I'm doing a barrel aging program with my son and two friends, using a 15 gallon barrel from Oppidan Spirits (a local distillery) They had used the barrel once to age a batch of bourbon and we are the first brewers to use it. Back in September, we filled the barrel with an imperial stout and last Sunday, we emptied it and refilled it with an American Barleywine.
At our brewhouse, we have a barrel rack and ours is one the top, so we emptied it using a ladder to get to it, brought it down empty, refilled it, and hoisted it back up with brute strength
I'd been a part of barrel projects before, but with full-size, 53 gallon barrels and ten brewers, so this was different. We weren't sure how long to leave it in the barrel, because of the increased ratio of beer in contact with the wood, so decided somewhat randomly on six months.
It was remarkably smooth coming out of the barrel and while it had barrel character, it wasn't over-oaked, which is a relief. Nice plum notes, complex, etc. We're going to bottle this for longer-term storage and I'm anxious to see how it is carbed up. We'll add yeast (probably 1/2 packet of US-05) at bottling.
About a month ago, we all brewed an American Barleywine and agreed on a day when we could all be there to empty and refill the barrel at the same time - keep it wet and going. Our plan is to leave the barleywine in for six months, also, and continue to refill it when we empty it.
The recipe for the imperial stout is:
OG: 1.121
Bitterness: 54 IBU
Final Gravity: 1.024
ABV: 13%
Mashed at 156F for sixty minutes, single infusion and batch sparged.
Grain Bill:
Pale Malt 36%
Vienna Malt 12%
Munich Malt 7%
Roasted Barley 5%
Chocolate Malt 5%
Caramel 75L 3%
Black Prinz 3%
Light DME (added to boil) 28%
Hop Bill:
Challenger at sixty minutes - 28 IBU
Pacific Jade at sixty minutes - 12 IBU
East Kent Goldings at twenty minutes - 14 IBU
Pitched US-05
Fermented at 65F
At our brewhouse, we have a barrel rack and ours is one the top, so we emptied it using a ladder to get to it, brought it down empty, refilled it, and hoisted it back up with brute strength
I'd been a part of barrel projects before, but with full-size, 53 gallon barrels and ten brewers, so this was different. We weren't sure how long to leave it in the barrel, because of the increased ratio of beer in contact with the wood, so decided somewhat randomly on six months.
It was remarkably smooth coming out of the barrel and while it had barrel character, it wasn't over-oaked, which is a relief. Nice plum notes, complex, etc. We're going to bottle this for longer-term storage and I'm anxious to see how it is carbed up. We'll add yeast (probably 1/2 packet of US-05) at bottling.
About a month ago, we all brewed an American Barleywine and agreed on a day when we could all be there to empty and refill the barrel at the same time - keep it wet and going. Our plan is to leave the barleywine in for six months, also, and continue to refill it when we empty it.
The recipe for the imperial stout is:
OG: 1.121
Bitterness: 54 IBU
Final Gravity: 1.024
ABV: 13%
Mashed at 156F for sixty minutes, single infusion and batch sparged.
Grain Bill:
Pale Malt 36%
Vienna Malt 12%
Munich Malt 7%
Roasted Barley 5%
Chocolate Malt 5%
Caramel 75L 3%
Black Prinz 3%
Light DME (added to boil) 28%
Hop Bill:
Challenger at sixty minutes - 28 IBU
Pacific Jade at sixty minutes - 12 IBU
East Kent Goldings at twenty minutes - 14 IBU
Pitched US-05
Fermented at 65F
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