Beer Cellar thread - real cellars, closet cellars, fridge cellars, freezer cellars, wine coolers

[barleywinefiend]

Holy molly... That's a sick bw stash!

Thanky sir. My Barrel Aged BIF target helped me put a dent in this.

 

[jtmartino1]

Thanky sir. My Barrel Aged BIF target helped me put a dent in this.

OT questions: What BW ages the best in your experience, and what's our favorite BW overall? Ever done a blind tasting?

I used to be really into barleywines. Have probably 24 different BA BWs in the cellar right now, most of which I've had before and am just aging a bit to see what happens. Now, I'm realizing that they all kinda end up in the same place with a few years on them - kinda one-note maltbombs that lose a lot of the bourbon or spice they have when fresh.

 

[kzeon]

Funny, my reaction was "dear god that's a lot of beer to get rid of". Different strokes...

they aren't my favorite type of beer, but there's still some seriously amazing bottles in that cellar.

 

[barleywinefiend]

OT questions: What BW ages the best in your experience, and what's our favorite BW overall? Ever done a blind tasting?

I used to be really into barleywines. Have probably 24 different BA BWs in the cellar right now, most of which I've had before and am just aging a bit to see what happens. Now, I'm realizing that they all kinda end up in the same place with a few years on them - kinda one-note maltbombs that lose a lot of the bourbon or spice they have when fresh.

After years of ticking and cellaring almost everything under the sun in the category i sordove narrowed it down to what i ahve now. Stuff like ADWTD, Bride Maker, Hammerhead are my science experiments. Of the English persuasion I always go for JW Lee's and Tom Hardy's. Obviously. However, others of English persuasion I have found to really go the distance are MoAS. Last year at MoAS release we did a draft vert of 2010-2014 MoAS and each years was a bit different, all very sweet, all very damn good. BA Old Stocks, Gratitudes, Samael's, BA Numbskulls, and BA Behemoth. I think most FW stuff falls off after three-four years. Central Waters BBBW are easy, cheap, and good. Arctic Devil, for me, three years and it's prime. Personal taste. But the Bruery Anniversary...my oh my, those do oh so well. I just drank a Fruet a few weeks ago. Orgasmic and still hadroom to grow.

As far as 'Merican goes...I really like the Olde Bluehairs. they always bring a natural funk to them from the barrels. They're always intersting and varies from year to year. HoTD is one that always does well. If you even drink a Batch 6 Adam(not ran American Bwine but throwing out there for convo puproses) you'll lose your **** on how good it is, along with older Doggie Claws. However, with the recent issues I'm waiting to see if this will still be the case down the road. I'm not a big fan of fresh Bigfoot or most American barleywines and prefer to let them sit for several years. Most of them tend to peak, for me anyhow at three-four years, with Bigfoot being an exception.

 

[jtmartino1]

Awesome, thanks for the summary. I agree, MoAS is amazing - I have 2010-2014 in the cellar right now. One of my favs, probably because it has a roasted malt note not found in other English Barleywines I've tried (reminding me of HotD Adam).

I'd love to try some older English stuff like JW Lees or Hardy's with 10+ years on it. Have you had King Henry recently? It's fantastic, and one of my favorites right now. Also agreed on American Barleywines - prefer to have the hops fade. Still haven't gotten into my old Bruery stuff, but given the treatments and the ABV, I can see how it turns interesting.

What temperature do you keep your bottles at?

 

[barleywinefiend]

Awesome, thanks for the summary. I agree, MoAS is amazing - I have 2010-2014 in the cellar right now. One of my favs, probably because it has a roasted malt note not found in other English Barleywines I've tried (reminding me of HotD Adam).

I'd love to try some older English stuff like JW Lees or Hardy's with 10+ years on it. Have you had King Henry recently? It's fantastic, and one of my favorites right now. Also agreed on American Barleywines - prefer to have the hops fade. Still haven't gotten into my old Bruery stuff, but given the treatments and the ABV, I can see how it turns interesting.

What temperature do you keep your bottles at?

