8 gal whiskey barrel - Just want to make sure I do it right!

[promontory]

Ok so I am going to go buy a whiskey barrel from a local distillery.

Been reading up on how to handle it from purchase to aging a homebrew, and here is what I think I have read:

When I buy it (if I can't put beer in immediatly) buy a bottle of Jack or something else and dump it in. Turn the barrel a 1/4 a day until I am ready to put beer in it.

A couple days before I am ready to put beer in I should fill it with 180' water. I should make sure it swells and doesn't leak. if it leaks I can keep the water in it for a few more days while it swells.

Once there is no leaks, I can rack a fermented beer into it. I should be careful to fill as full as I can. I should also have some addt'l beer ready to go to top it off every few days.

Using a thief I should sample the beer ever 2-3 days until I get the flavor I am shooting for. Rack to a keg and serve or bottle.

Questions:
Should I put a bottle of whiskey in to keep it sanitized?

No issue adding the 180' water but what if it leaks and I need to leave it for a few days. Should I re-fill with 180' water to re-sanitize it?

Is it better to have my topping beer carbed or not?

I brew a strong ale/barleywine that I am thinking of for my first barrel conditioned beer, sound good?

thanks

 

[Darkness]

You might want to swell the barrel before dumping Bourbon in it
If it is freshly dumped you should have no problem. IMOP put the bourbon in that came out. This keeps the same flavor profile. Also don't forget to stand it on end the wood on there can crack just the same also there is a lot of contact with beer for flavor there.



I love Barrel aging brews. We are brewing to fill one of the Buffalo Trace Barrels on Jan 1. Black BarleyWine can't wait

 

[promontory]

ok so swell first, then put 180' water in, then bourbon.

Also the bourbon used in these barrels is pretty expensive, but they also sell a white dog. I guess that would suck some char and flavor out not add to it.

thanks for the notes.

 

[Darkness]

The swelling is the 180deg water, I would recommend hotter water and put bung in the steam will soaking quickly to the wood. If the bourbon is $$$$ just use jack or something. White dog is not the flavor you want. Think of barrel aging like. Soup you get out what you put in. Put goooood stuff in and get great stuff out

 

[promontory]

got it. thanks a ton. The distiller just got back to me and the barrels have only been empty two weeks so that should be good. I'll post back once I get a brew going.

 

[Schemy]

Another note is to purge the barrel with CO2 when racking your beer. I've aged a couple beers, and tried to keep the oxygen exposure to a minimum. I had a predetermined # of days/weeks in mind when I put the beer in. I then, did a first sample at the halfway point. IMO tasting every 2-3 days increases oxygen exposure, and risk of infection. When you first get your barrel, open and smell it, if you are getting a lot of whiskey no need to add bourbon back. This is how I treated my barrel, and had good results. So much so, we drank the product before I got a chance to bottle any for extended aging. Good luck.