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

[brother rebus]

bild it

 

[trio2shine1]

$1800 for 46 bottles? That's super ******* terrible, especially in CA you can usually find something on craigslist for decent. I don't think those halves are much bigger than mine which was like $200 on amazon, though the dimensions might be slightly off, I'm not sure. I'd really recommend shopping around, especially on craigslist, to find something cheaper. Is this for somewhere where aesthetics matter?

I think it’s 46 a side (dual fridges), and in this case aesthetics do matter as it’ll go in our dining room so not shoved in a spare room or out in the garage anymore. So I really need something that’ll fit under the counter with proper ventilation and looks half decent but most importantly functions well.

 

[stupac2]

I think it’s 46 a side (dual fridges), and in this case aesthetics do matter as it’ll go in our dining room so not shoved in a spare room or out in the garage anymore. So I really need something that’ll fit under the counter with proper ventilation and looks half decent but most importantly functions well.

46 a side is somewhat more reasonable, but I'm confused because that's clearly not what it says, and it looks like the sides are only ~20 per. I'd definitely want to look at one in person or otherwise get clarity on that if I were you, $36-ish per bottle is terrible value.

If ventilation is a concern just get something that runs with a Peltier cooler. It's all-electric so there's way less waste heat than a compressor (also silent, which will presumably be a plus if it's a dining room). The downside is they can only cool so far down from ambient temps, but it's like 30 degrees so as long as your dining room isn't hitting the upper 80's it won't be an issue.

This is the model I have, although it's unavailable right now I think you'd be better off looking for 1-2 of something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FHAGNK/?tag=talkbecom09-20. I bet it'd be less than half the price for the same number of bottles.

 

[jtmartino1]

I think it’s 46 a side (dual fridges), and in this case aesthetics do matter as it’ll go in our dining room so not shoved in a spare room or out in the garage anymore. So I really need something that’ll fit under the counter with proper ventilation and looks half decent but most importantly functions well.

FWIW there is a huge difference between the expensive and cheap units. I have a cheaper Vinotemp ($400) that is slightly better than Haier quality and the thermostat and cooling unit are starting to go after a few years. But the racks, the door, and the display are all cheap feeling compared to a high-end unit,

The more expensive units are made to be more durable and long lasting. And they just feel better with the rolling shelves and solid doors. Keep 8n mind the expensive units are probably 2-3x as heavy as a cheap unit.

Take a look in person if you can. There really is a huge difference in form and function between a $300 and $2k unit.

 

[stupac2]

FWIW there is a huge difference between the expensive and cheap units. I have a cheaper Vinotemp ($400) that is slightly better than Haier quality and the thermostat and cooling unit are starting to go after a few years. But the racks, the door, and the display are all cheap feeling compared to a high-end unit,

The more expensive units are made to be more durable and long lasting. And they just feel better with the rolling shelves and solid doors. Keep 8n mind the expensive units are probably 2-3x as heavy as a cheap unit.

Take a look in person if you can. There really is a huge difference in form and function between a $300 and $2k unit.

Really? Mine is approximately a Haier and still going flawlessly after 6-7 years. Of course, I removed my shelves so that's not a concern. I think it being Peltier is a big difference in terms of durability.

 

[coldstorage]

I'm under the impression that another key difference between the N'Finity cellars like the one posted above and cheaper wine fridges is that the cellars have a functioning humidity control while the wine fridges either have none or it doesn't really work very well. Haven't done the research myself so couldn't tell ya if its true or emperors new clothes...

 

[bostonvert]

OG musty Belgian cellar, opened up one of the vent windows to make the picture. This is just one side of the lambic cellar, the other half are old brick caveaus that are super easy to store bottles in. The Girardin crate is full of various years and the other case is full of old (green)label 3F 75 bottles from various years. This is why I love my old farm, cellar with 3 rooms and year round 13-15 degrees

 

[MarkJC1018]

Looking for anyone here with experience on under counter/built in wine fridges. Looking to make a decent purchase but don't think I can justify shelling out for a Eurocave.

Had my eye on a setup along these lines but haven't been able to pull the trigger.

http://www.wineenthusiast.com/n-finity-pro-double-s-wine-cellar.asp

Any feedback would be appreciated.

I went with this one last year and I couldn't recommend it enough:

http://www.wineenthusiast.com/n-fin...um=email&utm_campaign=orderconfirm&showcode=N

You'll be happy with N'Finity Pro if you decide to go that route.

 

[Josh2]

furley

 

[furley]

furley

cheers

 

[furley]

after reading back 8-10 pages or so i feel like maybe this doesn't belong but :shruggygif:

any opinions on this for a simple home solution that will probably wind up in the dining room or kitchen?

looking primarily just to keep a 12-18 beers and a few bottles of wine reasonably chilled. don't need anything fancy but appreciate that this goes down to 39 (some i see bottom out around 55) and will fit anywhere i need it.

anyone have this or something similar? thoughts? what am i not considering?

