If you can only brew let's say 10g. would it matter if you used a let's say much larger whiskey Barrel. The barrel is from a friends whiskey company distilled in Ireland. He is going to get us one for our stout but like I said they are 59gallon barrels. Would it be alright to age a 10gallon batch of stout or would there be issues? Don't have much experience with barrel Aging but looking to get into it. Thanks.
Barrel Aging
- Thread starter Pugs13
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it is definitely NOT okay to only put 10 gallons in a 59 gal barrel. the barrel will already "breathe" and introduce oxygen since it's wood and porous. if you allow all that headspace you will have a terribly oxidized brew on your hands. you always want to top up the barrel to keep as little headspace as possible. the only time you want headspace is if you're fermenting in the barrel, and even then you'll want to top up after primary fermentation is complete. remember to decon your barrel with campden. do not use sulfur sticks if there was whiskey in there since it will explode!! good luck!
mewithstewpid
Well-Known Member
agree w/ jessup
it is not OK, it will oxidize the beer
I got my barrel on here from steelers77 he has 5gal barrels and i believe sometimes a 10 pops up
it is not OK, it will oxidize the beer
I got my barrel on here from steelers77 he has 5gal barrels and i believe sometimes a 10 pops up
I think we have our research and work cut out on this topic. Nevertheless, we are going to keep moving forward as this being a potential option, and seek out options for filling this bad boy up. Thanks guys for the help!
Can you please explain to me what top up means or break down of how to go about doing this. The barrel will have had aged whiskey in it. This is a barrel from Ireland, where the whiskey is aged in cask minimum 4 years. What can we do to prepare this barrel for beer? I have starting doing research on how to care for an oak barrel and how to keep bacteria and other yuckies out. I am not 100% positive that it will be 59 gallons, it may be smaller, I will have to wait and see what my friend from 2 GIngers Irish Whiskey says. Thanks for the help!
mewithstewpid
Well-Known Member
Top up means add more beer to fill the barrel to the top. Beer evaporates rapidly in barrels (called angels share) so you need to top up frequently to keep it full. Whiskey distillers constantly top up their barrels aging for years to keep as little oxygen exposure as possible
Would we be able to fill this barrel in batches? Say brew 10g. one day, then another 10g. the next and so on and so forth?
nicholaswebber13
Member
I would try to brew it like that but make sure when you fill the barrel that you would fill it all at the same time. So you can make say 6 10 gallon batches over the course of a week and wait until they are all done with primary and then rack all six into the barrel. Then top off as necessary.
Yes, but you'll want to do so by siphoning the beer into the barrel. Again, you don't want to oxidize the beer to much and the daily splashing will cause a lot of O2 to be introduced. a few double batches to expedite the filling would be best. Also, make sure you fill the barrel with water to swell the wood prior to using. There will likely be leaks upon first filling, but keeping the water in for a few days will help the wood expand and stop the leaking eventually - usually a few days. If you don't fill up the barrel you'll likely end up with some form of pellicle to prevent oxidation - see info about sherry or vin jaune (yellow wine). There is a lot of info to know about barrels, and unfortunately there is no compendium or simplified "how to". here's an older thread with some barrel info: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/old-wine-barrels-161553/#post1867195
i've used a 6 and 3 gallon barrel in the past and had mixed results. now they're charming decorations in our garden
