Garage storage

[birdman1099]

Are there any ill effects of keeping unopened bourbon bottles out in the attached garage (neither heated nor air conditioned)? keep in mind the Indy climate.

I am just plain running out of room in the house:rolleyes:

[barturtle]

I would recommend putting your bed up on blocks so you can make use of the space underneath...you may need some steps to get in bed at night, but just imagine the peace of mind that would come from having your precious whiskey so close at night...

[birdman1099]

Thanks for the help, Timothy !!!!:skep:

It is obvious you don't have a woman in your life !!!!:slappin:

[spun_cookie]

The heat is what you need to watch for. Your corks will dry out... but as long as you are not storing them for years... you wil lbe fine.

Now I remember showing you 2-3 places where you could build a nice indoor bunker

Under the staircase also makes a great spot...

[ThomasH]

If your wife threatens to sleep in another room, make sure you put her bed up on blocks too. Seriously, a bunker under the basement steps is an excellent spot. That is where I am building mine now!

Thomas

[ggilbertva]

Are there any ill effects of keeping unopened bourbon bottles out in the attached garage (neither heated nor air conditioned)? keep in mind the Indy climate.

I am just plain running out of room in the house:rolleyes:

Scott,

I have room...send the extra to me. :grin:

[barturtle]

Perhaps the spousal unit isn't being respectful of your needs:slappin:

[cowdery]

Since it is an attached garage, against the wall closest to the house will have less extremes of temperature.

If there are any bottles you genuinely don't expect to open for, say, more than ten years, keep those bottles in the house. (They're probably the most special ones anyway.)

One thing you have to be careful about is what you keep them in. Cardboard cases are a bad idea as they will have mold and mildew problems which won't hurt the whiskey per se, but that stink can cling to the glass mercilessly and that can be unpleasant. Individual gift boxes are even worse. Some kind of plastic bin with a sealed lid would be the best thing. Binny's uses these expanding mesh plastic sleeves which must cost next to nothing, because they put them on every bottle before it leaves the store. Something like that would be good.

(Since it's only to protect from bumping against other bottles, they probably don't use it when someone only buys one bottle but I've never only bought one bottle so I wouldn't know.)

The important thing is this. If it allows you to keep buying more whiskey, it's worth the risk.

They'll be fine.

[smokinjoe]

Much to Mrs. Smokinjoe's dismay, I have multiple bunkers spread throughout the house. One of these is in my garage, which like yours, is neither heated or A/C'd. Atlanta gets really hot in the Summer, and it is the heat that I initially worried about. I've had bottles out there for at least 4 years that I've opened and drank, that had no funk to them at all. So, experience would tell me that you should be OK with putting things out there. Like Chuck recommended, I have mine in Rubbermaid plastic bins to help protect them, keep the dust off, etc.

[Special Reserve]

The bulk of my collection is in my basement in a cabinet under one of the work benches. The temperature is most stable there and my wife never goes there.

What could be better than that?

[ggilbertva]

The bulk of my collection is in my basement in a cabinet under one of the work benches. The temperature is most stable there and my wife never goes there.

What could be better than that?

A larger work bench.

[ACDetroit]

Hey Bird, use the basement if you have that option. If not use the office/computer room and if all else fails use the bedroom and sleep in the garage!

You can not put poor defense-less bottle of bourbon out there all year, they can't even dress themselves, how will they protect themselves from the elements? Now you on the other hand as a grown man can dress for these elements and will be just fine! As stated by many here if you run out of room, I'll make space. We will need to go over visitation and holidays though.

Tony

If you use any of the above information and apply it...please do me a favor! Do not and I repeat "DO NOT" give your wife my cell number!

Good Luck Bird Boy! Please post pictures of the dog house you are building in the garage.

[WsmataU]

To revive an old thread: (and expand)

Is there a preferred method of storage concerning whether a bottle should be stored upright or on it's side (like wine)? The explanation behind storing wine on its side is similar to what was stated above: it won't let the cork dry out. Oddly enough, if it is stored upright the vino tends to absorb the cork taste.

Now that I'mm officially hooked, I don't want to bunker a bottle for 10+ years only to open a stinker down the road. If any of the "old pros" can provide insight I'm sure we'd all appreciate it.:bowdown:

[barturtle]

To revive an old thread: (and expand)

Is there a preferred method of storage concerning whether a bottle should be stored upright or on it's side (like wine)? The explanation behind storing wine on its side is similar to what was stated above: it won't let the cork dry out. Oddly enough, if it is stored upright the vino tends to absorb the cork taste.

