I’d like to store my beer and beer brewing equipment in my garage but I’m afraid of the temperature fluctuations. Is this an issue?
hamster20017
I store all my ingredients and gear in a single walled, uninsulated garage from 1925 in an area where it’s not uncommon to measure interior temps above 115°F in the summer. They’ve been fine. (The yeast and hops are kept cold, naturally)
It sounds like the OP is thinking of storing finished beer. You definitely want to make sure it doesn’t freeze. I assume you are talking bottles of finished beer or kegs that are on deck. I don’t think fluctuations matter too much once beer is fermented. If you do store ingredients you need rodent and light proof containers.
If you are talking finished beer I recommend cold/cool storage.
That’s what I do because I can, I am assuming that it’s an issue for the OP. While I have long heard that beer should be stored cold from start to finish I have bought beer stored at room temp countless times and not perceived a difference, except the few times I have unknowingly bought wildly out of date beer.
I think you are correct that they should do that if possible but I think if it’s just storing up to a few weeks until there is room in the fridge then I think it’s ok based on my experience.
If you’re talking finished homebrew then I think it’s best to keep it as cool/cold as possible. Unless you are pasteurizing your beer it needs to stay cool.
I think temperature fluctuations have been debunked as being bad for beer. Having said that, keeping beer cold slows down oxidation of beer and reduces spoliage.
As part of a presentation on oxidation and spoiling I put together for my club I purchased a few varieties of commercial beers - pale ale & lager - and stored some of each kind cold while keeping the others in my summertime garage (perhaps 80 degrees) for a week, then we did side-by-side tasting at our meeting. The result: very noticeable difference in the beers with the consensus being the beers stored warm were less desirable. That was a good demonstration for folks on how warm storage accelerates spoilage and degrades beer. I hesitate to buy beer from the package store that’s sat for long at ambient temperature for the same reason - I’m often disappointed and pick up on unpleasant spoilage. Store the beer in a refrigerator in the garage if you need to use the garage. I can retain great flavor in my homebrew for months at 34 degrees. For grains and gear I use the garage with no issues encountered, liquid yeast and hops being the exception.
To the best of my knowledge the 3 greatest controllable contributors to staling post packaging in order are temperature, agitation and light, assuming that there is no oxygen ingress.
yeah, for finished beer - you want to keep things as cool as possible! The impact of temp on packaged beer is amazing. I’ve stored some commercial beers at 35°F for years after others have told me they should be done and they’ve been amazing still.
It’s funny, my company posted an article on Facebook what not to store in the garage. Propane tanks was one and I’m guilty of that.
Yep! I store mine in the basement next to the hot water tank!!
Besides the one hooked up on the grill, where else would I store my propane tank except for the garage. Not gonna put it in the bedroom closet and putting out in the yard seems silly and like a possible invitation for theft
The article said if you get a leak, a spark could set a fire. My garage is so drafty, propane isn’t lingering waiting to be set on fire.
Yep, low down on my list of worries regarding possible disasters waiting to happen in my cluttered garage.
If you are in an area where your garage can get below freezing - be careful with any equipment that might retain water in an enclosed space. Cooling coils, pumps, water filters can be damaged if frozen. Ask me how I know.
I live in PHX. My new setup gets stored in the garage but the majority of my equipment is in a closet in the house. The heat here will literally ruin certain things if you store it in the garage. I’ve also got camping/hunting gear in the house so it won’t get ruined. where you store things really does depend on where you live. the more extreme your environment (regardless of heat or cold) the more I would say store certain things in the house.
I would keep hops and yeast in as controlled of cold/cool temperatures as possible. I wouldn’t worry about temperature with grain as long as you can keep out humidity. Keep in mind that grain grows in the summer in full sun and then sits in massive grain silos on farms, maltsters and breweries in the weather on a regular basis. Keeping grain at room temperature is not a big deal. However, you should keep grain in an animal defensive vessel so you don’t have mice eating and defecating into your grain.
Your equipment will be fine at most temperatures. I wouldn’t be so worried about heat unless you live in the desert but I would be worried about having your plastic or rubber get below freezing because those cold temperatures can over time cause small cracks and brittleness that will cause them to split or break. I’m sure plenty of people will point out that they keep equipment in garages that get well below freezing but it would not be my preference.