(Roughly) How many cycles to get the bourbon flavor out of a barrel?

[deadwolfbones]

I recently purchased a 5 gallon bourbon barrel that I'd like to eventually use for a sour solera. However, before I put a sour beer in there I'd like to expend most of the bourbon character on some clean beers. I'm wondering how many I can (roughly expect) to get out of the barrel before it's done giving up those bourbon flavors.

Thanks!

 

[ong]

On my 10 gallon barrel, I had three clean cycles: the first two were very strongly bourbon flavored, and the third (a cider) was moderate. The fourth batch was a sour and still had some hint of bourbon, but I racked that, rinsed the barrel, and now have a solera going without noticeable bourbon flavor.

 

[dmtaylor]

Our club picked up a spent barrel that was indeed spent. After sanitizing it and conditioning a beer for almost a year, we picked up zero bourbon. I added my own bourbon to it at bottling time and that did the trick.

I imagine every barrel is different, but I wouldn't expect any barrel to have much bourbon in there for longer than a couple batches at best.

 

[deadwolfbones]

Excellent, thank you both.

@ong how long did you age those first three?

 

[ong]

Excellent, thank you both.

@ong how long did you she those first three?

Each was in the barrel 4-6 months.