Last updated: 14.01.2024, 13:43 PM
By: Marvin K. Hoffmann
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Martin Neuhaus is the master brewer of the Hövels brewery in Dortmund. © Screenshot/Hövels
Is it good to store beer outside on the balcony or terrace in winter? No. Beer experts reveal the most common mistakes – and what you should do.
Dortmund – For most people, beer tastes best when really chilled. It has to be cold Pilsener, export or whatever. But be careful with temperatures around freezing point in winter – then the beer can be damaged very quickly. Beer experts therefore also advise against one of the most common mistakes.
Storing beer outside in winter – a common mistake causes a bad taste
Martin Neuhaus, master brewer at the Hövels brewery in Dortmund (North Rhine-Westphalia), knows a thing or two about the production of beer. Thousands of liters leave "his" tanks every year. Then consumers have to be quick. "Once the beer is in the bottle, it doesn't get any better," he says in an interview with wa.de. By the time the beer truck leaves the brewery premises, "the beer is subject to an aging process," he explains. When it comes to proper storage – especially outdoors and in winter – there are a few things to consider.
Alex Pieper from the craft beer brewery "Piepnitz" in Bochum knows this too. Unlike the industrial beers, his creations have a slight advantage at low temperatures in winter, when it's not just the windshield wipers that freeze to car windows. "Craft beers are basically beers that are made by hand and are not filtered," he says. Beers from the industry, on the other hand, are heavily filtered. "As a result, the beer is very clear and gains a lot of shelf life because you pull out a lot of substances," says Pieper.
Alex Pieper from the Piepnitz craft beer brewery in Bochum knows what is important when it comes to beer. © Piepnitz
Beer becomes cloudy if it sits in the cold for too long
But it is the case that beers become exactly that when they are left out in the cold for too long: they become cloudy. The expert then speaks of a "cold cloudiness". This is particularly a problem for industrially produced beers. After all, craft beers are usually cloudy by default. Therefore, no one has to worry about this cloudiness. "This cold turbidity is triggered by proteins in the beer, which – this is not entirely correct, but perhaps this is a better way to understand it – 'coagulate'," explains master brewer Neuhaus.
If you want to get rid of this visual disadvantage with your beer, you have two options. "If you heat the beer to 20 degrees, the cloudiness disappears again," says Neuhaus. Alternatively, you can also let the bottles "thaw" again at room temperature. But this is exactly where one of the most common mistakes that beer drinkers make lurks.
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A beer doesn't like temperature fluctuations
"Our large stainless steel tanks in the brewery always have a constant temperature of between 4 and 5 degrees," explains the Hövels master brewer. The beer likes temperature fluctuations even less than a passionate pilsner drinker likes the non-alcoholic shandy. It just doesn't taste good. "It is important," says Neuhaus, "that the beer is not exposed to major temperature fluctuations. Otherwise, you will find a so-called bad taste that you want to avoid at all costs."
Proper temperature for beer
The optimal drinking temperature for beer is usually between six and eight degrees Celsius. However, Martin Neuhaus, master brewer of the Hövels brewery in Dortmund, does not want to commit himself to "the one temperature" for beer. "It's really up to you. Some like to drink it ice-cold, others are satisfied with the 'cellar cold' – everyone can decide that best for themselves," he says. Anything that tastes good is allowed.
So constantly switching back and forth between ice chest, fridge and room temperature is not good at all. There is no difference between industrial beers and craft beers.
With constant storage around the freezing point, everything is still reasonably fine. However, beer freezes outside – and of course also inside the freezer – from -2 or -3 degrees. This could lead to an overpressure in the bottle, which would cause the cork to leak – at the latest then beer connoisseurs have a very big problem.
When beer loses carbonation, it no longer tastes good
"As a result, the beer loses carbonation and tastes stale," says craft beer brewer Pieper. In addition, beer does not like to come into contact with oxygen. "This then oxidizes," says the expert. Pieper knows: "The taste of beer usually doesn't change for the better as soon as the beer comes into contact with oxygen over a longer period of time." His tip for optimal storage: "Beer is best stored in the cellar. It's dark there and it's consistently cool."
If you have made a mistake while storing beer, the senses will help. "Smelling, tasting, seeing: that's sensory tasting," says Hövels master brewer Neuhaus. This makes it easy to find out whether you can still enjoy your Pilsener, Export or whatever without hesitation. Beer that has a shelf life of around nine months can also be consumed after the best-before date has passed, says the expert – if it still tastes good.
But it's not just the cold in winter that bothers the beer. Even the sun's rays are not good. "If it has to be the balcony as a storage place, then you should put a blanket over the beer crate so that it is nice and dark," advises Neuhaus and adds a tip with a wink that solves all the how-to-store-my-beer-problems in one fell swoop: "No one should buy more beer than they can drink."