I have recently acquired a charred oak barrel to age with but need opinions. Do I age whiskey in it for a bit before aging a stout/Porter in it or just age in the barrel straight from the word Go? I can see both options being viable.
Barrel aging thoughts...
- Thread starter drthrob
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Hopper5000
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So this is a brand new charred oak barrel? If so and you want some booze flavor by all means throw whiskey in there. If it's used and it was freshly dumped it should retain the whiskey flavor for a few months.
CorporateHippie
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I would roll some whiskey around that puppy first. You may be surprised how much of it the wood absorbs. Then go ahead with your BB Stout.
Have never used, or know of anyone who used, a brand new barrel for beer aging. Should be an interesting experiment. You might want to monitor pretty carefully how much of the wood flavors come through and how quickly - I would imagine aging spirits and wines in barrels tends to mellow the barrel and soften the rough edges.
Let us know how it turns out - this sounds really interesting.
Let us know how it turns out - this sounds really interesting.
I found this article from nearly 20 years ago that has made me decide to age mediocre whiskey in it to start before aging beer. http://realbeer.com/spencer/Experiments/oak-barrel.html
I just picked up a new American oak 5 gal barrel several months back. I aged and RIS in there for 2 weeks as my first beer and it picked up plenty of oak, but a balanced amount for that style of beer.
Second beer I aged was a wheat beer that was 100% Brett fermentation and that spent 7-8 weeks and that too was a balanced amount of oak.
I am debating the next beer I put in it, but based on flavor contribution I know I can go 3-4 months minimum without over oaking it.
I wouldn't bother with Whiskey unless you want to both make your Whiskey more of a Bourbon and then you really want your next beer or two to have a whiskey flavor to it. There is no reason you cannot go directly to beer with a new barrel, however just taste it regularly and ideally start with a big, bold beer for the first batch.
Also, I waxed my barrel to reduce oxygen exposure since I plan to start aging a Tart of Darkness clone for many months in the near future.
Second beer I aged was a wheat beer that was 100% Brett fermentation and that spent 7-8 weeks and that too was a balanced amount of oak.
I am debating the next beer I put in it, but based on flavor contribution I know I can go 3-4 months minimum without over oaking it.
I wouldn't bother with Whiskey unless you want to both make your Whiskey more of a Bourbon and then you really want your next beer or two to have a whiskey flavor to it. There is no reason you cannot go directly to beer with a new barrel, however just taste it regularly and ideally start with a big, bold beer for the first batch.
Also, I waxed my barrel to reduce oxygen exposure since I plan to start aging a Tart of Darkness clone for many months in the near future.
