Oak barrel aging questions

[bendog15]

Or if u have a link to a good article, post it here.

Planning on my first oak barrel aging. Got a 15 gal used charred whiskey barrel from a friend. After much reading on the topic, here’s my plan.
Brew a 11% imperial stout. (I can only do 10 gal at a time, so this will be done twice)
Fill oak barrel up with boiling water, leave overnight to induce swelling. Dump water. Dump a bottle of cheap whiskey in barrel, swirl around, leave it in there for a week or so.
After fermentation is complete, transfer beer from carboys into emptied oak barrel.
Attach bung with airlock. Taste occasionally and top off with more stout as evaporation occcurs.

With a 15 gal barrel I figure anywhere from 2-5 months in the barrel will be good. Am I missing anything here?

 

[ITV]

I used 180 deg water instead of boiling water and kept it in the barrel for about 20 minutes to verify that there were no leaks. I had some barrel wax on hand just in case.

1st use of my 15 gallon barrel I did an imperial stout that came out great after 4 months.

2nd use I have an English Barleywine that should be ready to empty next month (6 months total).

3rd use I plan on filling with an imperial porter which I will brew this Friday (two back to back 10 gallon batches).

My 15 gallon barrel took about 16 gallons to fill it completely. I put the extra top off beer in a corny keg under CO2. I use a picnic tap to top off straight from the keg.

 

[bendog15]

I used 180 deg water instead of boiling water and kept it in the barrel for about 20 minutes to verify that there were no leaks. I had some barrel wax on hand just in case.

1st use of my 15 gallon barrel I did an imperial stout that came out great after 4 months.

2nd use I have an English Barleywine that should be ready to empty next month (6 months total).

3rd use I plan on filling with an imperial porter which I will brew this Friday (two back to back 10 gallon batches).

My 15 gallon barrel took about 16 gallons to fill it completely. I put the extra top off beer in a corny keg under CO2. I use a picnic tap to top off straight from the keg.

Thanks great advice. Where I live it’s quite hot, and I have to ferment in a small converted chest freezer. I can only fit 2 carboys in there. So once I put 10 gal into the barrel, I will quickly brew another 10 gal. But original 10 gal will be sitting in the 15 gal barrel for around 2 weeks before I can finish next batch and top off. Should I worry about oxidation with that much headspace in the barrel?

 

[ITV]

Yes you should be worried about oxidation. If you have a means to purge the oxygen out of the barrel with CO2 that would help. The other option if you can keg the 1st batch until the 2nd batch is ready and then fill the barrel all at once.

Keep in mind that a full 15 gallon barrel is very heavy. I positioned mine so that I could fill it by gravity and empty it by gravity without moving the barrel, otherwise you will need to pump the beer in and/or push the beer out with CO2.

 

[bendog15]

Yes you should be worried about oxidation. If you have a means to purge the oxygen out of the barrel with CO2 that would help. The other option if you can keg the 1st batch until the 2nd batch is ready and then fill the barrel all at once.

Keep in mind that a full 15 gallon barrel is very heavy. I positioned mine so that I could fill it by gravity and empty it by gravity without moving the barrel, otherwise you will need to pump the beer in and/or push the beer out with CO2.

Thanks I’ll do that. Last question.

 

[bendog15]

Last question- by kegging the first batch, it will be carbonated. Will it be ok to put carbonated beer in the oak barrel? I have a rubber bung with an airlock for the oak barrel. I just don’t know if it will affect the oaking process.
I guess it doesn’t matter too much, because with an airlock attached to the barrel, eventually the beer will lose carbonation and go flat again.

 

[BrewInspector]

Just because you keg the beer for a couple weeks does not mean you have to carbonate it. Keg it. Purge O2 and let it sit.

 

[bendog15]

Yes that’s an excellent point. Excited for my new project! Just built a stand for the oak barrel today!

 

[ITV]

Just because you keg the beer for a couple weeks does not mean you have to carbonate it. Keg it. Purge O2 and let it sit.

Correct, I was assuming that you don't have enough fermenter space. If you have the fermenter space then you can leave the 1st batch in the fermenter until the 2nd batch primary fermentation is complete.

 

[ITV]

But original 10 gal will be sitting in the 15 gal barrel for around 2 weeks before I can finish next batch and top off.

I usually allow 3 to 4 weeks for primary fermentation for an imperial stout.

 

[bendog15]

Correct, I was assuming that you don't have enough fermenter space. If you have the fermenter space then you can leave the 1st batch in the fermenter until the 2nd batch primary fermentation is complete.

I don’t have the fermenter space. It will only hold 2 (5 gal) carboys. The new plan is that I will transfer the first fermented batch to kegs, purge w co2 and leave in my keezer until 2nd batch is complete. Then I can fill the whole oak barrel at one time, and keep an extra 5 gal for top off purposes.

 

[ITV]

Excited for my new project! Just built a stand for the oak barrel today! View attachment 562233

Nice simple stand design. I used a workmate for my stand.

 

[BrewInspector]

Correct, I was assuming that you don't have enough fermenter space. If you have the fermenter space then you can leave the 1st batch in the fermenter until the 2nd batch primary fermentation is complete.

