fermenting in a barrel...

[jtakacs]

i'm racking my oud bruin out of the barrel today and i'm thinking i want to just drop some cooled wort in the barrel and let it ferment there without pitching additional yeast.

i was thinking maris otter, a little special b, low hops and a touch of aromatic (looking for malty). i'd leave it in the barrel for at least six months then rack it off the cake/trub. (most of the oak character should be gone now, it'll be the third beer in this barrel that originally had zin in it)

as for prep work, i was thinking i'd just fill it with water (no washing) after racking my OB out and let it sit there until i'm ready and then drain then fill... no sanitizing, nothing - just letting the bugs do their thing.

thoughts?

 

[eastoak]

sounds like a good plan to me, i'd do it that way for a sour. where did you get the barrel and what size is it??

 

[jtakacs]

only a five gallon barrel, was used by a local winery for tastings, a friend gave it to me (windsor vineyards)...

oud bruin is now racked out and lost all of it's red color and is pure brown - gravity didn't change after going in the barrel (i didn't think it would, it was pretty well fermented out) but the color change surprised me. also, has an astringent quality that is clearly from the oak that hopefully goes away in bottle aging (we'll see - ugh) - never meant to leave it in there for 7 months. just plain forgot about it.

 

[eastoak]

that's a lot of surface area for the volume of beer. let us know if the oak flavor tones down with time.