aging question

When aging a beer weather it be a home brewed or store bought one, can it be kept in a refrigerator or does it need to be aged at the same temps as when it was fermenting (exterior basement wall temp)

Changes to the beer will happen faster at warmer temperatures.

You can store it where it is convenient.

If you are purposely trying to age it to mellow the flavors, etc., then “cellar temperature” is appropriate. For me and my basement, that’s about 55 to 60 F.

If you want to preserve the flavor of the beers and not allow it to evolve or “get worse” than it is right now, then you must refrigerate.

Basically, beer goes stale like any other food, but this is slowed by cooler temperatures. In certain instances, a slightly “old” flavor is appropriate for the style, such as with “old ales”, barleywines, imperial stouts, etc. But for most normal styles, you might as well store them as cool as possible if you have the refrigerator space. I store a lot of beer at cellar temperatures, sometimes over a year, and by then, it might be tasting a little off. If I had a bigger refrigerator, I might use it. But I’m basically too cheap and too lazy to care that much about it, and it’s still good beer.

So… there’s the long answer.

I store the beer I want to age at cellar temp. If you are storing sours you want the yeast and bacteria to continue to work on the beer over time and at too cold of a temp they will quit.

What about temperature changes? Say I have a keg tapped and only drink half of it. Could it be stored again at cellar temperatures?

What type of beer is it?

yes, provided you have a good seal on it. It will just age fatser than being kept cold

Yes, absolutely. I routinely store long aged beers at cellar temps for a year or more. As long as there is pressure in the keg, and your beer was cleanly brewed with good sanitation, there are no worries. Some beers (such as the stronger ones) will do better than others with cellar temp storage, however.