KyleWolf
Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone,
So, I have it in my mind to go on a "barrel-age" kick with a variety of styles, including bourbon barrel imperial brown (Prarie Okie is a good commercial example), barrel-aged Strong Scotch Ale (Backwoods Bastard) , and a "wine" barrel-aged Flanders red. The first two recipes are easy enough to deal with, but the wine barrel-aged flanders may be a more delicate operation. I know the barrel character isn't exactly to style for a flanders, but I think it could really lend a lot of character to the beer.
I am not looking for a ton of oak, as barrel-aged examples of the style, so I have been told, use more neutral barrels (thank you, microbusbrewery). So, I am was thinking, if I take either oak cubes or oak spiral (I don't know why, but I am leaning towards the spirals) and soak them in wine (vacuum sealed) for say, 1 month, a decent portion of the "oak" character should leach out into the wine, at the same time imparting enough wine flavor unto the spiral.
I was interested in the communities thoughts on producing these spirals. Ideally, these are the qualities I am looking for:
1) Spirals that could carry enough wine flavor to have a long-lasting impact
2) But, have a tempered oak profile. Thinking a softer oak profile, like french in a med toast or light toasted american would be the way to go.
3) Can handle long-term aging (>1yr)
I am also thinking that to get the proper amount of wine character, I may have to wine-soak multiple spirals for a longer amount of time (2mo) to further diminish the character of each spiral but increase the wine character.
I am really interested in hearing your thoughts and ideas!
So, I have it in my mind to go on a "barrel-age" kick with a variety of styles, including bourbon barrel imperial brown (Prarie Okie is a good commercial example), barrel-aged Strong Scotch Ale (Backwoods Bastard) , and a "wine" barrel-aged Flanders red. The first two recipes are easy enough to deal with, but the wine barrel-aged flanders may be a more delicate operation. I know the barrel character isn't exactly to style for a flanders, but I think it could really lend a lot of character to the beer.
I am not looking for a ton of oak, as barrel-aged examples of the style, so I have been told, use more neutral barrels (thank you, microbusbrewery). So, I am was thinking, if I take either oak cubes or oak spiral (I don't know why, but I am leaning towards the spirals) and soak them in wine (vacuum sealed) for say, 1 month, a decent portion of the "oak" character should leach out into the wine, at the same time imparting enough wine flavor unto the spiral.
I was interested in the communities thoughts on producing these spirals. Ideally, these are the qualities I am looking for:
1) Spirals that could carry enough wine flavor to have a long-lasting impact
2) But, have a tempered oak profile. Thinking a softer oak profile, like french in a med toast or light toasted american would be the way to go.
3) Can handle long-term aging (>1yr)
I am also thinking that to get the proper amount of wine character, I may have to wine-soak multiple spirals for a longer amount of time (2mo) to further diminish the character of each spiral but increase the wine character.
I am really interested in hearing your thoughts and ideas!