As was I. I don't see a problem with then combining the two batches (after the second batch ferments for a couple weeks in primary) and allowing some secondary fermentation to continue in the barrel. May not be optimal but should achieve much the same results given enough time in the barrel.

 

[ITV]

I found a useful link on whiskey barrel basics: www.homebrewing.com/barrel-basics.pdf

When I rinse my barrel with 180 deg water, I add sodium metabisulfite (campden tablets) in the water to kill off any bugs in the wood since I do not want sour beer. I am currently soaking the inside of my barrel with Jim Beam prepping it to fill with an imperial porter (3rd use).

How is your 1st batch going?

 

[bendog15]

Just kegged up the first 10 gal today. It will sit in my keezer, (not on co2) until 2nd 10 gal batch is ready. Which I will be brewing tomorrow.
When I have enough beer to fill up the barrel at one time, I will proceed with the soaking and campden tablets.
You think I should soak my barrel with whiskey? It’s never been used for beer and it smells very strong whiskey aroma inside.

 

[ITV]

I suggest that you purge your kegs with CO2 to get rid of the oxygen.
No need to soak it with whiskey for the 1st use, I use whiskey after the first use since the whiskey presence fades and it helps sanitize the barrel. I use 1.75 L of whiskey and dump most of it back into the bottle (I leave about 2 to 3 cups in the barrel) to use for filling my airlocks.

 

[bendog15]

Sounds good. The kegs are purged with co2 and I will be filling the barrel in about 2-3 weeks when I have all 15 gal on hand. Thanks

 

[ITV]

Talking to some of the local commercial craft brewers, they just dump their beer into the 1st use barrel without rinsing or emptying the barrel since they are forbidden to add whiskey to their beer.

Since I was paranoid about loosing 15 gallons to a leaky barrel or having the beer sour on me, I soaked the barrel to check for leaks and kill the bugs.

Now that my confidence is higher with aging my beer into whiskey barrels, I may try the craft brewer approach on my next new barrel.

 

[Albionwood]

Talking to some of the local commercial craft brewers, they just dump their beer into the 1st use barrel without rinsing or emptying the barrel since they are forbidden to add whiskey to their beer.

Since I was paranoid about loosing 15 gallons to a leaky barrel or having the beer sour on me, I soaked the barrel to check for leaks and kill the bugs.

Now that my confidence is higher with aging my beer into whiskey barrels, I may try the craft brewer approach on my next new barrel.

Yes, if it's a freshly-dumped barrel and still has a little whiskey in it ("the Devil's share") you don't need (or want, IMO) to rinse it before filling with beer. Even if there is no free liquid whiskey remaining (it evaporates, slowly, through the wood), it's safe to use without rinsing if it was bunged back up after the whiskey was taken out. In fact it's probably safer than rinsing - cask-strength whiskey is an excellent sanitizer.

 

[bendog15]

Update- leaky barrel
Well I filled up the barrel with 180 degree water. Thank god I did that first because it leaked all over the place! I let it sit overnight and I think the barrel swelled a lot because the next day it was barely leaking.
I used some paraffin wax from the hardware store and a propane torch to plug up the remaining leaky spots. Another water fill and it seemed to be nice and water tight.

 

[bendog15]

Next update- filled barrel
So I went ahead and racked the beer into the barrel. I lack the proper equipment to do a co2 transfer, so I just placed the beer above the barrel and used gravity and my auto-siphon to rack the beer. Filled up the barrel to the rim, next morning I can still see no leaks. So now I guess it’s a waiting game.

beer ready to go into the barrel

transfer beer

bung and airlock (a little beer coming out). Very full.

 

[ITV]

Glad to hear that you avoided a disaster. Now the waiting game.

 

[bendog15]

Update- well it’s been 8 months! The stout sat in the barrel longer than I wanted. I’ll admit, life got in the way, and I was not wanting to let the barrel sit empty. I know that I have to immediately refill the barrel with more beer to avoid it getting dried out.
So I have been topping off the barrel with extra stout that I had bottled from time to time. Surprisingly enough not too much evaporation to “angels share”. I tasted the beer last week and it tastes outstanding!
I am in the current process of brewing up 15 gal of 10% Belgian tripel to replace the stout in the barrel. It will be done in about 10 days. Then I will transfer the bourbon barrel stout to kegs and carbonate and bottle. Finally, give the barrel a good rinsing and refill with Belgian tripel. Pics to come soon.

belgian tripel before pitching yeast.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Yup - waxing your barrel should avoid a great deal of evaporation. Looks great!

 

[bendog15]

Update- well the stout came out great. I left it in the barrel for 9 months outdoors. And where I live isn’t exactly chilly. 78-82 is the average temp. Was a bit worried, and life got in the way. Thought I left it in too long and was going to be left with an over-oaked product. But it tasted amazing! Transferred the barrel into kegs, carbed it up, filled up around 90-100 bottles and gifted them to everyone I know. Amazing. Probably one of the best beers I’ve ever made. Cheers!
PS- I refilled the barrel with a Belgian tripel. Pretty excited about that too.