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finsfan said:
Filled barrel #2 (on the left) with a sour stout last night. Now i just wait. :)View attachment 299043
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Maybe its been asked before, but how do you sanitize those barrels before filling? I might be able to get my hands on a couple that are used for some kind of home-made whiskey, for about $50 each. The outside looks to be in great shape, it is a restaurant that is changing its ownership and they want to simply offload them next month. Thought the first couple batches might make for some interesting flavors but the sanitation aspect is making me doubt things.
 
Spartan300man said:
Maybe its been asked before, but how do you sanitize those barrels before filling? I might be able to get my hands on a couple that are used for some kind of home-made whiskey, for about $50 each. The outside looks to be in great shape, it is a restaurant that is changing its ownership and they want to simply offload them next month. Thought the first couple batches might make for some interesting flavors but the sanitation aspect is making me doubt things.
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Pretty simple if you do it right. If it was just recently emptied of the spirit and has been sealed since, you shouldnt have any issues and could fill it up no problem. For the barrels I had, I went ahead and added a few bottle of rye whiskey to sanitize and also to keep the barrels hydrated until I would fill them. I emptied all the whiskey out before filling them. After the first fill, as long as I empty them and fill them back up the same day, there shouldn't be any worry of infection.
 
finsfan said:
Pretty simple if you do it right. If it was just recently emptied of the spirit and has been sealed since, you shouldnt have any issues and could fill it up no problem. For the barrels I had, I went ahead and added a few bottle of rye whiskey to sanitize and also to keep the barrels hydrated until I would fill them. I emptied all the whiskey out before filling them. After the first fill, as long as I empty them and fill them back up the same day, there shouldn't be any worry of infection.
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Thanks! What size are your barrels? How much headspace is acceptable in them? I need to get a better idea on the capacity of these things. If they are too huge, I might have to pass on it.

This opens up a whole new world of potential brews! I might needs to upscale my equipment, though.
 
Spartan300man said:
Thanks! What size are your barrels? How much headspace is acceptable in them? I need to get a better idea on the capacity of these things. If they are too huge, I might have to pass on it.

This opens up a whole new world of potential brews! I might needs to upscale my equipment, though.
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Those barrels are 15 gallons each. I dont have any heads pace in them and wouldn't recommend any. If you are able to upgrade your gear to fill the barrel, do it! You will thank me later.
 
My 8% Belgian Tripel is into week 4 of bottle-conditioning. Not. Even. Close. to being ready; on the slightly-sweet/alcohol-y side. Definitely needs much more time to dry out.

New brew: Cardamom Ale recipe from Brooklyn Brew Shop's "Beer Making Book". It took only 12 of those little, eensy-weensy, tiny seeds in the boil for an entire 3 gal. batch! Wort sample was fantastic! OG'd at 1.046 -- should be a great early fall ale! Stay tuned.
 
finsfan said:
You bought pre-sliced and frozen mango, right? It was Dole IIRC? I probably need to try that combo soon. Was this your brett saison or a clean one?
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Yeah, Dole frozen chunks. Already sterilized and so much easier than cutting that much fresh. This was just the 3726 yeast. That stuff has always fermented to 1.000 or 1.001 for me.
 
Kegged the blonde (yesterdayish) and the "not so" pale ale today. First time adding gelatin to the keg, I usually do it in primary.
 
Traveling for work, so after I took care if all the work stuff, I opened up Brewers Friend on the ol' work laptop in the hotel and worked through the water calcs for the dubbel I'll do next weekend. When I get home, my Columbus IPA should be carved up and ready to go.
 
Brewed Punkin Ale Clone.

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Pitched WLP-001, in fermentation chamber now.

Making a starter of WLP-007 for Arrogant Bastard Clone to be brewed over weekend.
 
Measured out my ingredients for my Cascadian dark wheat I'll brew tomorrow. Made the starter of wlp090. Drank a few.
 
Put away some bottles, hop sacks, grain bags & stuff. Outta boxes for beers my son says he'll have to wait till next year to brew. Damn.
 
Brewed Arrogant Bastard Ale Clone today.
Making a starter for Oktoberfest to be brewed early next week.
 
