First attempt at using an oak cask

[pnearing]

I just tasted the triple I racked into a 5 liter Oak cask and was absolutely blown away at how good it was, green, and uncarbonated. I don't want to let it sit much longer because it has absorbed a lot of oak flavor in just a couple of weeks (small cask, more surface area per volume). This beer was my first attempt at a big beer and I succeeded pretty well... its about 12% to 13% abv. I'm afraid that if I try bottling it now, the yeast (White Labs trappist) will be pretty much all tuckered out, and it won't carbonate in the bottles. This would make me pretty sad, as it's delicious already without any CO2. Should I skip adding sugar and try those carb tabs I've read about? Any guidance/words of encouragement are appreciated... (trying to RDWHAHB)

 

[mc_eric]

If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on it carbing up just fine if you bottle it now. I don't have any experience with beers quite that big tho, and I've never used that particular yeast.

My friend (the guy who taught me how to brew, actually) works at a winery, and I seem to remember him saying something about how wine picks up most of the oak flavor in a month or so. I don't remember exactly what he said, so use this advice at your own risk, but you could probably leave it on the oak for a while without picking up too much oak flavor. And he was talking about 59 gallon wine barrels, which would be a much lower surface area-to-volume ratio. That guy has also given me some brewing advice that's kinda...old school (i.e. you should rack ales asap, that kinda thing.) He also didn't know what DMS is, and he's a chem/bio major. So...I dunno. He does make some effin killer wine and mead tho.

What I do know is that I had a 10% abv beer (this braggot kinda thing, lots of honey) That I aged in a carboy for 6 months or so, and racked it 2 or 3 times, and it bottle carbonated just fine. It took about 5 weeks, but it carbonated. It turned out kinda nasty, but I think it had to do with the fact that I used nottingham and fermented in the mid-low 70's. It just had this bubblegum/boozy aroma and harsh finish to it.

Anyway, if you bottle it, it'll probably carb up just fine.

 

[patd]

Perhaps you could try filling up a few bottles and see if they will start carbing up after a week? If they do, bottle the rest up.

I haven't looked much at barrel fermentation...I'm curious did you use a new barrel, or one that had stored spirits previously?

 

[pnearing]

I haven't looked much at barrel fermentation...I'm curious did you use a new barrel, or one that had stored spirits previously?

I used a new barrel, with a medium toast, flushed it out good to get rid of any small particles of char, then let it sit for a few days full of water so the slats would swell. After it stopped leaking, I drained it and filled it up with Jack Daniels. I let the whiskey sit for 2 weeks, then poured it back into the bottles. (The whiskey mellowed over the two weeks and is now much smoother than your normal black label... nice!) After the whiskey was removed I racked into the barrel. To the rest of the 5 gal. batch I added sugar and bottled normally. I popped one of those bottles after a week at 70 degrees and 2 days in the fridge but there was very little carbonation, so I think its going to take quite some time for the them to be ready. BIG BEER!

mc_eric, Thanks for the input! As a major proponent of all things old school, I think I'm going to forget about tabs and go the sugar route. Even if it takes 5 weeks to carbonate, I think the bottle conditioning will bring out even more flavors. Thanks!