 

[neorunner]

after reading back 8-10 pages or so i feel like maybe this doesn't belong but :shruggygif:

any opinions on this for a simple home solution that will probably wind up in the dining room or kitchen?

looking primarily just to keep a 12-18 beers and a few bottles of wine reasonably chilled. don't need anything fancy but appreciate that this goes down to 39 (some i see bottom out around 55) and will fit anywhere i need it.

anyone have this or something similar? thoughts? what am i not considering?

Are you wanting aesthetics/functionality/energy savings/budget solution? a dorm mini fridge with a temperature controller will do the same thing for less.

 

[furley]

Are you wanting aesthetics/functionality/energy savings/budget solution? a dorm mini fridge with a temperature controller will do the same thing for less.

since i'm married i'd say aesthetics is probably top of the list. then functionality followed by budget and energy savings.

 

[CommanderofAwesome]

Taking a side step here from Cellar fashion to discuss a success story. I think most of us have started out buying 2+ of every beer, and maxing out BA Stouts, etc.... I remember reading the "don't cellar adjunct stouts", and the "you don't need 500 bottle cellar" comments. Well I finally learned my lesson about 2 yrs ago or so. Managed to get my stash down from ~250 bottles down to more manageable 90 bottles. Plan is to get it down to about 20 bottles or so over time.

I've done it, so can you.

 

[BeerandNoise]

since i'm married i'd say aesthetics is probably top of the list. then functionality followed by budget and energy savings.

Time to burn some coal to keep those bottles cool.

 

[andrewcschultz]

For many years I used some metal storage lockers to hold beer. They are sturdy and hold a lot, but the downside is that it's hard to see much past the first bottle (or maybe two). So I've wanted to move to horizontal storage door a little while. I tried some wine rack from Amazon, but it started to lean precipitously (it eventually leaned against my A/C unit, which I'm convinced saved my stash). So I decided to do something different: 4" drain pipe cut to about thirteen inches long, stacked to act as individual beer cubbies. Took me about three hours to get it all done (set up a jig, make the cuts,...). Works great for 750ml bottles. I'd like something similar for my 375s, but haven't been able to track down piping that's smaller and cheaper than the 4" stuff (and if like the smaller tubing since it would be a bit more dense). I know this is far from optimal, but it was quick, relatively cheap, and works.

 

[primebeer]

For many years I used some metal storage lockers to hold beer. They are sturdy and hold a lot, but the downside is that it's hard to see much past the first bottle (or maybe two). So I've wanted to move to horizontal storage door a little while. I tried some wine rack from Amazon, but it started to lean precipitously (it eventually leaned against my A/C unit, which I'm convinced saved my stash). So I decided to do something different: 4" drain pipe cut to about thirteen inches long, stacked to act as individual beer cubbies. Took me about three hours to get it all done (set up a jig, make the cuts,...). Works great for 750ml bottles. I'd like something similar for my 375s, but haven't been able to track down piping that's smaller and cheaper than the 4" stuff (and if like the smaller tubing since it would be a bit more dense). I know this is far from optimal, but it was quick, relatively cheap, and works.

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ISO those Black Label 03/27/15. Nice setup!

 

[souredstouts]

For many years I used some metal storage lockers to hold beer. They are sturdy and hold a lot, but the downside is that it's hard to see much past the first bottle (or maybe two). So I've wanted to move to horizontal storage door a little while. I tried some wine rack from Amazon, but it started to lean precipitously (it eventually leaned against my A/C unit, which I'm convinced saved my stash). So I decided to do something different: 4" drain pipe cut to about thirteen inches long, stacked to act as individual beer cubbies. Took me about three hours to get it all done (set up a jig, make the cuts,...). Works great for 750ml bottles. I'd like something similar for my 375s, but haven't been able to track down piping that's smaller and cheaper than the 4" stuff (and if like the smaller tubing since it would be a bit more dense). I know this is far from optimal, but it was quick, relatively cheap, and works.

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Did you make all the neck hanging labels yourself? Did you cut them all out? That's a super good idea.

 

[andrewcschultz]

Did you make all the neck hanging labels yourself? Did you cut them all out? That's a super good idea.

Yep. Wrote some code to generate tags based on some basic inputs (bottle date, beer, size, etc) and it prints 10 tags per sheet. Bought a circle die cutter and a decent paper cutter. Honestly, the whole project took up way too much time. On the other hand, I do like how they turned out, and it does help me know what's there better than I have before. I think maintaining tags will be easier, so I shouldn't have to deal with that start up pain again.

Tags also include an inventory number, and I'm setting up a site that interfaces with a database so that (a) I have a page I can visit (or show to my wife) that shows what we have in a user friendly format (as below), and (b) I can enter in an inventory number once I've had a bottle and it automatically takes it off the "in cellar" list and puts it in the "already consumed" list. I know there are already platforms out there that do something like this, so I'm not sure why I'm reinventing the wheel.

 

[jaeselector]

Don’t be jealous, motherfuckers.