Wrote version 4 of my whiskely stout. Going to base it on a sweet stout this time. I upped the chocolate malt, switching from breise to Simpson's for more chocolate/ coffee flavor. I'm hoping the sweetness & lower bittering will bring out the desired flavors more?
 
DrunkleJon said:
Picked 17.75 oz of centennial hops off my first year plant.
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Pitched the yeast into Arrogant Bastard Clone last night. Hit 1.062, just shy of intended 1.066.
Got new pH meter and 12" whisk for mashing. Copper wire for my immersion cooler.
Cleaned up some.
 
Gelled an APA that has been cold crashing for a few days. Finished cleaning a couple of carboys.

Gotta plan the next brew now. Maybe i should brew that amber again. It kicked quick last time. Everybody liked it. But I'd also like to get a brandywine in the pipeline. And then there's that Black IPA I've been meaning to brew for ever...

Could be time for a double brew weekend.
 
PBW'd my keg and serving lines - it's been empty except for hardened dregs for a year, but the PBW took care of it no sweat. Magic.
 
Checked temp on my sour mash Berliner - 14 hrs in and I can't believe how much it smells like Greek yogurt. Temp hanging out at 100. Have 8 lbs of blueberries i picked from my parents house in the freezer waiting to get added in the secondary
 
BGBC said:
Yesterday, helped a buddy build a barrel rack and fill our shared barrel with stout. We weren't quite sure how big it was and came up a little short, so we also brewed up another 5 gal, to be added in a few days when primary calms down.
View attachment 300217
View attachment 300218
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Holy crap. That looks like at least a 20 gallon barrel. It also looks plenty old. What was in the thing before? Can I also ask you how you prepared the barrel before filling?

I have one that was a rum barrel sitting around that I haven't yet figured out what to do with...
 
philipmeese said:
Holy crap. That looks like at least a 20 gallon barrel. It also looks plenty old. What was in the thing before? Can I also ask you how you prepared the barrel before filling?



I have one that was a rum barrel sitting around that I haven't yet figured out what to do with...
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It's probably 30 gal (we guessed 25 and undershot). It is plenty old, no idea exactly how old. It was one of my grandfather's old wine barrels. It's been empty for a while (10+ years), so we're rolling the dice here, but it's got sentimental value ;) .

Swelled it with water and gave it a thorough rinse. Then hit it with citric/kmeta holding solution for several weeks. We pulled two barrels out of his basement and gave both the same treatment. This one smelled clean and held tight. The other one smelled pretty funky and kept pissing water, even with wax.

Dumped the solution and rinsed with plenty of hot water. Poured a couple handles of whiskey in for a few days before filling to keep it wet, then dumped that before filling.

I want to eventually turn it into a sour solera, but my buddy wanted to see what it would do with a clean beer. I guess we'll see if there are any resident bugs in there already (I'm giving it a better than 50% chance of that).
 
My brother in laws dad grows hops in CO and brought a bunch down for me last weekend that he had just harvested. Last night I vacuum sealed them all up. Got 18oz of free centennial in the freezer now. :D
 
Well, being retiree pay day, We all went shoppin'! But not before I ordered some $150 worth of brewing supplies. That hellfire IIPA is going to happen soon, as is the Cooper's bitter, the 6th gallon of which is going to be made into malt vinegar. Gotta hit up Giant Eagle for some 2 gallon buckets at the bakery section. Also got some different beers at Aldi's. They carry lesser known craft beers now. They don't have the Wernesgruner pils anymore, but I did get an IPA from NY. And a German lager beer. Wallyworld had a nice black leather mid-back chair to replace the old totally broken one at the comp. boy, the thigh pad is nice to elevate the forward rear thigh to allow the lumbar curve some extra freedom. It has that same sorta firm padding as the seats In a Merkur XR4TI, or Scorpio. Nice! Also got Sriracha in a 1/3 bigger bottle at aldi's for 85c versus a couple bucks for 1/3 less at Walmart. Got some huge roaster chicken legs for the pit too. Dang, this new chair feels so much better...:mug:
 
Boiling my sour mashed Berliner. Checked the mash when I got home from work and it was the perfect level of acidity and tartness. But I was less than motivated to start boiling this At 9pm tonight.
 

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