Storing Full Bottles

[Strange Dog]

I understand that temperature control is critical for your fermenter, so I am considering buying myself and old fridge and temp controller to put my fermenter in. But then I started to wonder about all the bottles I am going to end up storing. I aim to have my brews in the bottle for a minimum of two months before drinking which means I am going to have literally hundreds of stubbies and longneks in storage (I havent actually crunched the numbers yet) so I suspect storing bottles ina fridge is not going to be practical. Do I need to be as obsessive about temperature once the beer is in the bottle? Is it going to be good enough to just stick all my bottles in my dark, damp garage ?

Also, has anyone considered making thier own crates? I am thinking of buying a buttload of MDF and making boxes for bottle storage. I am also considering just buying some plastic crates from a $2 shop and spray painting them black to keep light out. Any thoughts or suggestions ?

Not sure if this is the right forum, please move if necessary

 

[Muggus]

What you're really looking for is a coolish sort area away from direct sunlight and excessive moisture. Ideally it'd be nice for it to be around the 18C mark, but the key really is for consistancy...ie stays at the same temperature pretty much constantly/doesn't have massive fluctuations of temperature. Temperature spikes can be a killer.

As for waiting 2 months before cracking open a beer, that's being a bit hard on yourself!
Give yourself 2 weeks to test carbonation and flavour and whatnot so you can get an idea of where the beer is at...hell some beers, like Hefeweizens, are probably best consumed within 2 months!

 

[QldKev]

This thread is a double post,
Check out
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=61462

 

[Strange Dog]

Yeah sorry about the double post, I dont know what happened. I should probably visit this forum prior to starting the evenings refreshments.

As for not waiting for two months before drinking, I thought that was the optimum time. If it's not then thats good news, I might have to crack open my most recent brew tonight Truth be told, I've yet to make a brew that I would consider "good", even after waiting 2 months...