Used Wine Barrels for Beer?

I have a friend who is the winemaker at a local winery, and they have a pretty big operation, relatively speaking. I was discussing brewing with her, since the two things aren't too far off, and she said that she has a bunch of wine barrels that she's not using anymore, and that I could use them for whatever I wanted to do with beer. So does anyone have any suggestions? I think she said they're cab franc barrels.

How big are they? Like fifty gallons?

I need to get my hands on one to set up as a compost bin for the garden, but I can't imagine using one in brewing. I'd be worried about sanitation, but more importantly I just can't imagine brewing a batch large enough to fill a wine barrel.

Evan! said:

I have a friend who is the winemaker at a local winery, and they have a pretty big operation, relatively speaking. I was discussing brewing with her, since the two things aren't too far off, and she said that she has a bunch of wine barrels that she's not using anymore, and that I could use them for whatever I wanted to do with beer. So does anyone have any suggestions? I think she said they're cab franc barrels.

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Bust them up and use them as smoker chips on your grill.

the_bird said:

I need to get my hands on one to set up as a compost bin for the garden

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http://www.winebusiness.com/UsedBarrels/

Cheesefood said:

Bust them up and use them as smoker chips on your grill.

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hm, no good, eh? I guess what I really need is a bourbon barrel.

Cheesefood said:

http://www.winebusiness.com/UsedBarrels/

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That's cool, but I can't imagine what shipping would be on a wine barrel. Then again, Boston sent me a keg for like $12, so maybe...

There are some wineries in the area, some weekend I want to get a babysitter so that SWMBO and I can pretend we're adults and go wine tasting, and hopefully pick up a used barrel or two.

Massachusetts wine? Really?

Sure, why not? Not necessarily world-class, but there are a bunch around where I used to live, in Greenfield. There are some down on the Cape, as well.

There's some excellent wine from around the MIL's house near the Finger Lakes, but trying to bring a barrel home from there would be a total PITA.

You never mentioned how big the barrels are? If you've got a homebrew club you could jointly fill one. There's a bunch of commercial brews using wine barrels. I'd try it - Lambic maybe?

Standard wine barrel size, 50 gals I believe.

So, you're not going for it - too big?

Well, I was asking the HBT crowd if they had any suggestions, and they ranged from "composting bin" to "wood chips for your grill"...so it's probably more trouble than it's worth at the end of the day.

I read their replies. I'm doing it, I've got two 2.5gal barrels with chardonnay in them now that will be getting beer in them soon. 2-more with madeira will be ready in a few weeks. I know these are smaller and therefore less work though. But, they're doing it commercially. If you can fill it, why not try it? I'm curious.

You're certainly not going to age five or ten gallons of beer in a 50-gallon barrel. Now, you might consider breaking apart the barrels and adding the pieces to the secondary for some flavor - but again, gotta consider how you're going to sterilize.

If I had access to a five- or even ten-gallon barrel, I absolutely would be figuring out how to age some beer in it for a long time; it's just a matter of the volumes.

the_bird said:

You're certainly not going to age five or ten gallons of beer in a 50-gallon barrel. Now, you might consider breaking apart the barrels and adding the pieces to the secondary for some flavor - but again, gotta consider how you're going to sterilize.

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She uses citric acid when she makes the wine. I imagine it would work for beer too.

the_bird said:

If I had access to a five- or even ten-gallon barrel, I absolutely would be figuring out how to age some beer in it for a long time; it's just a matter of the volumes.

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I hear you. What if I purged the oxygen with forced co2?

Fill it! What do you think it would cost if you bought the grains bulk? I always buy batch to batch so I'm not sure. ~$150? I don't think breaking it up would be a good idea, might as well buy cubes and soak them in whatever. Seriously though, I realize it would be a major investment in a big experiment that might not work out well. Maybe best to wait till other homebrewers would be interested in going in together.
I've been toying with the idea of cutting one in half or 1/3 right inside of the rib and then laying that on its side and affixing a round top that would fit over it and screwing it down. Does that make sense?

Evan! said:

I hear you. What if I purged the oxygen with forced co2?

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The problem is that the barrel is intentionally oxygen permiable, so it(CO2) would fade over time.

I tried Salvation Belgian Golden Ale from Avery that they had aged in Ferraro wine casks, came out amazing, probably the best beer I have ever tried, it picked upa lot of oakiness and wine tannin flavor...loved it. Not that I would ever try that myself.

There are a number of breweries around here that use wine barrels for some of their beers, but only for short periods. Can't imagine a 50 gallon batch of homebrew.

Check out the Wild Brews book. You do not want barrels that have dried out or have been sitting around for a bit (mold etc. are BAD). You shouldn't clean barrels with too hot of water. There's more, but I'm just repeating Jeff Sparrows book. Pick it up if you're going to try this. Also join the AHA and ask questions on techtalk, I know that the author is a member and gives good advice.

If you look through the recent episodes on Basic Brewing Radio, you'll find a recent episode where they talked at quite some length about aging beer in wood barrels. Very informative.

pax,
Scott