Cheap French Oak Barrels?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
underdogadam

underdogadam

Active Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
34
Reaction score
1
Location
Culver City
found this craigslist ad:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/grd/2800919434.html

any reason I couldn't use these for aging? would love to put 59 Gal of sour in these puppies. I called the guy, his answer was that he just got them from local So.Cal vineyards in the last 3 weeks so there's no reason they couldn't hold liquid again. I don't know if that's enough to convince me to risk 60 gallons of homebrew though.

thoughts? suggestions? 3 for 200$ is so cheap.

fro man for no reason: :fro:
 
I wouldn't put a sour in them... yet. I would use that great wine and oak flavor with some stouts or belgian dubbels or trippels before souring the barrel.

But yes, go for it!
 
Once you sour a beer, the barrel will only be good for sours from that point forward. I am recommending that he postpone it for a few batches and utilize the good oak and wine flavors for beers fermented with only sacc. yeast.-

Once the oak and wine flavors are depreciated, then sour the barrel.
 
Even though the barrels are only a few weeks old, it still might be risky putting non-sour beer in them. The few pro breweries that reuse wine barrels refill within a few days, and even then assume a degree of Brett contamination. Wine, unlike liquor does not have the alcohol content to ward off microbes, and once additional o2 is introduced ie. draining the barrel, the risk is increased further. So even though the barrels are fresh, they are still likely harboring a stable community of microbes.

Given that they are so cheap, far from trying to dissuade you from using them, I only mean that if you do buy them, start with something high in alcohol, fully fermented, and that would benefit from a possible hint of funk such as a triple, imperial saison etc. Since they are so big, and it would be an investment to fill them, I would tread on the cautious side and not brew something intentionally sour off the bat, but at least something that can tolerate a bit of funk.
 
thelorax121 said:
Even though the barrels are only a few weeks old, it still might be risky putting non-sour beer in them. The few pro breweries that reuse wine barrels refill within a few days, and even then assume a degree of Brett contamination. Wine, unlike liquor does not have the alcohol content to ward off microbes, and once additional o2 is introduced ie. draining the barrel, the risk is increased further. So even though the barrels are fresh, they are still likely harboring a stable community of microbes.

Given that they are so cheap, far from trying to dissuade you from using them, I only mean that if you do buy them, start with something high in alcohol, fully fermented, and that would benefit from a possible hint of funk such as a triple, imperial saison etc. Since they are so big, and it would be an investment to fill them, I would tread on the cautious side and not brew something intentionally sour off the bat, but at least something that can tolerate a bit of funk.
Click to expand...

Thanks- This is exactly what i'll do. I do an imperial grapefruit saison every spring, and i think i just found an excuse to brew it 4 times in a weekend.
 
So, I see that a few people here say that once a barrel is used for a sour, its soured forever. I don't think thats true.

The sour breweries actually sterilize their barrels between batches to make sure that they get a consistent flavor by controlling the populations. What you have to keep in mind is that you can put boiling water in a barrel, which will kill most anything in it, though my understanding is that they use steam wands.
 
Daemin said:
So, I see that a few people here say that once a barrel is used for a sour, its soured forever. I don't think thats true.

The sour breweries actually sterilize their barrels between batches to make sure that they get a consistent flavor by controlling the populations. What you have to keep in mind is that you can put boiling water in a barrel, which will kill most anything in it, though my understanding is that they use steam wands.
Click to expand...

Even if they do steam the barrels, they will be far from sterilized because of the surface area/porosity of the wood, and the insulation factor which would prevent the heat needed for sterilization from penetrating the wood completely. If a brewery does steam a barrel, it may be to knock back a particularly prominent bug so that they can repitch with their stock culture for product consistency, but they are still making a sour beer. You are asking for disappointment if you try to get a clean beer from a previously soured barrel, regardless of the treatment (sulfites etc.)
 

Similar threads

drgonzo2k2
Looking for feedback before starting my first Solera
Replies
7
Views
1K
drgonzo2k2
drgonzo2k2
A
  • Article
Brew & A: Bobby "Bobby_M" Mierzejwski
Replies
20
Views
1K
brewcityguys
B
M
  • Article
10 Worst Homebrewing Mistakes
Replies
30
Views
23K
VERN THEIS
V
TxBrew
  • Article
Brew & A: Jim "Homercidal" Hulliberger
Replies
7
Views
561
humblehops500
H
TxBrew
  • Article
Brew & A: Jim "Homercidal" Hulliberger
Replies
7
Views
504
humblehops500
H

Latest posts

Back
Top