Care for a whiskey barrel

dputt88 · Jan 6, 2016

So I'm getting a 5 or 10 gal whiskey barrel in a few days. I brew 20 gal batches so only a portion of my brew will end up in the barrel. This is going to be my first barrel and barrel aging experience. Therefore I need some advice on how to care for the barrel and how to properly prep the barrel.

1) I may not use the barrel right away. It's cold here in Michigan and that makes brewing difficult due to the lack of running water outside. How should I store the barrel so that it stays water tight. How long can I store it like this?

2) how to sanitize the barrel. I heard of sulfa Stix before; is there anything else I should look into.

3) how do I clean a whiskey barrel after the beer is kegged. Do I just rinse it with water? Should it be sanitized immediately after cleaning to prevent mold or what not?

4) what other tips do you have? What questions am I not asking?

Thanks for your help!

poptarts · Jan 6, 2016

sulfur stick goes boom is whiskey barrel, do not do, do not die.

poptarts · Jan 6, 2016

1) I may not use the barrel right away. It's cold here in Michigan and that makes brewing difficult due to the lack of running water outside. How should I store the barrel so that it stays water tight. How long can I store it like this?

I add whiskey to mine and shake it around every other day when not in use for short term, long term you can make a citric acid and sodium metabisulfite mixture that you can store in there, however this does soak up wiskey and oak flavors.

2) how to sanitize the barrel. I heard of sulfa Stix before; is there anything else I should look into.

Again I use whiskey and give it a shake every now and again. dont put anything hot near a fresh whiskey barrel unless you want to explode.

3) how do I clean a whiskey barrel after the beer is kegged. Do I just rinse it with water? Should it be sanitized immediately after cleaning to prevent mold or what not?

I give mine a quick rinse with cold water to get the sediment out then add back whiskey or storage solution.

4) what other tips do you have? What questions am I not asking?

Have fun, don't let your first beers sit too long, under a month is probably plenty for the first run if it is a fresh barrel. Check out the sour hour podcasts for lots on info on barrel care.

BGBC · Jan 6, 2016

If it's a freshly dumped barrel, your best bet is to fill it immediately and keep it full going forward (have a beer ready to go into it when you plan to rack the first beer out).

If you can't fill it soon after getting it, you can fill it with a holding solution (a common one is a mix of citric acid and kmeta in water, but you can find other recommendations online), but you'll also lose some of the whiskey flavors as it leaches into the holding solution.

Finally, don't use sulfur sticks in a spirit barrel!