Barrels

I'm thinking of buying an oak barrel for fermenting/aging beer. Here's the thing, though. It's 30 gallons. I'm currently making 5 gallon batches. I will soon be making 10 gallon batches with a new keggle. Would it still be a problem aging a beer in a container 3x its size? I expect oxidation would be an issue unless I could just fill up the head space with CO2.

I could just buy a 10 gallon barrel, but I can't find a place to get these at a decent price. My 30 gallon barrel from a brewery will only cost me $75.

 

Also, how can I keep SWMBO from killing me if I do buy it?

 

If you're going to be doing 10 gallon batches in the near future then you could fill up a 30 gal barrel with one long triple batch day. It will be exhausting but rewarding.

Now onto the SWMBO.. The way I get away with purchases is to spend roughly the same amount of money (or up to a pre-determined amount) on the SWMBO that day. Such as, give her a gift card to the spa or something else she likes. While she's off having fun, make your purchase. I know the local spa here gives 60 min massages for $90ish; SWMBO could care less what's going on when she's getting a trip to the spa. Expensive but effective way to go.. BTW, this does not work if you don't have the excess funds to do it.. Obviously, you can't deplete the account and hope she won't find out about it.. Good luck!

 

I have 2 barrels from http://stores.intuitwebsites.com/TuthilltownSpirits/-strse-Barrels/Categories.bok and love them. I have an 8 gallon and a 10 gallon with sours in them. Before I got them I had a huge 59 gallon barrel and could not figure out a way to fill it well, so i sold that one and picked these up. They are more expensive, but a lot smaller and easier to fill and maintain, what should please SWMBO.

Chromados

 

Morebeer sells 5 gal barrels ... http://morebeer.com/view_product/19669//Vadai_New_Hungarian_Oak_Barrel_-_20L_5.3gal

 

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sorry my daughter got ahold of my puter

 

Can't you tell her that it is for the good of the beer and what is good for the beer is good for everyone???

 

Definitely good advice. Luckily, SWMBO and I have some separate accounts, so I can indeed do this without her knowing, and if she thinks it costs a little less than it did, no harm done. Everyone is happy. And we have beer.

I've considered those but this one is cheaper and... so much bigger... hmmm. I am worried about filling and maintaining. Can't make up my mind. Argh. I am way to into this hobby though. I realized that everyone that replied, who owns barrels, also own a premium membership. I've gone over to the dark side.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm sure I'm getting a barrel. I'm sure the smaller more expensive ones would seem more reasonable to SWMBO, but my desire for a 30 gallon batch aging under my staircase is also pretty tempting...

 

another option is to use the barrel only for aging, so you can ferment your separate batches in your regular fermenters, and once you have the 30 gallons ready, just transfer it to the barrel for aging.

 

Do you belong to club or know another brewer? I would get a group together, brew the same batch and blend it or ferment it then blend it to fill the barrel

 

The Steelers guy from Farmhouse often sells some used (which is better, IMO) 5L and 10L barrels, for roughly $100 and $150, respectively. Used for only a batch from a small rum or whiskey distillery, which has the bonus of still having a bit of high quality liquor in it, as well as soaking all the wood inside the barrel. And of course, it's a better size

I got mine just under 2 months ago in great condition, and brewed a Tropical Stout (similar to Dragon Stout from Jamaica.) After it fermented, I toasted a couple pounds of shredded coconut and added it to the fermentor, and then finally let it age in the barrel a bit, picking up some oak and (in my case) rum, from the wood.

My Coconut Rum-Barrel Tropical Stout should be ready to drink soon, but the early samples I've had were FANTASTIC.