Comments on: Letters & E-mails: Is it OK to “re-chill” beer?

By: Scott N

Scott N — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:29:21 +0000

“I know that ideally I shouldn’t store my beer in the fridge too long with all the light in there and all.”

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070921181130AAGa5Pr

By: William Brand

William Brand — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:48:36 +0000

You have sharp eyes Mario. I’ll do a ;post on it in a minuted.

By: Mario (Brewed For Thought)

Mario (Brewed For Thought) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:18:25 +0000

So William, can we get a rundown of all those beers in your fridge? I see some Liberty Ale, Anderson valley 20, and some Rogue bottle I can’t identify. What else is in there?

By: William Brand

William Brand — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:58:44 +0000

To Mario..yeah, that’s what I did for years, a shelf in our pantry in Berkeley which was fairly cool and dark most of the time. However, there were some very hot days, even in Berkeley. So when wew moved out into hot weather country, I started refrigerating everything.

By: William Brand

William Brand — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:57:23 +0000

To Temo… posting the answer separately so everyone will see it.

By: Mario (Brewed For Thought)

Mario (Brewed For Thought) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:48:11 +0000

On the cork issue, look at a bottle of Chimay, it has an image specifically telling you to not lay the beer down. I trust Chimay. I keep all my corked beers upright.

As for storage, I keep my beer unrefrigerated. As long as you’re using something not in contact with the outside of the house, you should be ok. A closet in the middle of the house will stay cool, especially if you keep it closer to the floor. I simply have an old coffee table with storage underneath in my den and it keeps the beers dark and even on hot days when the den is warm, the storage area is cool and the bottles cool to the touch.

By: Temo

Temo — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:14:52 +0000

William,
Nice Blog.
Do you know if there will be a fee for the beer tent at the Slow food nation?
or how does that work?
You pay the entrance fee and go wild “beer testing”?
Or you have to pay for each beer?

Thanks
Temo

By: William Brand

William Brand — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:13:59 +0000

Just read Dan’s post. Sounds like good advice. I probably am keepng my fridge too cold as well. Will have to adjust that

By: William Brand

William Brand — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:10:43 +0000

Oh yes…one more comment on the Beer Advocate article:

“Many vintage beers are kept on beer shelves for quite some time before being sold. Don’t you think beer stores would shelve their corked beers like wine, if they were meant to be laid-down like wine?”

That’s hogwash. One. Retailers put beer up right so consumers can see the labels and maybe buy the beer. 2. Most beer retailers and especially their clerks don’t know enough about beer to give a damn which way the beer is stored.

By: William Brand

William Brand — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:07:23 +0000

Just checked out the Beer Advocate post. Hmmm. I don’t know what to think. The oldest beer I’ve ever tasted was a Ballantine Burton Ale, made in 1946 and bottled a few years laer. It had a crown cap (with cork lining on the inside) and tasted like sherry. Wonderful beer. A full case of the beer was found in a molding cardboard box in a root cellar in New England. That’s a good argument for upright storage.

Most brewers I’ve talked to say upright for crown caps, on the side for corked beers. But the Beer Advocate argument seems solid, doesn’t it.

I rarely keep a cellared beer longer than five years and I’ve never found an off flavor when I opened them. But then, I have little experience in this area. The oldest bottle of beer I own is a Thomas Hardy’s Ale from 1987. It’s been long stored in a pantry in Berkeley. Sometimes on its side, sometimes upright. God knows if it’s survived in any shape at all. I’m saving it for a special occasion, don’t know what.