cold or warm beer from the bottlo

[IsonAd]

I'm often faced with this conundrum. I see a great beer at the bottle shop but I'm on my way somewhere that means the beer will sit in the car for a few hours.

Now I know that most beers (particularly hoppy ones) benefit from cold storage, however is also know that fluctuations in temp also degrade the beer. So what is the best choice. If I take the one from the shelf I won't be fluctuating temps while it's in the car but then again the fridge beer will have been at a stable and cold temp for however long it's been in the shop. So which do you choose? (First world problems are a bitch)

 

[manticle]

Fluctuation is mostly irrelevant except that the higher temp accelerates reactions and lower temp retards them. Grab the cold ones.

 

[yum beer]

hot chicks.....cold beers.

simple philosophy

 

[buckerooni]

if they're glass, UV exposure would also be a consideration, esp. for hoppy ones yeah?

 

[indica86]

the fridge beer will have been at a stable and cold temp for however long it's been in the shop.

No. The fridge beer would have been - generally - transported warm, stored warm and then added to the fridge for consumption.

 

[manticle]

^Depend entirely on the distributor.

 

[indica86]

Really? Some actually GAF?

 

[Camo6]

I recently got told by an attendee that they preferred to sell warm beer as it reduced 'travel shock.'
I'd prefer they bought a bigger fridge.

Like stated, I think it's more important that the beer has spent more time refrigerated and has warmed a little than the beer that has been unrefrigerated for God knows how long. It's a shame in some bottlo's that some of the more 'crafty' beers or imports are kept at room temp.

 

[manticle]

Really? Some actually GAF?

Some do yes and some exporting breweries insist on cold transport and storage before allowing shipment of product.

 

[indica86]

Any ideas which ones? I'd like to taste beer with the intended flavour.
Some of the best bought beer I had recently was from Bridge Rd. Them to me on 4 days.

 

[waggastew]

When I was younger I worked at a bottle shop. I remember having a discussion with the boss about beer getting cold, then warm, then cold again. He seemed to think it made the beer go 'oily'. As an ex-scientist and a chemistry teacher I can't really think of any decent mechanism for this. Perhaps it is more of a problem of extreme hot temps like said above, ie heat degradation/UV occurring to a sixpack sitting on the back seat of car on a hot day.

Maybe put it down in the urban myth column?

 

[manticle]

Pretty sure it's irrelevant. I do know that particles move in and out of excitation states with environmental changes and rapid excitation/relaxation with temperature and humidity fluctuations which can lead to things like wood or paint layers cracking but the real effect on beer flavour is dubious as far as I understand. Presumably continual spikes might lead to something but simply bringing to room temp then back to fridge temp once or twice isn't meant to do much.
@indica - phoenix distro are pretty on to it as far as I know, breweries like sierra nevada insist on cold transport. I don't have a comprehensive list though, I'm sorry.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Not sure it would be an issue in most major bottlo's, turnover of major stock would be fast enough that they wouldn't age perceptibly.

On a side note, when I first moved to QLD 20 years ago, a carton from the coolroom was $3.00 more than the warm carton on the shop floor, most Qlders took the warm ones. When I lived in NSW you never bought a warm carton.

 

[spog]

Straya mate ! , Eskies don't take up much room in a car, and truth be told they are useful.

 

[IsonAd]

Got it. Hot chicks in the car holding my esky full of cold beer that was distributed cold directly to the bottlo fridge. Should be easy enough.

 

[Black n Tan]

IIRC chill haze can become permanent haze when cycled through numerous heat/cool cycles. I think it is due to tannins covalently bonding to the protein. Not sure how relevant that is with most commercial brews.