Oak Barrel and Whiky

So, I have this little oak cask barrel of a few liters that I use to serve some beverage some times. I bought it brand new, the inside was medium charred. I have it since a few months and it had braggot and maple mead in it. I kept it full of water when not full of alcool. At first, the flavor was INTENSE, but now it tend to mellow out.

In the future, I have to idea to age some beer in it. It's not big, but for that same reason, the flavor is intense because of the large contact surface, in relation with the volume, So I tought If I age a part of a batch in it, I could make a blend after, like they often do in winery (blend different barrels to have a good balance of flavors).

Anyways, my point is, if I want to add whisky, scotch or bourbon (or even rye) touch to it, would it worth it to fill it up with whisky for a few weeks before I fill it with beer? Is it okay if I dilute the whisky a tiny bit?

I'm interested in this as well. I'm sure someone has done this

captainkirk83 said:

I'm interested in this as well. I'm sure someone has done this

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I'd like to add also:

If someones can relate their experiences on how different whiskys affect the taste: Scotch, Bourbon, Rye, Irish, American whisky...

You dont have to fill the barrel with liquor. Just put in what u have and turn the barrel daily to keep all surfaces wet with your choice or liquor. Good luck! If you keep the barrel full of water btwn uses be sure to add some kmetabisulfate or equivalent & use cold water.

jessup said:

You dont have to fill the barrel with liquor. Just put in what u have and turn the barrel daily to keep all surfaces wet with your choice or liquor. Good luck! If you keep the barrel full of water btwn uses be sure to add some kmetabisulfate or equivalent & use cold water.

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Thanks for that!

For the maintenance.. when I finish serving from the barrel, I rinse it with boiling water one, then several time with cold water, then I metabisulfite it for a fews days, empty and and refill with tap cold water until I need it again, then I reuse sulfites. No funky flavor yet. I guess some 43% whisky would kill a couple of nasties, if there are some.

For an example I bought a 1.75 litre bottle of bourbon to flavor my 5 gallon barrel. I usually leave it in for a week or two rotating daily to wet all surfaces. When I empty the barrel I lose 3 to 4 ounces of bourbon.

My club used a jack daniels whiskey barrel for an aging prooject, and let me tell you the variety of whiskey DOES matter. Our stout is good, but man can you tell it was jack in the barrel before. Bourbon seems much softer in comparison, next barrel we get, I will push for bourbon.

I have a stout in my secondary. Used 1 oz of light roast and one of dark. Soaked in 2/3 Tennessee honey whisky and rest Jim bean. Bottling tomorrow. I'll post back

adamdillabo said:

I have a stout in my secondary. Used 1 oz of light roast and one of dark. Soaked in 2/3 Tennessee honey whisky and rest Jim bean. Bottling tomorrow. I'll post back

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I've done that in the past, but it's way cooler to make it with an actual barrel

That said, I'd like to hear news about it!! You means Jack Daniel's honey whisky? I've tasted it during the holidays... wow, waaaay better than regular jack (that is undrinkable!!)

mbauer013 said:

My club used a jack daniels whiskey barrel for an aging prooject, and let me tell you the variety of whiskey DOES matter. Our stout is good, but man can you tell it was jack in the barrel before. Bourbon seems much softer in comparison, next barrel we get, I will push for bourbon.

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Of course It matters. I never doubted it!
I was more looking for imputs about the different aroma profiles given by the different whiskys. Would a scotch will be more vanilla-ish than a regular regular, that might be more woody?

I thought maybe a greatly peated scotch might be fantastic with a strong scotch ale... and bourbon for a stout.