Are you the type of homebrewer that ferments your brew in the primary for seven days, then in the secondary for 14 more days and the proceed to bottle it? That’s the way I brewed up until about 2 years ago. I noticed that my beer was fairly decent, at least some of it was, but it just didn’t quite cut it in competition.

By coincidence, during visits to a couple of local microbreweries and on a guided tour, in each instance the tour included a visit to a “cold room” in the brewery where almost all their finished beer was stored for at least two weeks before it was dispensed to the public. Some of the beer remained in the cold room much longer than two weeks.

This practice is called many things including cold conditioning, cellaring and lagering. The main objective seems to be one of conditioning, which clarifies the beer, enhances its maturity and generally improves the overall characteristics of the beer. Temperatures in the “cold room” may vary from one brewery to the next, but is usually 30°F (-1°C) to 32°F (0°C).

So I now also chill my beers at this temperature. I bought a used pop cooler, set it at 32ºF (0°C) and it does the job. I generally store the beer in a stainless steel keg for conditioning, but glass or plastic carboys will work as well.

During the summer, a regular household refrigerator won't work very well as it struggles to get below 40ºF (4°C). If you set the thermostat below 40ºF (4°C), it just keeps cycling, and will soon "burn out" or cause serious mechanical failure. For summertime cold conditioning, we need to go to a freezer. But any refrigerator works wonders in the winter time, even a so-called "dead fridge".

My refrigerator is in my unheated garage. In the wintertime, I disconnect the refrigerator and install a small cheap space heater. I plug the heater in and set the knob to the lowest setting. I have an indoor/outdoor thermometer on the outside that shows the outside temperature with a probe that gives the inside temperature (about $15.00). Since I'm in the garage almost every day to get my car, I glance at the thermometer to make sure the temperature stays constant at or near 32ºF (0°C).

It's amazing how stable the temperature will remain inside with no adjustments to the heater. This past winter, I had two kegs in the refrigerator and the heater. On the days when it dropped to a chilly -4ºF (-20ºC) outside, it stayed fairly close to 32ºF (0ºC) on the inside of the refrigerator. While the outside temperatures fluctuated 20 degrees either way, the temperature inside the refrigerator remained fairly constant. But let me repeat, I do check the temperature at least every second day.

I am now looking to purchase a more accurate thermostat for the heater. They come as cheap as $25-30. The heater was also about $30 but the power consumption was negligible. The labor was also negligible, but it sure makes a difference in the quality of the beer, it's much improved!

I didn't have to adjust the heater in the refrigerator at all this past winter while temperatures dropped to -30ºF (-34ºC). I suppose how effective the refrigerator will depend a lot on how it is insulated and the snugness of the door seals. But it sure works for me.