I just located a 60g red wine barrel, freshly emptied, rinsed, and sulfured. Going to pick it up Monday and I need a plan to fill it with a Flanders red based wort to start a solera. I would like to pull 20 or 30 gals each year and top off with fresh wort.
My 10 gal brew system could create 20 gals of wort in a brew day or possibly 30 gals on a long day.
I have 5.5 gals Flanders red fermenting in a glass carboy 4 months old that I could use as a starter.
I also have 8 empty glass carboys and a few cornies to store enough wort until I can rack all at once...
Option 1: Brew 20 gals wort and pitch into barrel with 5.5 gals started Flanders including the cake, and keep adding wort as I have time to brew it, making sure it full within a few weeks.
1a: use fresh Wyeast Roeselare 3763 in the barrel instead of my fermenting Flanders.
Option 2: Brew the wort and ferment with 1056 in carboys and hold until 50 -55 gals are ready, then rack all to the barrel at same time and pitch my 5.5gals of Flanders.
Option 3: Fill each carboy and primary separately with a fresh pack of 3763 Roeselare in each, and then rack all to barrel together.
My biggest question is should I primary in carboy then rack to barrel or let it primary in the barrel. Doing the primary in barrel would be easier, but I dont want the solera to have too much trub...
My 10 gal brew system could create 20 gals of wort in a brew day or possibly 30 gals on a long day.
I have 5.5 gals Flanders red fermenting in a glass carboy 4 months old that I could use as a starter.
I also have 8 empty glass carboys and a few cornies to store enough wort until I can rack all at once...
Option 1: Brew 20 gals wort and pitch into barrel with 5.5 gals started Flanders including the cake, and keep adding wort as I have time to brew it, making sure it full within a few weeks.
1a: use fresh Wyeast Roeselare 3763 in the barrel instead of my fermenting Flanders.
Option 2: Brew the wort and ferment with 1056 in carboys and hold until 50 -55 gals are ready, then rack all to the barrel at same time and pitch my 5.5gals of Flanders.
Option 3: Fill each carboy and primary separately with a fresh pack of 3763 Roeselare in each, and then rack all to barrel together.
My biggest question is should I primary in carboy then rack to barrel or let it primary in the barrel. Doing the primary in barrel would be easier, but I dont want the solera to have too much trub...