Just got a 5gal whiskey barrel

[Zeppman]

Hey guys,

I stumbled upon a great deal on a 5gal whiskey barrel tonight. Don't know much about them except that beer that ages in them usually tastes amazing.

Just looking for some general tips and suggestions from anyone who's had experiences with barrel aging home brew.

So far I've been told:

-I should fill it with water until I'm ready to put beer in it.
-I'll lose a significant amount of beer over time while the beer is aging.
-Mixed comments on sanitizing vs not sanitizing the barrel before I put beer in it....
-I'll get about 3 good non-sour beers out of it before the bugs take over and it will only make sours???
Mixed comments on if I should swish whiskey around in the barrel after each beer.


Again, no idea here, just looking for some direction. Thanks!

 

[jdhasse]

No expert here, but I have done two different RIS in my 15 gallon bourbon barrel.

I never filled with water, just made sure it had bourbon in it whenever not filled with beer and I swished it around ever other day or so. No issues, really good beer both times. However I knew my barrel was recently dumped by distillery. If you are not sure how long emptied I would fill with hot water to ensure no leakage, drain and then dump good amount of bourbon in it. 80 proof will keep sterile.

Haven't had experience on this part of my own yet, but the barrel will not sour necessarily on its own. It is possible, but not guaranteed after a certain number of batches. The wood will be a good place for souring agents to live once there but won't grow them unless introduced naturally or on purpose.

After a few batches, depending on length of time aged with beer, the barrel will stop imparting bourbon barrel flavor and will become neutral. This is usually good to time to start attempting the sours in the barrel.

Let me know what u decide to do, with barrel and what beer(s) you age and then how beer turns out.

Cheers!



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[lpdjshaw]

My 5 gal barrel was freshly dumped when I got it and I do the same as jdhasse above with the bourbon. I did rinse it with a little water and give it a good shake initially because there can be quite a bit of loose charcoal in there from the charring but since then I just keep Jim Beam in there. A fifth will last about 4-6 months. I don't bother shaking it, as long as there's liquid in there and the bung is sealed it will stay humid inside. I've aged two Christmas beers in it and they've come out amazing. The first time I aged for a week and the second time for 10 days and there was plenty of bourbon/oakyness to the beer. I'm hoping I can get two or three more times with the bourbon/oakyness coming through then gonna turn it into a brett barrel.

 

[Zeppman]

I'm not sure about when it was dumped, but it does have a fill date of 8/13/2013 on it.

Does the quality of the bourbon/whiskey matter all that much? The Kirkland stuff from costco is pretty cheap...

So it seems like you all rely on the bourbon to keep the barrel sanitized, no star-san, right? No special treatments right before putting beer in the barrel?

Do I have to worry about any other infections getting in there? Once it becomes a "brett" barrel, how long does it usually take for a beer to take on sour flavors while aging in the barrel? (yes, i have no experience with sours either, and probably have a lot of reading to do).

 

[Valtyr]

I'm wondering a lot of the same questions. My barrel is brand new, but I'm sure a lot of things still apply. I'll probably just have to keep some bourbon in it for a bit in order to get the bourbon barrel flavor out of it.

 

[BigPerm]

I recently got a 5 gal Balcones barrel from my LHBS. When I bought it, it was about 2 months after being emptied, and took me about that long to get some beer into it. As soon as I got it home, I dumped 1L of cheap KY bourbon into it and swished it around at least every other day. When it was time to fill, I dumped the bourbon out and filled with beer (RIS, of course). I left it in the barrel for 6 weeks; start tasting after 3. I'm not particularly sensitive to oak notes, so that may be too much for some.

When going to beer #2, I racked the stout out into a carboy (you could bottle then, but I didn't have time), and then rinsed 2x with boiling water. I let it cool a little, then swished 750mL of Rye whiskey, and then racked in my Imperial Rye Smoked Porter.

As an aside, I do not know how well these methods worked, although the stout was amazing coming out of the barrel and i have no reason to believe it will be anything less. The stout has been in the bottle for 4 weeks and the Porter in the barrel for 5. Planning to taste them both this weekend.

Souring: Doing the bourbon/spirits rinses in between will help, and making beers on the stronger side MAY help discourage. 3 clean beers is a good ballpark. I'm going to do a lower gravity batch as #3 to gauge oakiness and sour notes coming out of the barrel, and I'll do a recipe that would take well to souring (red ale, saison, etc) in case I need to do it.

As soon as you detect anything funky/sour, I would intentionally sour the barrel so that you introduce a desirable souring culture rather than letting your local microenvironment have its way with your barrel. To do this, I would pitch the dregs from 3-4 good quality sour beers. You can also add a commercial blend, like Roeselare or Belgian sour mix.

Good luck!

 

[Zeppman]

This is all great info guys, thanks! Keep it coming if you have more!

 

[lpdjshaw]

Zeppman,
Couple things. Yes, the bourbon acts as the sanitizer, other than some warm water for a quick rinse initially and after transferring the beer out of the barrel that's all I use. Any bourbon is fine and I usually dump it and let the barrel drain overnight before putting beer in, personal preference.
As far as souring, brett alone will not sour your beer - you need bacteria for that (Pedio and/or Lacto). As far as how long, it will depend on many factors such as temperature, amount and type of culture,...
Oh, and it probably goes without saying but just in case, don't throw away the bourbon bottle, whatever bourbon is left in the barrel just filter it and pour it back into the bottle then you can reuse it - or drink it :~)
Cheers

 

[BigPerm]

One more point: NEVER use regular homebrew sanitizer (ie StarSan) on a barrel. Acids will break down the cellulose in the wood, and lead to a slimy mess and destroy your barrel. If you need to store between uses, do it dry or use a citric acid/sulfate holding solution.

FWIW - I know someone who just rinses with bourbon in between fills and has gotten several uses out of his barrels (and counting). If you don't really want to sour the barrel, don't until you have a reason to.

 

[Zeppman]

BigPerm, thanks for the tip on "No Star-san" in the barrel.

So it seems I'm hearing I can store it with whiskey/bourbon, dry (i thought the staves would shrink and this is bad?), or with citric acid/sulfate holding solution. I was going to pick up some whiskey today...

 

[jdhasse]

Don't store it dry. The barrel will dry out and will likely leak.


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[BigPerm]

It just kinda depends. If you got it freshly emptied and stick some liquid (ie bourbon in it), that will keep it moist enough. That's what I did. Many barrels will leak, and this will tell you if yours does. I'd avoid putting water in it now bc you'll leach out all that good bourbon that's soaked in the wood. If you're storing long-term, best to use a holding solution, but you'll leach oak flavor out over time, so I'd only do that if you have to. If you plan it out well enough to rack out and into the barrel within a few hours, that's your best scenario.