I know that a number of us have procured barrels thanks to the efforts of Saccharomyces and Infidel, so I thought it'd be worth discussing/cataloging our efforts in a single thread.
I'll go first:
First up, my English Barleywine (The Leviathan) will be getting racked over to the barrel either today or tomorrow for a length aging, I'm thinking around two months before racking to the keg for further bulk-aging.
Second, I'm thinking a historic porter that I've had bulk-aging will get some short barrel time (2-3 weeks).
I got a Rumble full of mead that I made about 6 months ago, ill taste it every month or so... and see how it goes!
I have a whiskey barrel, that Im making sure stays hydrated with cheeeeap whiskey. I brewed JZs brown porter this saturday, and will rack it into the barel (sans cheap whiskey) in about 2 more weeks.
after I think Ill make an RIS or Barley wine.... then move on to an aud brun.
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too much beer to keep track of anymore!
My Balcones Distillery barrel is in the mail (thanks to buyers flaking). I already had a Porter planned so that'll be the first to get the barrel aging. I'll have to increase the batch size for topping off due to angel's share.
But I really have no idea on barrel aging. Is it necessary/preferred to let the beer mature a bit first before you put it in the barrel? Do I want to have as little yeast in solution when it goes in the barrel?
__________________ Early brewers were primarily women, mostly because it was deemed a woman's job. Mesopotamian men, of some 3,800 years ago, were obviously complete assclowns and had yet to realize the pleasure of brewing beer.- Beer Advocate
First batch will be an Arrogant Bastard clone that I'll brew next week. The barrel is full of water till I rack to it in a few weeks to ensure that it does not dry out and start to leak. I plan to run a number of batches through it before it gets used for sour beers...
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“Altogether 1420 in the Shire was a marvelous year... The Northfarthing barley was so fine that the beer of 1420 malt was long remembered and became a byword. Indeed a generation later one might hear an old gaffer in an inn, after a good pint of well-earned ale, put down his mug with a sigh: ‘Ah! that was a proper fourteen-twenty, that was!’”
- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King
I have a quick and dirty barleywine to rack to it in a week or so.
Depending on the character I get, I may go with a Baltic Porter or a Tripel a al Allagash Curieux.
I also brewed a brown porter for my Rumble barrel. Right now it's sitting with some Bacardi to soak up the staves a bit, and probably a week or two will get that porter.
After that, I'll probably rotate some meads in and out of it before I start making sours as well.
I've got two barrels. One will have an English Barleywine go into it in about a month or so. The other I will put Denny's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter in. Still need to brew that one though.
Ashz-
Any plans to blend the two RIS's or leaving one as a "control"?
I had a keg of Gatos Locos Imperial Stout aging in a keg I threw into one of the barrels, I racked it last Saturday after 23 days in the barrel and it's perfect. Whiskey head, nutty and vanilla flavors from the oak, slightly astringent finish from the oak tannins which helps to offset the sweetness of this beer which finished at 1.031.
At the same time I tossed in an Irish Red into the other barrel, after 4 weeks in the barrel it still needs more time. The only way to really know is just by tasting and racking when you feel it's done.
Oh, one other thing, the opening of the barrel is not quite large enough to use an autosiphon, so you need to use a racking cane (or the cane from an autosiphon) and prime it with water or sanitizer to rack out of the barrel.
I had a keg of Gatos Locos Imperial Stout aging in a keg I threw into one of the barrels, I racked it last Saturday after 23 days in the barrel and it's perfect. Whiskey head, nutty and vanilla flavors from the oak, slightly astringent finish from the oak tannins which helps to offset the sweetness of this beer which finished at 1.031.
At the same time I tossed in an Irish Red into the other barrel, after 4 weeks in the barrel it still needs more time. The only way to really know is just by tasting and racking when you feel it's done.
Oh, one other thing, the opening of the barrel is not quite large enough to use an autosiphon, so you need to use a racking cane (or the cane from an autosiphon) and prime it with water or sanitizer to rack out of the barrel.
or get a smaller autosyphon
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too much beer to keep track of anymore!
Barrel-Aging Roll Call
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