Ageing beer and temperature

[MickyBlueEyes]

Hi all,

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about secondary fermentation temperature. But has anyone got experience with how well brews age at lower temperatures after secondary ferm?

Most brews need 6-8 weeks or more to reach their best. But for summer, I'm going to store mine in a wine fridge in which one section only goes up to 12 degrees. Wondering if they'll age/develop slower at that temp. Wine is meant to be aged around 12-14 degrees so beer can't be too different right? Might just be a bit slower than 18-22 degrees.

And I mean storage AFTER secondary ferm is complete. I'll still do that in the cupboard under the stairs and keep an eye on heat.

Edited September 15, 2023 by MickyBlueEyes

[Rob Courtney]

16 hours ago, MickyBlueEyes said:

Hi all,

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about secondary fermentation temperature. But has anyone got experience with how well brews age at lower temperatures after secondary ferm?

Most brews need 6-8 weeks or more to reach their best. But for summer, I'm going to store mine in a wine fridge in which one section only goes up to 12 degrees. Wondering if they'll age/develop slower at that temp. Wine is meant to be aged around 12-14 degrees so beer can't be too different right? Might just be a bit slower than 18-22 degrees.

And I mean storage AFTER secondary ferm is complete. I'll still do that in the cupboard under the stairs and keep an eye on heat.

 

Welcome to my wheelhouse Micky.

 

I do not need a wine fridge for this, it is what I live in for 8 months of the year. Yes the beers develop slower and makes an interesting comparison when you leave them in optimum temps for developing (say 22-26 celcius). I guess if you like to drink the beers early then optimum temp is probably better but as you may notice, you appreciate beers at different marks of development.

Absolutely nothing wrong with putting them in a wine fridge if that is what you want to do, maybe even take a few of them out of the fridge for a week before you consume to compare.

 

[MickyBlueEyes]

Fair enough. I did some more reading and found this article which was very informative: https://www.beercartel.com.au/blog/beer-storage-the-dos-and-donts-of-storing-and-cellaring-beer/

It seems there's 3 stages of development when we're talking home brew:

1. Carbonation. Best done at 20-24ish degrees. I think mine developed ok at around 18.

2. Maturing. A further 4-6 weeks in the bottle for the flavour to develop. Same kind of temperature as carbonation.

3. Cellaring. Longer term development of flavours. Best done around 12 degrees, exactly the same as wine.

I'm letting mine sit at carbonation temp for 3 weeks then chucking in the wine fridge at 12 degrees. See how it goes! My only concern is whether it'll take 8-10 weeks for IPAs to reach their best instead of 4-6. But, I don't have a lot of choice during summer as our house will heat up too much when we're not at home.

[Thagomizer]

Ahh... To have a spacious wine fridge!  My situation is:

• My ales ferment at around 65F (18C)
• My lagers ferment at around 55F (13C)
• Secondary fermentation and "cellaring" at around 76F (24C)

I have no choice on the secondary and "cellaring" temperatures because I lack a wine fridge.  Since I brew a good quantity of beer, I would need a large wine fridge.  (I have two droids.)  Of course, I chill my kegs and bottles prior to drinking, but that's only a few days.

Since my storage/cellaring temperature is limited to 76F (24C), timing becomes my most important issue.  Beers reach a peak flavor at various rates by type, time and temperature.  After the best flavor is reached, the quality will slowly decline.  In the linear region of variation, biological processes tend to double in rate for each added 10 degrees Celsius.  So cooler is somewhat better to regulate the time to peak flavor and slow down the decline after peak flavor is reached - but within limits.

Different beers age differently.  For example, stouts and porters generally profit from longer aging - all else being equal.

I hope this adds some perspective to the art of brewing.