I have been a bad beer enthusiast. I have yet to purchase any bottles of Abyss this year. It’s not for lack of funds or lack of ambition; I simply have no place to cellar them.
I own a small house on a 1/4 acre city lot. I have neither a basement nor air conditioning to help provide a stable temperature. My house stays around 65-70 degree most of the year and I can probably dedicate some closet space where the temperature sits close to 60. But the summer months wreck my ability to store beer indoors. If it is 90 degrees outside in August, it will be 92 in my house.
I have debated getting a chest freezer and I have looked at various wine coolers. The initial investment isn’t an issue, but I feel like it is a waste of electricity. Apparently my wife’s ardent liberalism is beginning to chip away at me.
Unfortunately, time is of the essence and I need to come up with a solution quickly. Cases of Abyss are growing fewer and fewer. And the newly discovered bottles of Pelican’s Perfect Storm at Market of Choice will no doubt soon disappear. There is still plenty of Stones’ 09.09.09 around, but the last bottles of 08.08.08 are fading fast; taking my plans for a Vertical Epic vertical tasting with them.
I spent some time last night reading about the original German Beer Gardens, holes dug in the banks of the river Isar and shaded from summer sun by chestnut trees. I’m fairly certain I can duplicate this by method by locating my water main, digging a pit next to it and tarping the disaster. But selling the wife on my idea does not seem nearly as feasible.
So, I am stuck. The list of beers I want to tuck away keeps growing, but I have no where for them to go. I’m sure I am not the only person in this predicament, so I am looking for advice on creative ways to create a faux cellar. If you have any ideas, please let me know.
Cheers (and Thanks)!
Kevin
Any comments on the Holiday Ale Festival?
I have limited beer space in the second fridge so storage is an issue for me as well. Luckily our windows are leaky and innefficiant (I’m a bad Oregonian). I found a cool dark cupbord away from heating vents and near a window where I store alot of my beer. It’s not the optimum location for storage, but so far my aged beers still come out tasting great. If you happen to have a closet with alot of room, or a spare bedroom you could always toss a bucket with some frozen milk jugs in it into the closet to help keep things cool.
Also, save room and don’t buy abyss. There are far better imperial stouts out there. Abyss is way over hyped. When you build your collection I recomend finding one year olds of the beers your concidering and taste those to get an idea of how things will change.
@Jared: Thanks for the tips!
@Beercentric: Writing it up right now, should be done within the hour.
Cheers!
Kevin