Beer sizing for barrel aging

[shoengine]

I have a Balcones 5g barrel and a beer I want to age in it. From what I've been reading, the thought seems to be that darker and heavier beers take better to barrel aging. I think my Baltic porter will be complimented by it, but I was curious about sizing. First off, is it true that bigger beers are better to barrel age than smaller beers?

Assuming for now that it its true, would we be concerned with the final ABV, or the terminal gravity? My guess would be the TG, as that would represent the remaining unfermentable sugars which would then make me research if a TG of 1.015 is high enough. But if it is the alcohol content that matters, then I'd need to see if 7.7% is appropriate for aging.

Thoughts?

 

[shoengine]

You know, if someone doesn't pipe up, I'm going to have to do it twice with slightly different recipes. In the context of barrel aging time scales, that is just cruel.

 

[dunnry]

I have a Balcones 5g barrel and a beer I want to age in it. From what I've been reading, the thought seems to be that darker and heavier beers take better to barrel aging. I think my Baltic porter will be complimented by it, but I was curious about sizing. First off, is it true that bigger beers are better to barrel age than smaller beers?

Assuming for now that it its true, would we be concerned with the final ABV, or the terminal gravity? My guess would be the TG, as that would represent the remaining unfermentable sugars which would then make me research if a TG of 1.015 is high enough. But if it is the alcohol content that matters, then I'd need to see if 7.7% is appropriate for aging.

Thoughts?

It's not that bigger, darker beers work better in bourbon barrels because they have higher ABV, but rather, they tend to have more flavor that can balance heavy bourbon notes from first use. It just so happens that bigger and darker usually means more ABV. When I use a bourbon barrel, I usually take the first use for a RIS or Barleywine as those can stand up to that much bourbon flavor. The next filling is something proportionally less (like a Belgian Quad or Dubbel) and the final filling is something that will get very little bourbon flavor and mostly wood (e.g. Tripel).

If you only make 5 gals, you need to be wary of overdoing it on first usage. Smaller barrels impart their flavor faster than bigger ones, so you can overdo it without vigilance. Of course, if you can make 10 gal batches and bourbon age half of it, you can blend back to make sure you get the right intensity that you enjoy.

 

[shoengine]

That makes sense. Thanks for the response. I have some thinking to do now.

 

[shoengine]

My Baltic porter aged in the barrel for just under two weeks, and it came out great. The flavors mixed really well, and neither are over powered.

 

[dunnry]

Awesome! Get another beer in there quickly now!

 

[PrrCabin]

My Baltic porter aged in the barrel for just under two weeks, and it came out great. The flavors mixed really well, and neither are over powered.

How many gallons did you use?

 

[shoengine]

I filled the 5gal barrel almost completely.

 

[shoengine]

Well, I almost let it dry out! I kept some whiskey in there but time took a toll on it. Just filled it again with my latest dark beer, a supposed-to-be-imperial-stout that due to missing my target by around 25 points is now a regular stout. Hopping the bitterness calms down, and that the oak and whiskey will impart some sweetness.

Interestingly, this barrel has already been used once, cleaned with boiling water, refilled with whiskey, and nearly emptied, and both times fermentation restarts. Not sure if it was mixing yeast back into the solution, or reintroducing oxygen or something in the barrel or the whiskey.

 

[shoengine]

Ow

Cleaning my barrel out after racking the stout ended up with the barrel biting me back.