Stripping flavor from bourbon barrel

[Gentlemans_Ale]

Is there a quick way to strip the bourbon and oak flavors from a used freshly dumped 8 gallon barrel? I need the barrel broken-in to age some lighter sours that normally wouldn't mesh with the assertive flavors of the barrel. I also want to house an amazing bug culture in the wood. I don't plan on brewing any strong, dark beers to compliment the current flavors in my barrel. I could cycle a clean ale through it but I imagine this could take months to a year to really pull the flavors out. I thought I read about holding solution stripping flavors from barrels less than 2 years old. Any ideas?

 

[chefchris]

I've got a a 15 gallon whiskey barrel that I'm going to do a Solera in. It's had holding solution in it two different times and has had two clean beers through it. It's still pretty strong but getting more mellow. I've got an RIS in there now and I'm debating on whether I need to run one more clean beer through it before turning it over to the bugs.

If you don't want to put any clean beers through it I would dump and add new holding solution every week.

 

[hirschb]

You'll need some patience!
I bought a 10gal barrel, filled it with boiling water and sat for 1.5 months. We then put two beers in it, one for 5 days, the other for 1 week. Then back with the boiling water for 3 weeks. I was planning to put a flanders red in it, but the bourbon aroma was still very noticeable. I put a 8 month old oud bruin in instead, and the resulting beer has a very obvious bourbon aroma/taste after 2 months in the barrel. I'm planning to bottle the oud bruin soon-ish, after which I'll put in another round of 10gal of boiling water, sit outside for 1-2 months (so the temp swing of the barrel will soak up and discharge the water more quickly), and then throw the flanders red inside it.
Personally, I'd find some home brew friends who want to age a beer in your barrel. Let them have at it for a few rounds, and then do several rounds of holding solution.....

 

[chefchris]

Personally, I'd find some home brew friends who want to age a beer in your barrel. Let them have at it for a few rounds, and then do several rounds of holding solution.....

This is exactly what I did. A lot of people would love to barrel age a beer without having to buy a barrel.

 

[Wahoo]

You can also "hide" some of the bourbon flavor by blending your beer with unoaked beer. Also I have found that you can make an excellent sour with a pretty strong (1.060) flemish red style recipe in a bourbon barrel, which you then age with tart cherries or concentrate.

 

[Gentlemans_Ale]

Cheers guys! Thanks for the input!