Fermentation in a brand new oak barrell

[facialface]

We just got a 3 gallon oak barrell as a gift and I have no idea how to use this thing. I read a few articles about how it needs to be filled with water until it swells up and can actually hold liquid in. I know it needs to be cleaned with Barokleen or something to that effect.

I brewed a Samuel Smith Porter clone on Monday and was planning on doing a secondary fermentation in the barrell. Are there any known pitfalls that I should be looking out for? Is this beer not a good choice for the barrell?

Thanks!!!

 

[chocotaco]

Is it brand new oak?

Anything aged with that much new oak (in my opinion) will taste like bad chardonnay.

I would get a used Whisky barrel instead. But since you already have the barrel, I would fill and empty it with boiling water several times to get some of that "new oak" flavor out. Then I would add some whisky (nothing too expensive) and roll the barrel around for a few days to get the whisky to soak in all over. Then I would drink the whisky and forget about whatever else you were going to do. Just kidding ! Then I would empty the whisky (it is probably good to drink though it might be a little heavy on the oak), clean the barrel, and age your porter in it.

But that's just me. I just think an entire new oak barrel is way too much oak for any beer. It will overpower everything else. Barrel aging in a used barrel is great for imparting subtle oak and subtle flavor of whatever it was used for (preferably whisky). But new oak is really damn powerful. Even if I am using a small package of oak cubes, I boil them thoroughly first to prevent my beer from being overpowered with oak.

Just my two cents; I'm sure some more experienced brewers will chime in with better advice.

 

[fmontez1]

I think you should fill it with beer, wait a week, then bottle, carb, and then DRINK THE BEER.

Then make a full report here.

Actually, here is a good little page about it. Sounds like the same barrel in question. Doesn't sound like it's too overpowering once it's been prepared properly.
http://realbeer.com/spencer/Experiments/oak-barrel.html

That said, I would love to hear more from brewers who use these barrels. I love oaked beers!

 

[facialface]

I think they said it was charred but I'm not 100% sure - I think it's brand new in terms of housing any liquid. Thanks for you insight, I'll let you know what we end up doing and how it turns out.