About 9 months ago I purchased a 5 gallon bourbon barrell from a Kentucky distillery. It’s been sealed since I purchased it. According to the distillery, it had been emptied and corked about a week prior to my purchase. For various reason I have not been able to fill it with stout, but am ready now. Do I need to empty and clean the barrel somehow, since it’s been 9 months since purchased? If so, how? Thank you!
Older 5 Gallon Bourbon Barrell
- Thread starter Honyok
- Start date
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kev211
Well-Known Member
Shouldnt need to do any cleaning. I would probably empty whatever whiskey (preferably into a growler or other drinking vessel) is left in there and then fill her up! (Make sure all the staves still look wet and sealed from the inside)
Couple items to note, throw an airlock on there for the first week or so. You might kickstart a little residual fermentation. If you have a solid bung on there with will become a flying object...
One thing I've learned with the smaller barrels is that there is more surface area contact with the barrel staves per gallon than with traditional 53 gallon barrels, so it will definitely take less time to get to that "perfect" barrel aged point than would at a commercial brewery. I found that any 5 gallon barrel aging I've done, they are usually ready within 2-4 months compared to the 12 month+ aged beers you would get from a commercial outfit.
Also, typically the barrels arent a one time use thing. Eventually you will start to lose the oakey and whiskey flavor, but with my barrels I got 2-4 uses out of them. I would just fill them back up with a bottle of whiskey after barrel aging and rotate it to keep the staves wet.
Couple items to note, throw an airlock on there for the first week or so. You might kickstart a little residual fermentation. If you have a solid bung on there with will become a flying object...
One thing I've learned with the smaller barrels is that there is more surface area contact with the barrel staves per gallon than with traditional 53 gallon barrels, so it will definitely take less time to get to that "perfect" barrel aged point than would at a commercial brewery. I found that any 5 gallon barrel aging I've done, they are usually ready within 2-4 months compared to the 12 month+ aged beers you would get from a commercial outfit.
Also, typically the barrels arent a one time use thing. Eventually you will start to lose the oakey and whiskey flavor, but with my barrels I got 2-4 uses out of them. I would just fill them back up with a bottle of whiskey after barrel aging and rotate it to keep the staves wet.
Thank you. I’ll have to taste-test the contents when I empty the excess before filling. 
. Based on some other reading I’ve done, it seems that I should dampen (maybe, soak?) the exterior of the barrel with warm water, first, to ensure a good seal. It seems like Thanksgiving will be a the best timeline to enjoy the beer. I appreciate your input and knowledge.
. Based on some other reading I’ve done, it seems that I should dampen (maybe, soak?) the exterior of the barrel with warm water, first, to ensure a good seal. It seems like Thanksgiving will be a the best timeline to enjoy the beer. I appreciate your input and knowledge.
kev211
Well-Known Member
I’ve never seen or heard of the exterior dampen thing, but I don’t know that it would hurt anything so why not!? Haha. Thanksgiving barrel aged beers always hit