Now that I'mm officially hooked, I don't want to bunker a bottle for 10+ years only to open a stinker down the road. If any of the "old pros" can provide insight I'm sure we'd all appreciate it.:bowdown:

Do a search for the full answer, but the final result will be: upright..never on its side for corked bottles.

[Lost Pollito]

Also, keep them puppys at a decent temp... not to hot, not to cold, and hide them from the sun. Alot like vampires when you think about it.

[cowdery]

Just to add. Storing corked whiskey on its side is actually harmful, as the whiskey will dissolve the cork and make the whiskey taste bad. It will also degrade the cork and, thus, the seal.

[JamesW]

Scott, I just noticed the thread and have been worried about the exact same problem. I have an unheated garage that freezes everything I store in there (including exploding soda bottles). I have 2 cases of bourbon in there and I worry that the cork will shrink in the cold thereby allowing air etc... to seep in. It's just such a great "hiding" place out there so the wife doesn't entirely know the extent of the collection . I believe there was a thread a while back called "Crouching husband, hidden bourbon" that really made me laugh....making bottles magically appear in the bar

[fishnbowljoe]

I'm tellin'! :70358-devil: Joe

[Attila]

my wife never goes there.

Such confidence! I'd never believe it.

[ILLfarmboy]

when I first got married my wife didn't understand why when something needed fixing around the house, I spent more money for all the necessary tools (If I didn't already have them) than the money it would take to hire it done. Oddly, she considered the outlay of cash for these tools to be me spending money on myself. Women?

It didn't take me long to figure out if I bought something that was either 'for myself' or new tools that were essentially 'for the marriage' I should use cash and either throw away the receipt or file it away before she saw it. On top of this, I was raised on a farm and she was a town girl who's family 'hired everything done'. It was quite a culture shock.

With regard to whiskey collections and wives. If your better half objects, just get her into a hobby of her own. My wife "scrapbooks" and does something called "stamping up" Whatever that is. I still don't know. But what is important is it is something that they can spend money on. If they're spending money on a hobby its that much harder for them to view our whiskey collections as wasteful economic choices. Then you don't have to stash bottles in seldom used parts of the home. I'm not a teenager. I shouldn't have to hide my stash and neither should anyone else.

[cowdery]

It might help anyone wondering about this to remember that, with a small number of exceptions, whiskey warehouses are not heated. That whiskey spent years getting at least as cold as it will ever get in your garage.

I don't know how cold it would have to get for a cork to shrink enough to degrade a seal but that's about the only thing you have to worry about. If the bottles are in a container that is itself reasonably airtight, such as a plastic storage bin, you have even less to worry about on the oxidation score.

A suspenders-and-belt solution would be to seal the tops with plastic cling wrap.

Try to figure out what bottle has been out there the longest and test it. Do that from time to time. Until you detect some kind of problem, I don't think there is anything to worry about.

[Special Reserve]

Such confidence! I'd never believe it.

Not trying to be overly confident, nor am I trying to hide anything. The cabinet under one of the workbenches in the basement is a great storage place for me. It has plenty of room and support, and is not readily seen.

My wife has her own interests that she spend money on.

[dean_martin]

with regard to whiskey collections and wives. If your better half objects, just get her into a hobby of her own. My wife "scrapbooks" and does something called "stamping up" Whatever that is. I still don't know. But what is important is it is something that they can spend money on. If they're spending money on a hobby its that much harder for them to view our whiskey collections as wasteful economic choices. Then you don't have to stash bottles in seldom used parts of the home. I'm not a teenager. I shouldn't have to hide my stash and neither should anyone else.

yeah, stupid me. I resisted the all-out scrapbooking thing at first, but I did a quick 180. Now she has her own scrapbooking room and I'm having more fun with my hobbies. She knows the regular stock of every Hobby Lobby in a 60 mile radius and I know the regular stock of at least 8 liquor stores in the same 60 mile radius. Oh, I've heard of "stamping up" too but it doesn't matter what it is to me either.

[Buffalo Bill]

It might help anyone wondering about this to remember that, with a small number of exceptions, whiskey warehouses are not heated. That whiskey spent years getting at least as cold as it will ever get in your garage.

The molecular structure breaks with temperatures cycling via heating up after bottling though, right? I would tend to think that too many years at uneven temps would diminish the flavor profile... BB

[bonneamie]

Aha, another use for the yarn stashed all over my house. A perfect camoflage for bottles. Thanks, guys!!