Beer Storage Tips

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Don't worry about warming

This is probably the question I get most often. "I bought this beer cold, and then it got warm. Is it still good?" Yes! I'm not sure how this myth started, but it takes many cycles of chilling and warming to have an effect on beer. My program of eight cycles didn't change the beer's taste compared with the cold control bottle. That being said, beer will stay fresh longer in the refrigerator than on a room-temperature shelf. But unless you're chilling and warming your beer every day for a month, just drink it and relax.

Avoid extremes (sometimes)

If you have a choice between sticking your beer in the oven or the freezer, go with the icebox. Of course, most people do neither—but they might leave it in the garage or the trunk of a car.

Extreme heat damages the proteins in beer, giving you a bunch of floaty bits, and can cause nasty aromas to develop: "Like a can of creamed corn, with a scary whiff of gutter stink" is how I describe the smell of my roasted beer.

Freezing a beer, on the other hand, can work out nicely, if the bottle doesn't leak or crack as it hardens. The first keg I ever bought was a half-barrel of Genesee Cream Ale that had frozen solid. We let it thaw slowly, and I still remember it as the best Genny Cream I've ever had: smooth, with a velvety mouthfeel. Freezing also depletes proteins, though not as abruptly or completely as heat does, leaving the beer tasting smoother, if nothing goes wrong. But use this theory with care, or you may have a malty mess in the freezer.

Drink your beer fresh…mostly

Best-by and "born-on" dates are great advantages for the consumer. You can tell if the beer is fresh, and you can get an idea of how fast the store is turning over its stock. But beer isn't milk: It's not harmful or smelly past the best-by date; it just won't taste quite as good. Anheuser-Busch's born-on date is the date of packaging. The company claims that the beer is good for 110 days after that date. If it's not sold by then—something that doesn't happen often—A.B. will pull it off the shelf.

Not all beer is best fresh, though. Like some wines, some beers get better as they age. It's not an exact science, but beers that are more than 7 percent alcohol, not overly hoppy, and bottle conditioned (bottled with yeast) are the most likely candidates for aging. I've had beers more than 20 years old that were fantastic: They are drier than the younger versions and often develop sherried notes that can add depth and complexity to a big beer. Keep them as you would wine—in a cool, dark place with no changes in temperature—but unless the beers are corked, store them vertically.

Now, all I need is someone to tell me the best way to keep coffee beans fresh. Then I'll be set for drinks—morning, noon, and night.

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