A little high for cellaring since I sold my coolers. I always keep the house at 68F year round in the dark. That's not exactly where I want it to be but I have to deal with it for now and make it work. I always kept my coolers at 58F.

 

[barleywinefiend]

they aren't my favorite type of beer, but there's still some seriously amazing bottles in that cellar.

I get a big ol stiffy from mjmoser cellar. That's a sweet setup with a lot of goodness.

 

[nophunk]

Have you had King Henry recently? It's fantastic, and one of my favorites right now.

I domed one after a day on the slopes in January. Dangerously drinkable in its current state, bourbon brownie heaven. I thought it was great. But Aaron is better right now IMO. That two year barrel aging imparted some really amazing flavors.

 

[barleywinefiend]

My basement cellar as of 6ish months ago...

Many of those bottles have since been drank, but the total # of bottles down there hasn't gotten much smaller.

(Yes, this is a California basement...)

Where were you when I was living in SLO?

 

[Patoo]

Updated cellar now that I'm settling into the house. Still have two boxes of beer to find room for.

 

[PepeSylvia1]

Only been trading / cellaring beer for less than a year. And yes I realize there are a few IPA's in the mix. I need a better method to organize, it is hard to find the stuff in the back, they go 3 to 4 rows deep.

 

[drbenzo1]

Only been trading / cellaring beer for less than a year. And yes I realize there are a few IPA's in the mix. I need a better method to organize, it is hard to find the stuff in the back, they go 3 to 4 rows deep.

Drink
Edit: more

 

[CharlieMurphy1]

Only been trading / cellaring beer for less than a year. And yes I realize there are a few IPA's in the mix. I need a better method to organize, it is hard to find the stuff in the back, they go 3 to 4 rows deep.

Moar Tupperware

 

[PepeSylvia1]

Moar Tupperware

Those are bottle conditioning homebrews... I am nervous about them blowing up

 

[oregonskibum1]

An update on my cellar project (see page 13 for details). The super cheap A/C I bought as a cooling unit failed me this summer. It was a $119 A/C from Home Depot that was a manual control (no electronic board). I hacked out the internal thermostat and plugged the A/C into a temp controller. For the first summer, it worked to keep the cellar cooled down to 58-60. A little warmer than desired, but satisfactory.

This summer, the unit starting icing up, even with the temp bumped to 60. I was constantly battling it, with the grills freezing with increasing frequency. That required thawing, cleaning, re-setting the temp controller, etc. The cellar temp was also getting above acceptable levels. Something had to be done.

I looked into official wine cellar units, but they were expensive. But then, a solution was found, thanks in part from the advice of Trevor at De Garde brewing. I purchased a new A/C unit, going from 5,000 BTU to 8,000 BTU and most importantly, I also purchased a used CoolBot. Here's a pic of the new set-up:

This was taken right after installation, showing the A/C (which fortunately fit into the "window" into the cellar) and the CoolBot off to the right. Note the temperature at 63. Ouch.

Here's a close-up of the CoolBot just a couple hours later. Now that's better!

The CoolBot has three probes:
1. Room - traditional temp probe that measures the temperature of the cellar
2. Fins - temp probe that is inserted into the A/C grills
3. Heater - you attach this to the A/C's temp probe and the CoolBot warms up to control the A/C thermostat

Here's a picture of the interior set-up. You can see the probe inserted into the grills and the tin foil mating the A/C thermostat prob with the heater wire from the CoolBot.

Since installing, the temp in the cellar has been +/- 1 degree of the setting all the time, and at the desired setting most of the time. It has worked without fail. The cost of the CoolBot (if buying new) is $300. Even getting a nice A/C unit, this is far, far cheaper than a wine cooler. And I now have confidence that the A/C isn't going to freeze up and the cellar stays exactly at the temp I want it.

For those of you looking at cellar cooling options - I definitely recommend looking into the CoolBot.

 

[swivelhips1]

Those are bottle conditioning homebrews... I am nervous about them blowing up

You waxed your homebrews?

 

[PepeSylvia1]

You waxed your homebrews?

