Barrel Aging

I have volunteered to head the beer tent committee at our annual OKTOBERFEST. As such, I've got some ideas - one of which is to have the festival buy a small 5 or 10 gallon oak barrel to fill with home brewed beer to use in a "tapping of the keg" ceremony.
Does anyone out there have any good starting advice/experience on barrel aging - styles of German/Belgian beer - process - etc.

Thanks

With small kegs like that, there is a high percentage of beer in contact with the wood, which means it doesn't take long at all for the beer to take on the wood character. With a regular barrel (50 or 55 gallon) you can leave the beer in a long time. With a 5 gallon barrel, you'll want to take it out pretty quick, after a few weeks or maybe a month.

Would you be trying to carb the beer in the barrel, too? I've never done that. Maybe an English style beer, making it kind of a cask conditioned beer?

Good luck! Sounds like a blast!

Pappers_ said:

Would you be trying to carb the beer in the barrel, too? I've never done that. Maybe an English style beer, making it kind of a cask conditioned beer?

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I'm not sure...I guess I hadn't thought about carbonating in the barrel.
My thought is that this would be mostly about opening the OKTOBERFEST with (among other things), the "tapping of the keg" closely followed in priority by a German beer actually being dispensed from a barrel.
Tradition - Tradition - Tradition...

I think a firkin would be just fine.....