New Oak Cask and Sour Beer

[joeyroller]

Hi guys.

I'm expecting delivery on a brand new 50 liter (13 gallon) oak cask and I'm thinking of doubling Jamil's Flander's Red Ale recipe, doing a primary fermentation with Wyeast 1272 at 19c (66F), then transferring to the cask and dumping 2 vials of WLP655 Belgian Sour Mix 1 on to it. Then testing my patience for the next 6 months to 2 years!

My question is: I've heard new oak casks can impart a harsh and overly oaky flavor. I've got 2 wine kits of Chenille Blanc that I could make and store in the cask before I give it over (forever) to sour beer making.

Or perhaps a malty Christmas type ale in it first since the season is upon us.

Any one have any experience with new casks? Will a batch of wine or strong beer have a noticeable advantage in conditioning the cask for future sour beers.

If I wait long enough will the oakiness fade out of my Flanders Red anway?

I would eventually like to set it up for a solera type system, taking half the 50 liters off for bottling and topping up with fresh wort.

One last detail, I've got the 2 WLP655 vials in the fridge already with an expiration date of Feb., 2014 and I'd rather not waste them.

Thanks for your input.

 

[sweetcell]

i don't have any first-hand experience with new barrels, but everything i've read says the first few batches draw out the oak quickly. the first batch might only need a week or two in there to get plenty of oak. if that were my barrel, i'd use it for a batch or two of beer or wine that i could pull out at any time (i.e. already fermented, so it's only aging in there and picking up oak). taste it as the stuff ages and remove when it's oaky enough. would be bad if you discovered that your 18-month old flanders was big ol' oak bomb. in my experience oak only fades a little depending what else is in the brew to take over.

 

[Calder]

Use it to oak a couple of beers before you dedicate it to long-term storage of sours.

The first may only be in there a few days. Need to taste it as it goes.

 

[joeyroller]

I kind of figured that a new cask would be too oaky for any long term storage. I wonder how many batches of beer or wine I'll need to run through it before I can start using it for sour beer fermentation. Thanks for the good advice guys.

 

[PJoyce85]

Run a couple of big beers through it like an RIS or a Barley Wine. You can certainly do the wine as well. I would do at least 2 through it. If you are worried about it still being too oaky and can't wait to sour it, you can mix a storage solution (Potassium Metabisulfite and Citric Acid) and this will strip the barrel of oak flavor.

 

[joeyroller]

I've been digging around for a couple of days now and found some older articles and posts about using oak barrels. Here they are if anyone is interested. I'm looking forward to the whole process and should be a nice addition to my home brewery if I can get past a few of the initial hurdles.

BYO article on preparation and maintenance

New barrel

Aging in my new barrel

Life of a new barrel

 

[ChugachBrewing]

Having done lots with barrel aged beer, I recommend running some short batches through to let the oak flavor mellow. Also, keep in mind that with a small barrel, you have more O2 exposure, as well as contact with the oak. I would take the amount of time that is recommended and start with only 25% of that. If you want to let it age longer, then transfer to stainless. Also put in a tasting nail. It allows you to taste without the risk of contamination.

 

[bastump218]

I have a new 20L barrel I am going to use some day for sour beers.....I want to age a barely wine and an RIS in the barrel prior to putting bugs in it....I am using a sulfer based "sanatizer" in the barrel will this affect the beer with a sulfer taste once I but a beer in there