Yup I like to play around... Those are braggots with the mustard colored wax. The wax makes my ****** home brew taste better.

 

[CharlieMurphy1]

Those are bottle conditioning homebrews... I am nervous about them blowing up

Very smart! Had a frightening bomb batch that shatter-exploded a thick ass HF 2L growler (glass stuck in living room walls and ceiling) but the seal remained intact


Opening the remaining 60 bottles as soon as possible was pretty nerve-wracking. Beyond thankful it occurred at 6am before anyone was awake/in the living room.

 

[CharlieMurphy1]

You waxed your homebrews?

Although tedious I think it's a pretty good way to ensure a proper seal. For something that maybe you've worked on conditioning/blending for over a year, and/or maybe your clamper is just a piece of ****, I think it's worth it for ageable beer.

 

[neorunner]

Nice setup, I know a local brewery that trieds to use a cool-bot to control the temp in their fermentation room (four 3bbl tanks).

Question - I can't see a drain line for your condensation, does it just drip on the floor?

 

[Gonzoillini1]

Nice setup, I know a local brewery that trieds to use a cool-bot to control the temp in their fermentation room (four 3bbl tanks).

Question - I can't see a drain line for your condensation, does it just drip on the floor?

There is a local brewery who uses a coolbot and a cheap AC unit to control the temperature of their cold storage room, and after seeing it setup and in action I think that is going to be the way I end up going.

 

[oregonskibum1]

Nice setup, I know a local brewery that trieds to use a cool-bot to control the temp in their fermentation room (four 3bbl tanks).

Question - I can't see a drain line for your condensation, does it just drip on the floor?

Yes, I let it drip. There's not much water and I just position a pitcher I use for homebrewing below it.

 

[neorunner]

There is a local brewery who uses a coolbot and a cheap AC unit to control the temperature of their cold storage room, and after seeing it setup and in action I think that is going to be the way I end up going.

That's a lot different than 370+ gallons of exothermic reaction vs a window ac unit.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

That's a lot different than 370+ gallons of exothermic reaction vs a window ac unit.

Oh yea totally hear you, kind of insane a brewery would try and cut corners when it comes to controlling fermentation temps. I know of another local place that didn't want to spend the money on Glycol for their jacketed fermenters so they are / were running water instead...

 

[tehzachatak]

I know of another local place that didn't want to spend the money on Glycol for their jacketed fermenters so they are / were running water instead...

So, total noob question here, but I'm curious why this is an issue for a brewery, actually. I've always kind of wondered about this because glycol ain't cheap. Do breweries usually run cooling for their jacketed fermenters below 32 degrees F? Obviously that's why you use glycol in engine coolant - "antifreeze" kinda covers it, but I always assumed you just dialed your fermentor coolant into whatever temperature you wanted to ferment at, which is always going to be above freezing..

The specific heat for glycol is lower than that of water, so water would actually cool more effectively, wouldn't it?

 

[tehzachatak]

So, total noob question here, but I'm curious why this is an issue for a brewery, actually. I've always kind of wondered about this because glycol ain't cheap. Do breweries usually run cooling for their jacketed fermenters below 32 degrees F? Obviously that's why you use glycol in engine coolant - "antifreeze" kinda covers it, but I always assumed you just dialed your fermentor coolant into whatever temperature you wanted to ferment at, which is always going to be above freezing..

The specific heat for glycol is lower than that of water, so water would actually cool more effectively, wouldn't it?

Well, now I just ******* googled it, and apparently the coolant temp is usually way below 32 F. so that answers that question. Damn, I guess big fermentations put out even more heat than I thought...

 

[neorunner]

Well, now I just ******* googled it, and apparently the coolant temp is usually way below 32 F. so that answers that question. Damn, I guess big fermentations put out even more heat than I thought...

Great explanation here: http://amchiller.com/size-brewery-chiller/

 

[psykosis]

I finally moved all my beer to a new shelf.

 

[thefleshlight]

prairie.

lulz

 

[Corbot_3000]

Please tell me those are empty Shorts bottles. I dare you to chug the Bloody Beer, if not.