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Bourbon/Whiskey Barrel
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 11:53 am
by iguenard
I just got gifted a recently emptied whiskey barrel. 250L. Gonna take 5-6 batches to fill it out with Imperial Stout.
Anyone in here have experience in using full-grown barrels for aging beer?
If yes, please let me know... we'll be talking for the next few months
I do plan on making a huge collaboration beer to fill this sucker out
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 12:01 pm
by grub
a group of us actually just recently did this - 6 groups making beer in varying volumes to fill it. the sooner you can fill it, the better... as they sit they have a chance to dry out and for bugs to take hold. you can leave the beer in there for quite a while with a full sized barrel due to the lower surface to volume ratio. i think we're figuring 6-8month minimum.
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 4:36 pm
by JasonTremblay
As grub said, fill it as fast possible.
Also ... fill it all in one shot. The more head space you have, the greater the chance of acetobacter taking holding (it's an aerobic bug). You don't want 200+ litres of malt vinegar.
If you don't think you can sit there and let it rest for months without sampling, you should make your life easier and drill a small hole into the barrel and plug it with a SS nail. Pull the nail, draw off your sample, replace nail.
And, dear god, have a second backup nail just in case you lose the first.
Link!
http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?23357
Good luck!
Jason
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:37 pm
by iguenard
What about if I fill it with CO2?
I thought of filling it first with a batch of boiled water to keep it moist, then once I had 5-6 batches of stout fermented, to combine them all in one day into the barel, and just fill up the rest with CO2.
Whatdya think?
BTW, how did your batch turn out?
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 9:58 pm
by grub
filling it with hot water will keep it moist, but won't keep the bugs out. a CO2 blanket can help keep the aerobic bugs at bay, but it's not fool-proof. best to fill it as soon as possible to be safe.
ours just went into the barrel a couple weeks ago, so we'll have to wait and see how it turns out.
Re: Bourbon/Whiskey Barrel
Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 12:05 pm
by atomeyes
iguenard wrote:I just got gifted a recently emptied whiskey barrel. 250L. Gonna take 5-6 batches to fill it out with Imperial Stout.
Anyone in here have experience in using full-grown barrels for aging beer?
If yes, please let me know... we'll be talking for the next few months
I do plan on making a huge collaboration beer to fill this sucker out
yeah, what the other dudes said.
you need a marathon brewing day/weekend.
and remember: an empty barrel weighs less than a full barrel