Beer storage temp?

[hartlesj]

I'm planning a few batches for a family members wedding and have some beer storage questions. This is the first event of this kind I've done and am looking for advice.
The bottom line question; is it OK to let beer come back up to room temp after a cold crash? Is there a recommended process to do this?

I will have 6 or so corny kegs but I only have room to store 2 in my fridge. I think I'm going to cold crash them to clear them up then let them come up to room temp for storage. once they come out of the fridge and I transfer the beer to a keg, I'm going to hook it up to my spare CO2 bottle for carbonation. I have a Jocky box that I'll use at the wedding for serving.

I've been to events where the keg was kept under the table and fed through a jockey box. I wonder if they do the same thing or if they brew, and never cold crash before they serve. Also, it can't be too bad for the beer, considering I pick up Lagers at room temp at the store, then put in my fridge at home. They have to go through some kind of cold process for lagering, then they come up to room temp for shipping and storage in the store.

Any advice here would be appreciated.
Steve

 

[VikeMan]

Storing beer at higher temps accelerates whatever reactions are going to happen in the beer, including staling. A common rule of thumb for chemical reactions is to assume that they happen twice as fast for each 10C (18F) increase in temperature. I think beer staling fits this rule of thumb pretty well.

 

[gnef]

It will most likely be fine, but isn't ideal. You do what you are able to do though, and do the best that you can.

If you can figure a way to keep it cold, that is always preferable though. This will also help with any possible infections, staling, etc.

If there is no way to keep it cold though, your decision is already set, so you manage with what you have.

 

[TechFanMD]

Curious, what kind(s) of beer are you making? Some types are more delicate in this way than others, and some leave nowhere for off flavors to hide while others may be really hard to taste staling through. A pale ale hides nothing, a bourbon barrel stout hides a lot.

Where do you live? In some parts of the country, you could keep it pretty cold in a shed or something at this point in the year.

 

[hartlesj]

I live in eastern virginia. Temps are in the 70s now, not horrible, but definitely not ideal.

I'm making all ales. A stout, a red, a black IPA, a Heff, etc.

It's funny. Brulosophy released a podcast earlier this week on this very topic. My initial thought was that it wouldn't be too bad, but after hearing their podcast, I'm pretty surprised to learn that most people can tell the difference. What surprised me was that warm storage is a pretty common practice among comercial brewers. Any walk through a total wine or other store with a large selection of craft beer and you'll see most of it is stored on shelves at room temp. Next time I go, I'll have to grab a few bottles that are the same but kept at different temps and see if there is a difference I can notice.

 

[Alex4mula]

True. Don’t understand. Why a keg would be different? Is just a bigger bottle. No?

 

[VikeMan]

True. Don’t understand. Why a keg would be different? Is just a bigger bottle. No?

They're really not different. Higher temps accelerate staling (and most other reactions) regardless of the container.

 

[Vale71]

It's funny. Brulosophy released a podcast earlier this week on this very topic. My initial thought was that it wouldn't be too bad, but after hearing their podcast, I'm pretty surprised to learn that most people can tell the difference.

I'm more surprised that Brülosophy detected a difference at all. With them it's a pretty rare occurence...

As to commercial beers they are handled and processed to much more stringent standards than most homebrewed beer so a direct comparison is not really meaningful nor helpful.

 

[Beermeister32]

After bottling a batch, test one at 3-4 weeks to see if they are carbonated. If not, carbonate longer and re-test. Some home brewers check this by bottling one bottle in a plastic soda bottle to check hardness. I usually just open a glass bottle, decant it in a bar glass and drink it.

If they are carbonated adequately, it is best to get them into a refrigerator for cold conditioning / lagering forever. Until you drink them all that is. Room temperature storage is OK on some brews for a while, but not optimal and can cause issues on some batches. Better to store them cold, 34-38F. They get better after lagering a few months!

 

[Gozie Boy]

Some craft brewers, even well known ones, may still have QC problems. I recently bought a 4-pk of Left Hand IPA cans off the shelf from Total Wine. After about a week in my fridge, I opened one and BOOM! Opened another one and BOOM, another eruption. We either have some quality control issues here or a prolonged period of ambient storage. Whatever is going on might have been mitigated, at least for a longer period of time, through cool storage.

 

[TechFanMD]

I'm more surprised that Brülosophy detected a difference at all. With them it's a pretty rare occurence...

As to commercial beers they are handled and processed to much more stringent standards than most homebrewed beer so a direct comparison is not really meaningful nor helpful.

I remember them doing an experiment where they rode around with the keg in their hot car for a week and compared it to one held at storage and couldn't tell a difference.

I've experimented with bottles stored in the hot garage (90F) for a month vs held at 40F in this way and could not tell a difference for a stout or a blonde ale.

 

[Beermeister32]

That is very interesting. I've left some batches carbonating and forgotten in the closet for a few months, seemed OK. Never did comparison at those temps though.

Best taste I've had is when they are lagered nice and cold for minimum 3 months. Just seems to improve so much!