Beer

McStew

Help needed! I entered in a lottery to win a chance at some good beer and lucky me I was picked as a winner.  I was able to pick up three bottles of Black Tuesday from The Brewery.  I have been told to drink one bottle when I get them in, one at one year and the other in two years.  

Should I just store these in my home fridge or should I lower the temp in my wine fridge and kick out some of my wife's wine? The wine fridge only goes down to 55 degrees.  I would rather just keep it in the home fridge but the suggested temps for storing is 50-56 degrees.  I would presume the temps in the home fridge are in the 40's most of the day.  

SO is it better to keep colder or a bit warmer in a wine fridge?  

Thanks 

buzd504

I keep beers in my wine fridge.

nolaegghead

If your refrigerator is in the 40s you have a problem.  I would store with the wine. It'll probably age a bit faster.

McStew

@nolaegghead @NPHuskerFL
hahah what should it be? personally i have never check i just assumed... set it and forget it! 

henapple

Drink it... I have a philosophy. I'm not gonna die with good alcohol or cigars waiting. I damn sure don't want my bil getting them. 

nolaegghead

32 to 39F. I keep mine between 32 and 33 in the coldest spot. Danger Will Robinson temp is >40.

McStew

@nolaegghead thanks I have never checked the actual temp before ... cold colder coldest kinda guy 

YEMTrey

Those beers will be fine stored in the wine fridge.  They're also such a big, complex, beer that you could leave them in a dark corner of the basement as well.  One year there won't make a big difference.  Black Tuesday is a really good beer.  Congrats on the win.

northGAcock

I think you are suppose to drink all three with me. I'll be out in Cali in a couple of weeks. I can stop by.

McStew

 @YEMTrey thanks man clearing space in the wine fridge now 

McStew

@northGAcock anytime!

Begger

Very Very FEW beers improve in bottle.   I can only think of ONE right off the bat, and it is a Belgian Ale style called either Kreik or Lambic.   

Lagers, of course, are BREWED cold, Lager is made with a special, cold temp yeast and brewed, generally, in the low 30s f.  

Phatchris

I'd keep them in a dark basement, or just send them my way and I'll store them for you...

YEMTrey

Begger said:

Very Very FEW beers improve in bottle.   I can only think of ONE right off the bat, and it is a Belgian Ale style called either Kreik or Lambic.   

Lagers, of course, are BREWED cold, Lager is made with a special, cold temp yeast and brewed, generally, in the low 30s f.  

He's talking about aging a beer for one year, maybe two.  A 15% + beer at that if I recall.
I agree, long term aging doesn't work much for beers aside from lambics, gueuze, etc.  However, aging a high abv beer for a year or two can help in certain cases.  For example, I've had good success aging North Coast Old Stock Ale, Bell's Expedition, Rochefort 10, Pannepot, etc.  What get's most folks in trouble is thinking that anything will improve with age.   Cheers!

Griffin

Is it a lager or an ale?

I've got some bourbon barrel porter than I brewed sitting in my hall closet. Coming up close to 2 years now. The longer it sits, the better its getting. I should never have opened any before a year old, but I was impatient. Time has allowed the bourbon and the oak to mellow. I was told when I made it that three years is the sweet spot, but I doubt I'll have any left by then. Need to get going on another batch.

jtcBoynton

Black Tuesday is an imperial stout that clocks in at 18-19% ABV (depending on the batch - I think this year's is at 19.9%).  It should be fine for aging.

@McStew    55º will be fine. Use the wine fridge.  The 35-38º your fridge should be at is too cold.

fishlessman

Griffin said:

Is it a lager or an ale?

I've got some bourbon barrel porter than I brewed sitting in my hall closet. Coming up close to 2 years now. The longer it sits, the better its getting. I should never have opened any before a year old, but I was impatient. Time has allowed the bourbon and the oak to mellow. I was told when I made it that three years is the sweet spot, but I doubt I'll have any left by then. Need to get going on another batch.

you have to hide these from yourself, then feel lucky a year down the road when you find one. pretty much the only way i could make them last

McStew

@Griffin it is an Imperial Stout 19.9% 

McStew

http://http//www.thebruery.com/beer/black-tuesday/?category=tasting-room-only   
Above is the link to what it is Im going to try my best to let these age over time.  I'm sure it wont be an easy road 

McStew

http://www.thebruery.com/beer/black-tuesday/?category=tasting-room-only
Sorry fat fingers I think 

NPHuskerFL

Good Lawd!  Let's not discuss "safe zone" temps I do that all day everyday. Beer should be kept cold in the cooler or out. That is until...

Griffin

I'm no expert but I don't see why you need to keep it cold to age it. Sounds similar to the one I did (but mine was only 9.7%) and its aged well sitting in a closet, but what do I know? If they suggest it you might want to do it. I think if you got it too cold (whatever temp that maybe, depends on the yeast) it wouldn't really age as it would stop the yeast from doing their bottle conditioning thing.

nolaegghead

Different temperatures favor some chemical reactions and biological activity.  Lagers like to be cold fermented, for example.  Although there's not much biological activity in a high ABV aging for long times, there's still all kinds of chemical reactions. If you've left a few bottles of beer in a hot car for a couple of weeks, you'll get first hand feedback when you drink them some of the higher temp results - skunk.

McStew

 NPHuskerFL said:

Good Lawd!  Let's not discuss "safe zone" temps I do that all day everyday. Beer should be kept cold in the cooler or out. That is until...

At $30.00 a bottle I'm trying to keep them like a nice bottle of wine.  Just trying to make sure I don't  F this one up.   HAHAHAH  

I will probably get drunk one night and just crack into them anyways and screw it all up.

Darby_Crenshaw

imperial stout is perfect for aging. just went over twenty years for a case i made and bottled in 22oz (or so) bottles.

McStew

So I compromised with the wife and got my own wine fridge with a lower temperature range on Amazon today.  Problem solved 

jtcBoynton

@McStew Are you sure your problem is solved?  New wine fridge with two bottles of beer sounds like the wife has an opportunity to expand her wine collection!  

McStew

jtcBoynton said:

@McStew Are you sure your problem is solved?  New wine fridge with two bottles of beer sounds like the wife has an opportunity to expand her wine collection!  

yah I know I need to work fast and get it filled ASAP or it will be taken over ! 

Darby_Crenshaw

good luck with your brew.  it should age fine for at least a few years.  Just dug out the Imperial Stout, and the wife figures it is at least 22 years old.

going to give it a shot tonight.  no apparent ullage as they say.

i decided to let it go longer (although at the time that was only going to be a year or two) because the extra sugar was just a bit too much.  the recipe included molasses, and it seemed to be all i could taste at the time.

i was worried about secondary fermentation, or bacterial badness, but there doesn't seem to be any foolishness as yet.

EDIT: whole purpose of this follow up was to post the pic i just took, and yet i forgot to.

YEMTrey

Are they capped bottles?  It'll be interesting at that age to see if they were compromised and you see some rust around the cap and have an oxidized beer.  Good luck!

McStew

@Darby_Crenshaw let us know how it goes after you give it a try i'm interested to find out.  I have a couple of Firestone Parabola's that have been in the fridge from I think 2011.  I have these planned for Xmas this year