Considering Barrel Aging

I've seen some information about this, but it's somewhat sparse and I don't see anything specific about what I'm wondering about, which is timing. Namely, when should I age in a barrel, and for how long?

I first thought I was looking at treating a 5 gal oak barrel like a carboy for secondary fermentation. Then I saw posts suggesting only to age in the barrel for a few days. Thoughts?

I'm definitely looking to start with a heavy beer. I'm seriously wanting to try a Samichlaus clone. I'm just not looking forward to waiting that long to drink it!!!

I have no idea, never having used a barrel. But, I bet a member here could help you, he has a very cool website at www.themadfermentationist.com and I think I remember reading one or two of his posts about barrel aging.

I don't have any experience with a 5 gallon barrel, but I do know some things:

- If it's a new barrel, you're gonna have a hard time balancing the strength of the oak flavor. You will want it on the beer for a very short time. You may even want to break it in with another beer first (or alcohol).
- You might want to start with Oak chips or Cubes first to familiarize yourself with Oaking. I find that I don't have much reason to move to barrels with how easy it is to reproduce a great beer with chips and cubes.

Thanks. I read some of the information on The Mad Fermentalist's page. He's got a pretty good blog here - http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2007/03/treatise-on-oaking-homebrew.html

I'm still not clear, when they talk about "aging on" oak, or "sitting on" oak, are we talking about post-fermentation, but before bottling? Do I throw a few cubes into my carboy during secondary fermentation? Or do I put it back in the carboy for a week or two with some oak cubes after it's done fermenting, and then bottle it?

TIA

mscrowley said:

Thanks. I read some of the information on The Mad Fermentalist's page. He's got a pretty good blog here - http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2007/03/treatise-on-oaking-homebrew.html

I'm still not clear, when they talk about "aging on" oak, or "sitting on" oak, are we talking about post-fermentation, but before bottling? Do I throw a few cubes into my carboy during secondary fermentation? Or do I put it back in the carboy for a week or two with some oak cubes after it's done fermenting, and then bottle it?

TIA

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I actually like to throw in some Oak chips during primary fermentation. Supposedly the oak even assists the yeast in the fermentation process. Then, I would move on to Oak Cubes if you plan to age the beer.

Oak Chips for short periods of time (With a 1-dimensional character). Oak Cubes for longer periods of time (with a more complex oak character). The mixture of both supposedly brings out the most complexities

My suggestion to you, is to do what that guy does on the blog. You should split batches into 3 or more and mess around with the Oak. Some examples of variables to mess with:

- Use only cubes for a length of time
- Use only chips for a short time
- Leave the Oak cubes on the beer for more than 2 or 3 months
- Soak some of the Oak cubes in bourbon or another liquor
- Try one of the batches without oak to compare the differences

You get the point.

What kind of containers are you aging the separate batches in? Do you age it separately, and then add a little yeast for carbonation before bottling?

For these small experimental batches, I use Mr beer fermenters and 3 gallon glass carboys.

And yes, they age separately and I bottle them as I usually do.

Thanks much. All of my batches so far have been pretty normal - 5 gal fermenter -> 5 gal carboy -> bottle.

And I've been afraid to screw up carbonation by messing with the carboy -> bottle part.

mscrowley said:

Thanks much. All of my batches so far have been pretty normal - 5 gal fermenter -> 5 gal carboy -> bottle.

And I've been afraid to screw up carbonation by messing with the carboy -> bottle part.

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Just make sure your calculations are correct to scale back on your priming sugar additions. The mrmalty calculator is a good start.

Don't forget the impact of scale. Using a 5 gal barrel vs a 55 gal will bring very different results. Larger volume barrels have less surface area of oak per gal. So less flavor impact per day as well, the O2 that comes in us far less the larger vessel.

Virgin oak imparts a huge flavor fast where well used oak will be far less. Log your tests and taste as you go. I use oak spirals as I can hang it in the ferment and remove when I desire.