Lost my liqueur storage

Sweetened spirits with various flavors

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
User avatar
Bushman
Admin
Posts: 17988
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:29 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Lost my liqueur storage

Post by Bushman »

Most of my liqueurs it is recommended to keep in a cool location and use within a year (especially my fruit liqueurs). I have/had an old refrigerator in my garage that I stored my liqueurs in along with beer and other overflow groceries that needed refrigerating. Yesterday my refrigerator decided to quit running so I had to scramble to store in my other two refrigerators in the house. Put my lemoncello and my kummel in my wine cooler.
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13062
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Lost my liqueur storage

Post by NZChris »

Can you fit a fermenter in it?
Duffbrew
Novice
Posts: 50
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2022 2:54 pm
Location: Southern NH

Re: Lost my liqueur storage

Post by Duffbrew »

Bushman,

Thats sucks but let me give you a bit of advice from a person that had the happen twice. Depending on your financing most of the time it is better to buy a new one. I checked into it after my last one died while I was away for the weekend. Depending on how old the "used" fridge is the power usage is 3x to 5x the usage of a new one. I know it's tough to pass up a free fridge, but it will last longer and you'll look wicked smart when the power bill comes in. :)
If it is worth doing, then it is worth overdoing.
User avatar
Bushman
Admin
Posts: 17988
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:29 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Lost my liqueur storage

Post by Bushman »

NZChris wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 3:44 pm Can you fit a fermenter in it?
I already built a portable fermenting cart but great idea.
Thats sucks but let me give you a bit of advice from a person that had the happen twice. Depending on your financing most of the time it is better to buy a new one. I checked into it after my last one died while I was away for the weekend. Depending on how old the "used" fridge is the power usage is 3x to 5x the usage of a new one. I know it's tough to pass up a free fridge, but it will last longer and you'll look wicked smart when the power bill comes in. :)
I agree my wife wants to downsize so I think we are going to get by without a third refrigerator.
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13062
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Lost my liqueur storage

Post by NZChris »

Since my liqueur loving parents passed away, I haven't made, or drunk, much in the way of sweet liqueurs and none of my stash has had any refrigeration. I tasted a few lately when the booze cabinet had to be cleared for a renovation and didn't notice any deterioration, even though some of them are many years old now.
My Limoncello has always been stored at room temperature and a bottle only gets put into the freezer a couple of days before it's needed.
Bryan1
Swill Maker
Posts: 475
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2019 1:55 am
Location: South Oz in the hills

Re: Lost my liqueur storage

Post by Bryan1 »

Same here my fruit liquers just stay under the bench in my shed in the dark and the bench is on the western side so no full sun gets onto it just bit at the end of the day. However, a bottle of my Nothing (neutral) always lives in the freezer as after some hard work work on the farm and nice dram of ice cold nothing is great
User avatar
Saltbush Bill
Site Mod
Posts: 9675
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:13 am
Location: Northern NSW Australia

Re: Lost my liqueur storage

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Commercially available liqueurs seem to survive just fine on the shelf at room temp, Ive never bothered to treat any liqueur type drinks Ive made in any special way....they just live in the shed with the rest......Limoncello goes into the freezer sometimes weeks before its wanted, sometimes only hours, sometimes not at all.
User avatar
Bushman
Admin
Posts: 17988
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:29 am
Location: Pacific Northwest

Re: Lost my liqueur storage

Post by Bushman »

I know a cool place out of the sun is all that is needed, for me I like to drink it a bit colder. Most of my recipes in the book I use say to use within a year and I am sure they would survive well beyond a year but not a lot of mine does.
User avatar
HDNB
Site Mod
Posts: 7360
Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:04 am
Location: the f-f-fu frozen north

Re: Lost my liqueur storage

Post by HDNB »

further to the arguement to drink more, faster....i made some plum brandy a few years ago and it was amazing...i saved a bit just to show people how good a boozemaker i was and after about 2-3 years the brandy turned into vodka, or maybe water, it was completely tasteless.
I finally quit drinking for good.

now i drink for evil.
User avatar
still_stirrin
Master of Distillation
Posts: 10337
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:01 am
Location: where the buffalo roam, and the deer & antelope play

Re: Lost my liqueur storage

Post by still_stirrin »

HDNB wrote: Tue Apr 26, 2022 6:50 am further to the arguement to drink more, faster....i made some plum brandy a few years ago and it was amazing...i saved a bit just to show people how good a boozemaker i was and after about 2-3 years the brandy turned into vodka, or maybe water, it was completely tasteless.
On the other side of this, I just found a “stashed bottle” of apple brandy I made a long time ago in a garage refrigerator at my brother’s house. It was dated 2016.

It had a delicate “golden glow”, so I poured a small sample from it. Oh my, how it had smoothed out. A light apple aroma from the Washington delicious apples I’d used. The apple flavor was very polished, not sweet nor sharp. It was soft, not rich. But the fruit expression was not missing, just very refined.

The bottle was bottled at 35%ABV, so it had a little “chest warmth” but no “mouth burn” at all.

So, in some examples the “age is worth it” if you can hold out that long.
My LM/VM & Potstill: My build thread
My Cadco hotplate modification thread: Hotplate Build
My stock pot gin still: stock pot potstill
My 5-grain Bourbon recipe: Special K
Post Reply