Burying or Sinking Beer

[hwall95]

Background: Yesterday I brewed an Old Ale, with an OG of 1.098 (Overshot it a little), and have been thinking about the process of ageing and how to maintain cool temps throughout the year. Currently just going to leave them in a cool dark area underneath my house.

So this may seem like a silly idea, but I was thinking today whether or not burying or sinking bottled beer would play any affect on its aging process.

Based upon that I was whether a couple metres of dirt or 20-50L of water or a combination of both would help stop varying temperature over the year as well as any chance of oxidation.

Will most likely only try with a few as an experiment and to prevent anything getting under the cap, will wax the cap.

In addition, it would be pretty awesome to dig up a beer in two years time and try if

So if anyone had any thoughts or experience, let me know.

Cheers, Harry

 

[Mardoo]

It's not uncommon for wines to be buried for aging. Basically, if you have a meter or so of earth on the bottles, it will keep the temperature variation slow and relatively minimal. You probably wouldn't need a full meter now that I think about it. I've been considering burying bottles myself for an old ale I'm brewing soon. No experience though.

 

[sp0rk]

If you were to do it, I'd place the beer in a sturdy box (maybe a small wooden crate) and bury it about a meter down
Leave it for a year and then open the time capsule
Just don't go forgetting it if you have to move house

 

[benno1973]

Koreans bury kimchi in ceramic pots when they age it for the same reason, to minimise temperature swings and keep it relatively cool.

 

[angus_grant]

I've been toying with the idea of burying a dead fridge down the side of our townhouse to age bottled beer in. Have read so many webpages on root cellars (as the US'ians call them).
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=burying+a+fridge&oq=burying+a+fridge&aqs=chrome..69i57.8256j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

I just can't quite get myself to do it though..... I don't know why either.
Would need to work out how to remove the tiled area from above the fridge when accessing.

 

[hwall95]

Yeah I think I'll might make a crate and paint it with a wood vanish I can find in the old man's shed. Yeah I will most likely dig into my parents backyard as they're less likely to move and than dig them up for christmas one year and give it a tasting . If I lived near lake or dam I would give the water ago, but I don't trust creeks due to the Qld's summer rain, so probably give the water idea a miss.

That's a interesting idea angus, will have to give it a look. Although I guess the advantage of burying it is that there's little chance anyone will drink it without realising.

 

[Mardoo]

If you bury the fridge Angus you don't necessarily have to backfill over it. If the top of the fridge is a meter down or so it will well hold its temperature if you have a solid cover over it with some insulation. You needn't dig up and re-lay the tiles every time.

 

[spog]

Perhaps seal the bottle tops with wax of some sort so ground moisture doesn't effect the caps.
Unless your Mexican and wouldn't mind a worm (grub) in your drink.
Cheers...spog...

 

[joshuahardie]

Would storing the bottles in a insulated box (wooden box lined with foam for eg) sitting under the house have the same effect as digging the hole?
Just wondering if this would be less labour intensive and easier to get to at opening time?

 

[angus_grant]

In my case living in a townhouse I have no spare room to leave a freezer/large wooden box sitting around. Hence the idea of burying it as that would provide a solid stable temperature and be out of sight/out of mind for 'er indoors.

Plus it would just be cool!! B)

 

[Batz]

This actually sounds like a good idea, just be careful of water run off to stop it from becoming a underground pond.

Batz

 

[Liam_snorkel]

if you overlay or wrap it with a sheet of black plastic that should help to prevent it from filling with water / silt / worms. At the hardware store it will be in the section with the concreting stuff.

 

[Mardoo]

Would storing the bottles in a insulated box (wooden box lined with foam for eg) sitting under the house have the same effect as digging the hole?
Just wondering if this would be less labour intensive and easier to get to at opening time?

The temperature swings would be greater but the insulated box would slow them down. As an example I used to store bottles under my house and they would hang around 18 in the summer and 10 in the winter (Melbourne). A meter underground the temp would only swing a couple degrees throughout the year, more like 10 to 13, at least down here. I'm totally inexperienced with this regard in the northern climes.

It been shown pretty conclusively with wine aging that big swings are not good, but micro-swings are actually of huge benefit. (I'll look for my reference - haven't bookmarked it) I would guess the same would hold for beer, but then there are significant chemical/biological differences with beer so I'm not sure.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

This thread is inspiring. I think I'll brew a barleywine soon and bottle it with brett, and stick it under the house in a styrofoam box.