Advertise Here
Main · BrewSpace · Recipes · Wiki · Groups · Clubs · Gallery · Reviews · Video · Blogs · Store

ALL NEW Rebel Mill Grain Crusher now Available at Rebel BrUltra Portable Kits - $74.95, Kegconnection.comUsed liquor barrels
Go Back   Home Brew Forums > Home Brewing Beer > Lambic & Wild Brewing



Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-31-2012, 03:57 PM   #1
Senior Member
Recipes 
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: east haddam, ct
Posts: 345
Default How long can I age in a barrel?

Hello sour beer folks, ive searched for this and couldnt find a conclusive answer, and have tured to you for some knowledge.

i am getting an oak barrel (5gal) soon, and after i oak age some beers in it i want to turn it into a sour barrel. pretty standard.

My question is how long can i store the sour beer in the barrel? BrewingTV recently had an episode on sour beers, and said they were going to sour a beer in a barrel for "a long time." I know sour beers need to age for a year or more, but can this be done in a barrel? Wont some beer evaporate?

Also, once inoculated, do you clean the barrel ever? I would imagine that a cake forms on the bottom of the barrel, and was not sure if that should be left alone or dumped out since the bugs are in the wood.

thanks for your help. would love to hear some barrel aging timespans.

Rich


__________________
Vanderman's Brewery
Baltimore, MD - West Hartford, CT
Hopped Blood Orange Hefeweizen ~ Oak Aged Scottish-Style 80/-
mewithstewpid is offline Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2012, 04:29 PM   #2
Senior Member
Recipes 
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: east haddam, ct
Posts: 345
Default

also for a kriek, can you just put cherries in the barrel? that seems like it could get messy.
__________________
Vanderman's Brewery
Baltimore, MD - West Hartford, CT
Hopped Blood Orange Hefeweizen ~ Oak Aged Scottish-Style 80/-
mewithstewpid is offline Reply With Quote
Old 01-31-2012, 04:59 PM   #3
Senior Member
Recipes 
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Medford, MA
Posts: 2,925
Default

yes, some beer will be lost to evaporation (angel's share)

i dont think you'll want to store it in the 5gal barrel the whole time. smaller barrels proportionally get alot more oxygen in so it can make limiting acetic acid tough.
dcp27 is offline Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2012, 01:24 AM   #4
Senior Member
Recipes 
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: east haddam, ct
Posts: 345
Default

Got the barrel in. Looks awesome. Any other advice?
__________________
Vanderman's Brewery
Baltimore, MD - West Hartford, CT
Hopped Blood Orange Hefeweizen ~ Oak Aged Scottish-Style 80/-
mewithstewpid is offline Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2012, 12:24 PM   #5
Back-Alley Apothecary
 
dcHokie's Avatar
Recipes 
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 907
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by dcp27 View Post
yes, some beer will be lost to evaporation (angel's share)

i dont think you'll want to store it in the 5gal barrel the whole time. smaller barrels proportionally get alot more oxygen in so it can make limiting acetic acid tough.
I wouldn't think you'd want to use a 5 gallon barrel for sours for the reason dcp27 mentioned.


__________________

Fermenting: Sour Pale Ale, Brett Belgian Rye Stout, FunkPaleI, FunkPaleII
Aging: Brett English Brown, Funky Fig/Date Saison, Drunk Owl Mango, OudBruin, FunkyDirtyBlonde, Solera
Bottled/Kegged: Brett IPA, Apollo Red, Hobgoblin, Brett Old Ale, FlandersPale, Dark Saison, Orval, JP BamBiere, Rapture RIS, RIS09, Oak Barleywine, Basil Saison
dcHokie is online now Reply With Quote
Reply
Thread Tools
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
what to do with with a chardonnay barrel? jphebbie2 Lambic & Wild Brewing 8 10-07-2011 10:38 PM
Not using all of an oak Barrel Morkin Lambic & Wild Brewing 3 05-24-2011 03:50 PM
Infecting a Barrel? EinGutesBiersSWMBO Lambic & Wild Brewing 7 12-15-2010 10:28 PM
Starter for a barrel thedude123 Lambic & Wild Brewing 6 09-14-2010 07:32 PM
Buying a New Barrel WorryWort Lambic & Wild Brewing 5 10-26-2009 02:49 PM





Contact Us - Top - Privacy - All times are GMT. The time now is 08:28 PM.
Copyright © Group Builder, Inc - All Rights Reserved
Craft Beer & Brewery Forum