Fermenting with Wood Barrels

This is my first post in several months.... sorry for falling off the face of the earth, but I've been busy.

Anyway, I am getting back into brewing again and was thinking of new things to try. Has anyone ever used a wooden barrel to ferment or age their beer in? What sort of characteristics have you gotten out of it? Any tips on curing the barrel? What about using barrels that have been used for Whisky, Wines or Bourbon?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

I haven't, nor would I have ever thought I'd be interested in it. But I recently had a stout/kriek blend at a local brewpub that was aged in an oak barrel that was used to age white wine in it's former life. The stuff was just awesome! It had won the Gold at a regional Festival of Wood and Barrel-aged Beer. It's my girlfriend's favorite. After that experience, the idea suddenly appealed to me!

I never have, but I see them all the time at my LHBS, as he carries everything from 1Gal up to 30Gal. They are pricey, though.
http://www.home-brew.com/index.html?token=36923813-573091848-5365243&A=73&B=Bottle%2FKeg

do a search for barrel

I read an article at some point on it (can't remember where) that said oak cubes in a regular fermenter would yield similar results with leff fuss. You can calculate the surface area of the interior of the barrel and the calculate how many oak cubes of a certain size you would require. I did an oak barrel stout like this that came out pretty well, though a little too oaky to me. In terms of bourbon I guess you could soak the cubes in bourbon before introduction to the fermenter.

Or maybe you just want to do an authentic oak barrel fermentation

I found a website online that sold barrels, and explained that new barrels should be filled with water for several days to allow the wood to absorb moisture so during fermentation the barrel does not leak. I am kind of curious how this would work for fermentation/aging and contitioning.

I think I am going to pick up a small one and test a bit of my next batch. See how it ferments (I assume I would need to fashion some sort of air lock) or how it conditions.

It's a great idea (i've thought about it!), the wood barrel(s) you choose will need to have held what you want to 'add' to your recipe in terms of flavour. Also a few points to watch are they sound, taint free of undesirable chemical compounds, airtight and from a reliable source?

Caplan said:

Also a few points to watch are they sound, taint free...

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Yeah, definitely don't want taint beer!

Shmohel said:

I found a website online that sold barrels, and explained that new barrels should be filled with water for several days to allow the wood to absorb moisture so during fermentation the barrel does not leak. I am kind of curious how this would work for fermentation/aging and contitioning.

I think I am going to pick up a small one and test a bit of my next batch. See how it ferments (I assume I would need to fashion some sort of air lock) or how it conditions.

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It'll be raw oaky flavours with a new barrel i'm sure - slightly bitter new wood until you get a few home brews under it's belt (that's almost a cooper gag!?!). Get a small one and experiment as you've planned and post the result - I want to know!

Sanitation could be an issue - I don't know if I'd want to put a chemical sanitizer to the wood. Now whiskey or rum, that's a thought...

BeeGee said:

Yeah, definitely don't want taint beer!

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Speak for yourself, I would love some taint.

AHammer16 said:

Speak for yourself, I would love some taint.

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The space between your boys and your poop chute?

BeeGee said:

I read an article at some point on it ...

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I think I did, too, in BYO. The have a couple of articles online here and here.

BeeGee said:

The space between your boys and your poop chute?

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Thats the gouch (pronounced gooch) in the UK - My band had a warm up song about it that we played to ourselves (a little blues number about getting a woman to work it - we never played live thankfully)!

I've always heard taint here, as in "it taint your balls and taint your a$$"...sort of a no man's land! Guess there must be different definitions of it...gouch sounds pretty cool. I'm gonna try it on a British colleague right now.

I certainly am going to try with a small one. Maybe I will do a secondary fermentation in it. Then, add a little corn sugar to condition. Do you all think this would be a good idea?

there are sanitizers for the wood barrells, as well as little sulfur strips you can burn in the barrell to clean it.

BeeGee said:

Yeah, definitely don't want taint beer!

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Dang you, for beating me to that!

BeeGee said:

I've always heard taint here, as in "it taint your balls and taint your a$$"...sort of a no man's land! Guess there must be different definitions of it...gouch sounds pretty cool. I'm gonna try it on a British colleague right now.

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Up north we call it a kaziff. "Kaziff it wasn't there, there would only be one hole." That's the female version.

I know this thread is fairly dead by now, but if OP is still looking for info, check out Firestone Walker's Double-Barrel Ale. It's fully fermented in oak barrels and they even use a patented blowoff system known as the Firestone Union (as opposed to the old Burton Union) to harvest yeast.

The Happy Mug said:

Sanitation could be an issue - I don't know if I'd want to put a chemical sanitizer to the wood. Now whiskey or rum, that's a thought...

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I bottle a bourbon barrel stout on Sunday, all i did was soak the oak chips in the bourbon before i poured it into carboy. I'm giving it 3 months to age before i crack one open, but the sample i tasted was really good. The only thing i will do different next time is to use oak cubes instead of chips. I strained it through a cheese cloth, but i'm sure there are still a few bits of oak in there somewhere.