your perseverance. If you drink one fresh, the suspense will then will turn into the desire of having another properly aged so you can compare and this helps reinforce your patience.
Store upright or on the side? Debatable, but overall, I believe upright is the way to go. The lambics and sours often have a wooden cork. You don't want the beer touching the cork while it stores. It could infuse the cork flavor, risk infection, and potentially dry out the beer. If it doesn't have a wooden cork, being kept on the side still risks some oxidation to the beer.
How do I cellar the beer? If you’re like me, you don't have the funds or room to spring for a beautiful climate-controlled cellar space or cooler. Maybe if I cut down on the barrel-aged beer for a few months, I could afford one... but that’s crazy-talk. So what to use? Buy an old mini fridge and set it to the desired temp, or multiple ones at different temps for different kinds of beer. Still too extravagant? Storing the beers in a box or space where the temperature is constant could work, or a cooler where you try to control and manipulate the temperature will also work. These things do not need to be meticulous but kept within a general degree range and they will age fine. Keep them out of sunlight and away from heating and cooling sources. Sunlight destroys beer and being around these devices result in unwanted temperature shifts.
What degree should I cellar them at? Ideally, the beer should be stored at the same temperature you would drink it! Easy enough, right? As a general rule, the lambics, sours, and lighter stouts can be kept at 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit/7-10 degrees Celsius. The barleywines, strong ales, old ales, big stouts I would keep around 50-55 degrees Fahrenheit/ 10-12.7 degrees Celsius.
How long should I cellar it? This is a good question and there’s no clear answer. Stouts could be aged anywhere from 1-5 years but maybe more. Some Lambics and sours can be aged much longer. I would definitely check forums and with other beer fans to see how they enjoyed a beer at a certain age to get a better idea. The forums at https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum can be a valuable resource by asking in threads that pertain to cellaring or the particular style you are cellaring. Don't see it? Start your own thread, the people on here are very helpful and you will get some good responses coming in. There are a lot of really educated people on here as well, including cellarmen and huge craft beer nerds that have cellared a lot of beers and know the good times for each.
This is a nice general run-through for cellaring. It’s actually pretty easy and straightforward, the hard part is actually being patient with amazing beers in your house!
Cheers everyone! Please follow and/or upvote if you enjoyed this post!
Here’s my past post about Beer Serving Temperature if you’d like to hear more -