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Storage

Storage temperature

What temperature should cider be stored at, and how much does a warm cupboard actually cost?

In short

A cool, stable 8–14 °C is the target for almost every cider and perry, and stability matters at least as much as the number: repeated cycling between warm and cold does more harm than a steady temperature a few degrees above ideal.

The cost of warmth is compounding rather than sudden. Reaction rates roughly double for every ten degrees, so a cider kept at 22 °C ages perhaps twice as fast as one kept at 12 °C, and a summer cupboard at 28 °C faster still.

What that looks like in the glass is fruit fading, colour deepening, oxidative and cooked characters emerging, and — in a bottle with live yeast and residual sugar — refermentation.

What warmth is actually doing

Oxidation is the first process. Every bottle contains some dissolved oxygen and some in the headspace, and every closure admits a little more over time. Oxygen reacts with phenolic compounds and with acetaldehyde, browning the cider and moving its aroma from fresh fruit towards bruised apple, sherry and eventually cardboard. Warmth accelerates all of it.

Ester hydrolysis is the second, and it is the one responsible for a cider simply becoming less interesting. The fruity esters produced during fermentation are in slow chemical equilibrium with the acids and alcohols they were formed from, and over time they break down. This is why a cider whose appeal is fresh fruit aroma has a real and comparatively short window, and why warmth shortens it.

Microbial activity is the third, and it is the one that produces visible failures. A cider containing residual sugar and viable yeast will referment if the temperature rises enough to wake the yeast, which is how an unopened bottle acquires unexpected pressure. Spoilage organisms — Brettanomyces, lactic acid bacteria, Acetobacter where oxygen is available — all grow faster warm.

The Maillard-type and caramelisation reactions that produce cooked, jammy characters need higher temperatures still, and are a real risk for cider stored in a conservatory, a vehicle, or a loft in summer rather than for one in a warm room.

Target ranges

Storage temperature bands and what happens in each
BandEffectSuitable for
Below 0 °CFreezing: expansion can unseat a closure or split a bottle; sediment and tartrate-type deposits may drop outNothing; avoid
0–5 °CAgeing almost arrested; bottle conditioning stops; some hazes drop outShort-term holding of cider intended to be drunk fresh; not for conditioning
8–14 °CSlow, even development; conditioning proceeds steadily; the traditional cellar bandAlmost everything, and the default answer
15–20 °CNoticeably faster ageing; conditioning proceeds quickly; fruit fades within monthsDeliberate short-term conditioning of a bottle-conditioned cider, then move it cooler
Above 22 °CRapid oxidative and thermal change; refermentation risk in sweet bottles; pressure risesNothing; the common cause of ciders that "went off in the cupboard"
Stability first, then the numberA steady 16 °C is better than a cycle between 8 °C and 22 °C. Temperature swings drive expansion and contraction of the liquid and the headspace, which pumps air past a cork and can push a closure out of a full bottle. A cupboard against a north wall that never moves is a better cellar than a garage that is cold in January and hot in July.

Cycling, and why it is worse than warmth

When a filled bottle warms, the liquid expands and the gas in the headspace expands more, raising the internal pressure. When it cools, both contract, and the pressure falls below atmospheric. With a cork closure, the result is a slow pumping action: air is drawn in as the bottle cools and forced out as it warms, and the net effect is that far more oxygen reaches the cider than the closure’s nominal permeability would suggest.

With a crown cap the seal is more absolute, so cycling instead loads the closure mechanically. Repeated cycles on a bottle already carrying carbonation are one of the routes by which a cap begins to lift, and once it has lifted the cider is exposed.

The practical implication is that where a bottle will be stored, it should be put there and left. Moving cider between a fridge, a warm kitchen and a shed does more damage than any of those places would do on its own.

Finding a cool place without a cellar

A genuine cellar sits near 10–12 °C year-round with very little variation, which is why the tradition assumes one. Most households do not have one, and the practical exercise is to find the most stable cool corner rather than the coldest place.

The candidates are usually a north-facing internal cupboard, the floor of a wardrobe against an outside wall, a stairwell cupboard, or a garage that is insulated. The disqualifying features are direct sunlight, proximity to a boiler, hot water tank, oven or radiator, and a loft, which is the worst commonly used option because it reaches extreme temperatures in summer.

A cheap fridge thermometer left in a candidate location for a fortnight settles the question empirically, and usually produces a surprise. Kitchen cupboards adjacent to appliances are frequently ten degrees warmer than the room they are in.

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