lucasszy
Well-Known Member
Hungarian oak. Now to fill them!
oh yeah.... Barrel action
- Thread starter lucasszy
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
OP
OP
lucasszy
Well-Known Member
They were recently emptied of pinot. They are still wet with red wine, so they sure do hold water.
Thinking of putting my belgian dark strong into one. I actually have three of then.
Thinking of putting my belgian dark strong into one. I actually have three of then.
BoundForBeer
Well-Known Member
My hats off to you Sir. I have no idea how I would even start to fill 1 on those.
were they rinsed?
were they emptied recently as in within days?
were they stored in the interim properly, ie. citric and sulfur to thwart any biological activity?
Do they smell fine?
You are going to be putting a huge investment into them be careful.
were they emptied recently as in within days?
were they stored in the interim properly, ie. citric and sulfur to thwart any biological activity?
Do they smell fine?
You are going to be putting a huge investment into them be careful.
runningweird
Well-Known Member
this fills me with both rage and unbridled jealousy. congratulations.
rage because wineries near me do not sell their barrels. and i have no room to keep one. keep us updated.
rage because wineries near me do not sell their barrels. and i have no room to keep one. keep us updated.
YNOT2K
Well-Known Member
you, sir, are going to have some fine brews very soon!
iparks81
Well-Known Member
Very cool is all I have to say. what is the volume of one of those?
rycov
Well-Known Member
Ralelen
Well-Known Member
I think 66 gal.
iparks81
Well-Known Member
thanks. It would take me a minute to brew two BBL's of beer!!!!
but the OP should do it!!!
Rockape66
Well-Known Member
Wow, I'm totally jealous. Barrels are a lot of work to maintain properly, but well worth it if you do. Remember, you will lose the angels share. Have to keep the heavens happy. Prost, Mack
OP
OP
lucasszy
Well-Known Member
Plan for this week is to figure out the proper way to sanitize these and fill all of them (at least for now) with some sanitary liquid.
Im thinking water, after a sulfur treatment, or something along those lines.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Before any of that, I have to make a few storage dollies for them. I was thinking three separate rolling rigs, so I can move them around independently.
Then its on to arranging some kind of MAD brew session (maybe witha few local folks) to fill one of these bad boys! At least one! I hope!
lucas
Im thinking water, after a sulfur treatment, or something along those lines.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Before any of that, I have to make a few storage dollies for them. I was thinking three separate rolling rigs, so I can move them around independently.
Then its on to arranging some kind of MAD brew session (maybe witha few local folks) to fill one of these bad boys! At least one! I hope!
lucas
Suggestion: Building a basic rack structure out of 2x4's so the barrel can be positioned at a height that is conducive for siphoning and it looks impressive too.
I work with barrels. If you go over the questions I posed before I can give you some advice. Obviously the interiors arent sheer like glass and they have to be treated carefully.
I work with barrels. If you go over the questions I posed before I can give you some advice. Obviously the interiors arent sheer like glass and they have to be treated carefully.
OP
OP
lucasszy
Well-Known Member
Ok here are some replies:
were they rinsed? YES
were they emptied recently as in within days? YES
were they stored in the interim properly, ie. citric and sulfur to thwart any biological activity? UNKNOWN
Do they smell fine? SMELL AWESOME
Already ordered a sulphur holder and some 5MM discs.
Plan is to hot and cold rinse them, flip them and let them dry, then sulphur them once every 6 weeks until filled.
Found a neat write up for a dolly(holder) dealio, so going to make those this weekend.
Wine Dolly
Any input or better plans that would accomodate the use of pumps would be great!
Cheers
Lucas
i have worked in wineries that have used the sulfur method but feel the best way of ensuring they are protected is filling completely with a citric/sulfur solution (3 cups to half a cup). The problem with this is that the solution will continue to pull out wood character out of the barrels and your barrels look like they are nearing or past the 4 year mark which is generally considered the end of the barrels life for imparting wood flavours in wine. Beer being more subtle may still confer some taste -- you can always add chips or better yet staves if you want more of that.
So I think your approach you have outlined is a good route and sounds like this
http://www.ehow.com/how_7480898_store-wine-barrels.html
although I may tweak it by skipping the hot water (depletes the desirable flavours)
do a citric/sulfur cleanse then rinse then burn sulfur to store
to do the cleanse fill a 20 litre pail with warm water and citric and sulfur make sure it is fully dissolved and get it in the barrel -- seal barrel with bung that has soaked in the solution -- spin the barrel around everyway to ensure the solution hits every surface -- leave on each head to soak -- over an hour or so total -- rinse heavily -- make sure you cannot smell any sulfur -- let dry for maybe 8 hours
-- you can inspect the interior of the barrel with a small flashlight to ensure dry and clean surfaces
-- burn sulfur and seal if the sulfur does not burn completely the barrel is infected and you should not use it (not sure of the science behind this phenom but it is true)
the citric is used to amplify the effectiveness of the sulfur by acidifying
dont use too much sulfur because it will soak into the wood and you dont want your beer to taste like sulfur
cheers
So I think your approach you have outlined is a good route and sounds like this
http://www.ehow.com/how_7480898_store-wine-barrels.html
although I may tweak it by skipping the hot water (depletes the desirable flavours)
do a citric/sulfur cleanse then rinse then burn sulfur to store
to do the cleanse fill a 20 litre pail with warm water and citric and sulfur make sure it is fully dissolved and get it in the barrel -- seal barrel with bung that has soaked in the solution -- spin the barrel around everyway to ensure the solution hits every surface -- leave on each head to soak -- over an hour or so total -- rinse heavily -- make sure you cannot smell any sulfur -- let dry for maybe 8 hours
-- you can inspect the interior of the barrel with a small flashlight to ensure dry and clean surfaces
-- burn sulfur and seal if the sulfur does not burn completely the barrel is infected and you should not use it (not sure of the science behind this phenom but it is true)
the citric is used to amplify the effectiveness of the sulfur by acidifying
dont use too much sulfur because it will soak into the wood and you dont want your beer to taste like sulfur
cheers
If you think those dollies will work for you keep in mind that those plans are for barrels much smaller than yours -- yours are 230 L Burgundian barrels (I think) that will weigh over 600 lbs when filled.
Who coopered them?-- the tonnelliere should be stamped on one of the heads -- just curious
Who coopered them?-- the tonnelliere should be stamped on one of the heads -- just curious
OP
OP
lucasszy
Well-Known Member
Will check on cooperage tonight!
Similar threads
