Can I Move That Beer Out Of My Fridge?
By jason on Feb 6, 2008 in Beer Cellaring Basics
This is without a doubt the most common question I’ve been asked here at the Brew Basement. Somebody always has been storing a brew in the fridge, and now they want to move it back into their cellar or send it off in a trade. Is it safe to take it out, or will the beer be ruined?
Thankfully, in a recent issue of Beer Advocate magazine, they asked and answered this question in their monthly column “Ask The Beer Geek”. Here’s the abridged answer:
….. When it comes to beer and temperatures, it’s the extremes that can damage beer. Although storing your beer in a constant cool environment is ideal and best for all beer, it’s not always an option. Sometimes beer will be put in a situation where it gets a bit “warm” but as long as it doesn’t get hot or freeze the beer will most likely be just fine ….
That’s some great info to know, although I wish they would have discussed the effects of temperature on bottle conditioned beers that still have live yeast in them. I’m still not convinced that a sudden temperature change wouldn’t have a catastrophic effect on the brew. Sounds like a future experiment is in order….
Jason
jason@brewbasement.com
I think that you, of all people, should be doing the experiment. Every time I read the answers to these questions it always includes a “most likely be” or “shouldn’t”.
If you took a 12 pack of Paulaner Pils (pick any other decent mass produced beer) and subjected parts of it to different levels of miscare, the difference should be apparent if it’s an issue.
Freezing and extreme heat/sunlight would be obviously bad, but I would think repeated cooling and warming should cause a discernible difference in taste as well.
The problem is there will be little exact way to prove it due to other variables the individual bottle has encountered we don’t know about.
TruthBrew | Feb 7, 2008 | Reply