Bottled Beer at Room Temp

My first brew has finally been in the bottle for almost 4 weeks and it is DELICIOUS!!! I couldn't believe it. This beer went from an "okay" odd taste with 0 carbonation at the 2 week mark to a glorious 3-finger head and great taste/aroma at 3 weeks. So now that it's drinkable, is it okay to leave the bottles at room temp. and just throw a couple in the fridge when I plan to drink them? Do you have to cool them all at this point? I'm hoping not since there isn't room in my fridge for that.

prolonged cold storage will reduce hop flavor in your beers. I had it happen to me and researched on here that it is a legitimate problem. On the same note, I've read that your beers do need at least a good 24 hours in the fridge to let the CO2 in the head space dissolve back into the beer, though I haven't noticed that much of a difference in drinking the beer at hour 3 in the fridge vs. hour 36. I like to only keep enough beer in the fridge to satisfy my daily intake, leaving the rest at room temp.

JBrady said:

prolonged cold storage will reduce hop flavor in your beers.

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Um, wtf? As compared to storing warm? Citation needed.

Short version: Your beer's flavor will continue to evolve (and usually improve) over time if they are kept at room temperature. The rule of thumb is that the best beer in any batch is always the last one. Storing them chilled basically stops the process of flavor maturation.

ThirdGen said:

My first brew has finally been in the bottle for almost 4 weeks and it is DELICIOUS!!! I couldn't believe it. This beer went from an "okay" odd taste with 0 carbonation at the 2 week mark to a glorious 3-finger head and great taste/aroma at 3 weeks. So now that it's drinkable, is it okay to leave the bottles at room temp. and just throw a couple in the fridge when I plan to drink them? Do you have to cool them all at this point? I'm hoping not since there isn't room in my fridge for that.

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That's what I do. I just always keep a few cold ones in the fridge. The rest sit out in my basement in the mid 60's.

Thanks, I'll keep them all at room temp then (which is around 70F).

assuming you didn't bottle to early or add to much priming sugar (which it sounds like you didn't) leaving the bottles out is a great idea. the beer will keep improving as the days and weeks go by.

SteveM said:

Short version: Your beer's flavor will continue to evolve (and usually improve) over time if they are kept at room temperature. The rule of thumb is that the best beer in any batch is always the last one. Storing them chilled basically stops the process of flavor maturation.

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+1. You can leave your beers at room temperature. Cold storage helps you dissolve the CO2 faster, but it puts your yeasts to sleep...

944play said:

Um, wtf? As compared to storing warm? Citation needed.

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You know after reading this I re-researched bottle storage and I can't believe I have been under the impression that cold storage damages hop flavor more than warm storage. I guess I misunderstood the information I was reading. Thanks for the citation, lol.

I wonder how temperature affects the volatility of aromatic hop oils? I have an IPA that hits its stride after a few weeks of bottle conditioning, but after a month or two the aroma is gone. Would that aroma last longer if I put them in the fridge once they hit their peak?

I usually crash cool my beer in the freezer just before I'm ready to drink it. This is fine until I forget to take it out of the freezer, then I get beer-sickles.