Primary in oak barrrl???

[hermsfun]

I upgraded our groups brew stand to 30 gallon batches and now we have to figure out how to ferment! What does everyone think of fermenting in barrels. We have a cheap source for wine barrels (55 gallon) so there would be some extra head room. Thoughts? I'm doing some souring now in a smaller barrel and kinda like the thought of a bunch of barrels in my basement. We do both quick ales and longer aged stuff...

 

[Nateo]

Firestone (http://www.firestonebeer.com/brewery/firestone-union.php) uses oak for fermenting. In Yeast there are a number of reasons listed for fermenting in oak barrels, including reduced diacetyl and better yeast health. On a small scale I'm not sure it would really matter.

 

[hermsfun]

Do they use it for primary though? I'm just worried about cleaning out all the gunk everytime... And all the treatments between batches to get it ready for the next.

 

[Nateo]

From the link I posted: "The wort spends 6 days in the barrels before being racked into stainless for secondary fermentation lasting about a week."