So, I bought a whiskey barrel.... What should I put in it?

[HappyFermentations]

I picked up one of the 5G used whiskey barrels for $99 that Homebrewing.com was selling yesterday. Convinced my fiancé that we could use it as a living room decoration!

So, now comes the hard part - what he hell should I put in it?

I'm thinking either an imperial stout, nut brown or a barley wine.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Double_D]

If it's fresh you'll be able to get a couple good beers out of it.

The first beer came out of the barrel after only 2 weeks. I did a 8.5% brown.. I put my Christmas beer in there second but I didn't take care of the barrel properly between brews and it tastes like bile when I pulled it after a month or so.

Campden tablets are your friend of not transfering a new beer immediately.

 

[secondbase]

Ant of those beers will be fine. But be careful, as a 5G barrel will quickly give you lots of barrel character due to the larger surface area that the beer will be touching. You wouldn't want to end up with an overoaked beer.

 

[podz]

Use it to make duck confit.

 

[HappyFermentations]

So, how much time would you recommend? 2 weeks seems like a really short amount of time, but I definitely don't want to over oak it.

 

[CJ-3]

If it is a fresh barrel then 2 weeks for the first brew would not be unheard of.
Sample it at 2 weeks and again every other day until you get the oak level you desire.
Subsequent brews may require a longer soak depending on the depth you are looking for.

 

[mrgrimm101]

IMO, either an Imperial stout or a Barleywine would be a great choice. I like big, barrel-aged Scotch Ales, so that could be a consideration for you as well.

 

[TheCrackpot]

I bought one from Homebrewing.com last night too. Just like you, I convinced the wife of its "aesthetic" value.

I plan on 2-3 bourbon barrel style brews. Probably something like Kentucky Breakfast stout. Then, I'm going to start a souring program with it.

Basic Brewing Radio recently did a 2 part, small barrel souring podcast discussing the proper techniques to get the most out of each barrel. It really got me interested in looking into smaller barrels.

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=radio

The episodes were on Sept 17 and Nov 12.