Barrel Aging Brews?

Hello Brewers,
I was pondering, as I live pretty close to the Jack Daniels Distillery and can get used, wet JD oak barrels, if anyone has ever aged a brew in a barrel like that? What styles do you think would take well to the process and what styles should be avoided? Would using the barrel make a large difference versus chips or chips soaked in Jack Daniels?

Thanks!

It takes quite a bit of beer to fill a full sized barrel, however some brewing clubs have done it during group brewing sessions. Generally bourbon barrels are used. Style-wise they tend to be stronger tasting beers: porter, stout (imperial or regular), scotch ale, etc.

By the way, welcome to HBT. I spent a fair amount of time in Hendersonville during the 90's for business. I really enjoyed the whole Nashville area.

ahhh another nashville area brewer i see i'm down in spring hill, hello neighbor!

Dude... Slight jealousy building. What do you suppose the freight would be on one of those bad boys?

As BrianP stated it is usually heavier beers. The local club in my area just did one with RIS. Around here though most are using used wine barrels, instead of bourbon. I haven't done any barrel aging personally but I think it would be a fun project. Again though that is a lot of beer to produce just to fill it up. Good luck.

Well, I have a brew magic on order from Sabco, so I can produce the volume relatively easily. I hope to sell to some local restaurants once I get things figured out and the proper licensing, so it might be a neat niche brew. I do have about 40 gallons of muscadine wine about 1 year old in carboys, might should procure a barrel for that

What kind of licensing and what type of area are you looking at setting up shop? I have also been talking with my buddy about doing some kind of nano or cottage style brewery. Have you done any research yet into what is required?

Any barrel aging tips? I am experimenting with aging some cheap vodka in small barrels first to simulate used bourbon barrels...

My own 5 liter Oak Barrel for aging wine and homebrew | GrillandBarrel.com



Raising my Spirits | GrillandBarrel.com

The main problem I would see in using wet JD barrels would be that the standard size of a barrel is 31 gallons! Secondly, I feel like they would be pretty tough to get a hold of unless you knew the right people.

How much do they sell these for? I'd drive up and get one!

Those little kegs look awesome, might have to try those out.

One of the LHBS around here made an IPA in a bourbon barrel. It was the first batch they ever did and the bourbon flavor was very potent. The owner said over time the bourbon flavor will dwindle.