Good afternoon,
I came across a 60 gal wine barrel in an excellent shape made from hungarian oak for $60 and I had to give it a try.
My problem is, I dont have resources to fill it as an aging barrel since all my equipment is used for 5-10 gal batches.
My plan is to basically make beer how
My goal is to make a lot of drinkable beer for parties, not necessarily barrel aged.
Water test barrel, sanitize, clean
2x 60lb bags of 6-row malt + additional grains per recipe
Mash and boil 10-20 gal on day one
Add to barrel, let cool down, add yeast
Make another 10-20 gal wort on day 2, cool it, add to barrel.
Keep adding until almost full with headspace while fermentation continues
Let sit for month or a few
Use it to fill 5 gal kegs and carboys,
I have around 7 kegs and 5 carboys, should be enough
Kegs would fill first with clearer beer from the top of barrel
Carboys would fill last with muddier beer from the bottom and set to clear
Then maybe reuse it or cut up the barrel for planting
If it works, the circulating part would be to keep adding wort when its depleted the first time. Or maybe use it to fill a few kegs at a time, then replenish it with fresh wort.
I know its not an expert beer, but it's extremely cheap and fast to make, around $200 total for 10-12 kegs. Has anyone tried this? Would the oak barrel cause primary fermentation to spoil?
Thanks,
I came across a 60 gal wine barrel in an excellent shape made from hungarian oak for $60 and I had to give it a try.
My problem is, I dont have resources to fill it as an aging barrel since all my equipment is used for 5-10 gal batches.
My plan is to basically make beer how
My goal is to make a lot of drinkable beer for parties, not necessarily barrel aged.
Water test barrel, sanitize, clean
2x 60lb bags of 6-row malt + additional grains per recipe
Mash and boil 10-20 gal on day one
Add to barrel, let cool down, add yeast
Make another 10-20 gal wort on day 2, cool it, add to barrel.
Keep adding until almost full with headspace while fermentation continues
Let sit for month or a few
Use it to fill 5 gal kegs and carboys,
I have around 7 kegs and 5 carboys, should be enough
Kegs would fill first with clearer beer from the top of barrel
Carboys would fill last with muddier beer from the bottom and set to clear
Then maybe reuse it or cut up the barrel for planting
If it works, the circulating part would be to keep adding wort when its depleted the first time. Or maybe use it to fill a few kegs at a time, then replenish it with fresh wort.
I know its not an expert beer, but it's extremely cheap and fast to make, around $200 total for 10-12 kegs. Has anyone tried this? Would the oak barrel cause primary fermentation to spoil?
Thanks,