7 cases of Lambic
3 cases of BA Stouts
1/2 case of Tomes/Floodland
~ 4 cases of homebrew

 

[Marc2]

For many years I used some metal storage lockers to hold beer. They are sturdy and hold a lot, but the downside is that it's hard to see much past the first bottle (or maybe two). So I've wanted to move to horizontal storage door a little while. I tried some wine rack from Amazon, but it started to lean precipitously (it eventually leaned against my A/C unit, which I'm convinced saved my stash). So I decided to do something different: 4" drain pipe cut to about thirteen inches long, stacked to act as individual beer cubbies. Took me about three hours to get it all done (set up a jig, make the cuts,...). Works great for 750ml bottles. I'd like something similar for my 375s, but haven't been able to track down piping that's smaller and cheaper than the 4" stuff (and if like the smaller tubing since it would be a bit more dense). I know this is far from optimal, but it was quick, relatively cheap, and works.

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Any reason you went with 13"? These come in 10' long pipes so why not get 10 out of each instead of nine? I think this awesome btw, currently re-examining my situation and I feel like this would be the cheapest solution

 

[neorunner]

Any reason you went with 13"? These come in 10' long pipes so why not get 10 out of each instead of nine? I think this awesome btw, currently re-examining my situation and I feel like this would be the cheapest solution

Most bottles are 13" long, so I would imagine going for something that could house the full bottle.

 

[Marc2]

Most bottles are 13" long, so I would imagine going for something that could house the full bottle.

Taking the bottle neck into consideration it seems like an expensive inch

 

[andrewcschultz]

Any reason you went with 13"? These come in 10' long pipes so why not get 10 out of each instead of nine? I think this awesome btw, currently re-examining my situation and I feel like this would be the cheapest solution

These particular pipes have about 6 inches dedicated to a collar on one end (so that when it's used as intended, you can easily connected one length of pipe to another), which means that you've got about 114 inches to work with. The other factor I was balancing was that I wanted these pipes to help insulate from light as much as was reasonable, so I wanted to make sure they covered the full length of the bottle and then some (with the necks sticking out enough to hold the tags). 12 and a half inches is what I ultimately went with, which was pretty much the max you could get if you want 9 pieces per 10' pipe). Had I wanted ten sections per length of pipe, I'd have only been able to get about 11 and a quarter inches per piece, which just wasn't enough for what I was going for.

Definitely not the absolute minimum for cost/unit of storage to go with 12.5" instead of 11 and change, but it was worth the extra $15 or so for the scope of this particular project.

(When I do this same project for smaller bottles, I'll use a 3" pipe which has a slightly shorter collar. Given the smaller height of 375s, I'll be able to get more pieces per 10' length of pipe.)

 

[Marc2]

These particular pipes have about 6 inches dedicated to a collar on one end (so that when it's used as intended, you can easily connected one length of pipe to another), which means that you've got about 114 inches to work with. The other factor I was balancing was that I wanted these pipes to help insulate from light as much as was reasonable, so I wanted to make sure they covered the full length of the bottle and then some (with the necks sticking out enough to hold the tags). 12 and a half inches is what I ultimately went with, which was pretty much the max you could get if you want 9 pieces per 10' pipe). Had I wanted ten sections per length of pipe, I'd have only been able to get about 11 and a quarter inches per piece, which just wasn't enough for what I was going for.

Definitely not the absolute minimum for cost/unit of storage to go with 12.5" instead of 11 and change, but it was worth the extra $15 or so for the scope of this particular project.

(When I do this same project for smaller bottles, I'll use a 3" pipe which has a slightly shorter collar. Given the smaller height of 375s, I'll be able to get more pieces per 10' length of pipe.)

That makes sense, I didn't factor the collar on the end... If I go with this option I may try to stack at a small upwards angle with shorter tubes to get more bang for my buck. Being in a windowless room means I can spare an inch or two per bottle. Maybe even go to 9", that would give me 12 pieces per tube. Thanks, this is a front runner in my options along with a second temp controlled chest freezer

 

[tylerk88]

Does anyone know where I might be able to buy something similar to this:

Those cardboard pieces are super cheap, but the company I found is from Australia. Thinking about using those inside storage bins-- does that seem like a terrible idea?

 

[souredstouts]

Does anyone know where I might be able to buy something similar to this:

Those cardboard pieces are super cheap, but the company I found is from Australia. Thinking about using those inside storage bins-- does that seem like a terrible idea?

If you don't mind the smell. They stink when I have gotten them.

 

[reverseapachemaster1]

Does anyone know where I might be able to buy something similar to this:

Those cardboard pieces are super cheap, but the company I found is from Australia. Thinking about using those inside storage bins-- does that seem like a terrible idea?

I'm sure somebody like Uline carries these. Seems like they would be fine for storage as long as you are confident no bottles will leak. In my limited experience with similar packaging they lose all shape if they get wet.

 

[tylerk88]

If you don't mind the smell. They stink when I have gotten them.

Stink like.... cardboard? Not terribly concerned about them smelling but then again it’s not something I anticipated!

 

[souredstouts]

Stink like.... cardboard? Not terribly concerned about them smelling but then again it’s not something I anticipated!

Yeah those have a weird cardboard stench, slightly different from cardboard boxes that you get from Amazon or the outer box of a 12 shipper. Much more pungent. If you don't mind the smell, I don't see why it would be a bad option.