Secondary in an oak barrel

I was thinking of aging some beer in an oak barrel to give it a little oak flavor. My question is. After its in the fermentation bucket for 3 weeks and I want to transfer it in to the oak barrel do I siphon it in to the barrel or just pour it in? Do I strain it before it goes in to the barrel so none of the yucky stuff goes in to the oak..? Im not really sure. I want to experiment with it but I dont want to waste a 5 gallon batch either.. any advice..??

Do not pour your beer into the barrel as this will aerate it and cause oxidation. Gently rack it and do your best to leave the sediment in your bucket.

And make sure your oak barrel is sanitized and water tight. Search this board or the web for details.

I have thought about this. Couldn't the same effect be had faster and SAFER ( infection wise) to add some oak chips to a secondary ( glass carboy)? I know a group that made a huge batch and put it in an oak barrel.. The whole thing got infected.

I have a 5.2 gal barrel. I will try it and let everyone know how it turned out in about 3 months or so depending on the flavor. Might be longer or shorter.. I dont know..

OHIOSTEVE said:

Couldn't the same effect be had faster and SAFER ( infection wise) to add some oak chips to a secondary ( glass carboy)?

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Wine brewers do this all the time. They also add "liquid oak" flavoring directly to the wine.

anthonyb15fd said:

I have a 5.2 gal barrel. I will try it and let everyone know how it turned out in about 3 months or so depending on the flavor. Might be longer or shorter.. I dont know..

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Remember that a 5 gal barrel has a much larger surface to volume ratio then its bigger brothers. This will result in more oak flovour. So, you probably should keep it shorter in the barrel, or dilute later with "plain" beer.

+1 for what Maarten said. That little barrel is going to provide some serious oak flavors in a very short amount of time. Sample it regularly so you dont over oak it. If it goes to far a blend will fix it right up for you.

anthonyb15fd said:

I have a 5.2 gal barrel. I will try it and let everyone know how it turned out in about 3 months or so depending on the flavor. Might be longer or shorter.. I dont know..

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Did you ever get around to trying this out?