Aging Beer Temperature

OK, so we all know some beers age well and some don't. This isn't meant to be a debate on that...

What I was wondering, is if you make a beer worth aging, is there a specific temperature that will benefit the aging process? With wine, it is well accepted that 55-57F will create the best tasting wine so long as you wait the prescribed amount of time.

Aging beer is a newer phenomenon, but is there a temperature that benefits it much the same way?

 

I would go low to mid 50's for a nice overrall average of temps. Serving temps in the upper 50's is good for strong beers like RIS, barleywine, quads, etc. 50-55 range is good for stronger mid strength beers like IPA's, stouts. 45-50 range is good for your lighter beers like pilsner and hefes. Figure as the ABV goes up you can cellar warmer. If you store too warm you will shorten your shelf life. Too cold and you can get things like chill haze. Just pick a temp and keep it consistent. If you use a fridge remember it will dry out corks so you won't want to store corked beers in it for long term...hope that helps.

 

Yeah, I read http://beers.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_cellar_beer too, but I was more wondering about people's actual experience with aging temperatures. I think most just age at room temp, but I am wondering if that is the "best" choice.

 

Love the bLACK DOG..LOOKS JUST LIKE MINE..

 

Lot like mine too

 

I brewed a fat tire clone last spring, and I gave my parents a six pack after it had been in the bottle for over a month. Well, during thanksgiving I happened to find some still in the fridge. My parents aren't big beer drinkers (or they don't like my beer ) I cracked one open, and it tasted just fantastic. Well, I was excited because I still had a few that I left in the basement to age. When I got home I put them in the fridge and let them cool for about a week.

However, I drank the brews that had been sitting in the basement - they definitely had this kind of "stale" flavor to them that beer from my parents fridge did not have. So, in this small experience just letting the beer age at room temperature definitely did hurt the beer.

 

I am fairly sure I heard Jamil Z say on one of his shows that in general (if not always) beer should be aged at fridge temps. Don't quote me (or JZ) on that though! I'll try to find the podcast where he said that in order to verify...

 

I actually nabbed the technicals from Beeradvocate, but same diff. That data was not randomly assigned, it is based off scientific experience. It is a balance between the good and bad of either side of the temp spectrum. Go to a beer store and find a nice dusty bottle of beer that has been sitting at store temp on the shelf for a good long time and then find a fresh bottle of the same and try them side by side and I think you will quickly get the idea why storing at room temp isn't the best idea for long term storage. Store too cold and you will be fine, you just won't have certain aged characters from my understanding.

 

Still a newb, so take it with a grain of salt.

It seems like all of the batches that taste good only seem to get better with age. I haven't aged anything for longer than 5 months, but in particular, I had a Irish ale that I brewed in early July. I started drinking them near the end of July and it was pretty darn tasty. When I got down to a 6 pack, I put it up in my beer closet and decided I wouldn't drink it until December.

End of December came around, and I tried it, and it was just plain terrific. I wish I had put more up. So the beer had aged for just over 5 months.

My beer closet is in the basement, and it's somewhere around 65 in the summer, 60 or so in the winter.

 

With temp like that and storing less than a year you are GTG...basement sounds like it has a pretty stable temp so that is a plus.

I hear you about getting to the end when it is just getting good. A lot of that has to do with the beer clearing out with time though. If you cold crash your beer good and cold so that it clears in the carboy before moving to be bottled it will help it taste better sooner.

 

I just started putting a keezer together, and am getting ready to start kegging, so your reply is good news!

 

All interesting stuff guys...I am wondering now if wine aging temperatures would not be the most beneficial, since room temp seems too hot and fridge temps might be too cold. I wonder the reasoning there...

 

I've done all my conditioning at 50f-55f. I have a huge freezer I store grains in it, cold condition ales in the cornie and ferment ales and lagers in it. I have a few beers that have been "forgotten" and have aged well at this temp, even though according to conventional wisdom, weren't supposed to.

 

You would be correct. It was actually Charlie Bamforth that suggested it since they were interviewing him. I'm not sure but I think it was in the hot side aeration show.

 

dkershner - I will speak out of my ass to answer your questions. I would assume that you do not store too cold as that would slow down activity to the point that you would not get the benefit of the slow reactions that continue in the bottle. But, I would imagine there is a trade off on things such as warmer temps allow the yeast to keep doing its thing while colder temps will preserve the hops as oxidation slows down. I found the following web site that looked like it would have a lot of answers but did not feel like really digging into it right now...

http://www.brewbasement.com/