Used liquor barrels

[Bottenbrew]

Hey guys,
Looks like we will be getting 3 5 gallon heavy char rum barrels from the distillers in March.

These are slightly different (thicker staves) and more expensive than the ones we just sold. If you are interested let me know they will be $115 + shipping.
John

In. If you still have my PM's you have my info, if not let me know and I'll resend it.

 

[xxHelderxx]

@Virant- GREAT info man thanks so much. Quick question though. These barrels have been recently dumped, so Im guessing when we receive them they'll be empty. By what your buddy said, do you think it would be best to pour some spirits into it when i receive it and then proceed accordingly? I just want to make sure i preserve that character.

Thanks for your help!

 

[amrmedic]

Are there any more 5 gallon barrels?

 

[Virant518]

@Virant- GREAT info man thanks so much. Quick question though. These barrels have been recently dumped, so Im guessing when we receive them they'll be empty. By what your buddy said, do you think it would be best to pour some spirits into it when i receive it and then proceed accordingly? I just want to make sure i preserve that character.

Thanks for your help!

The barrel that I recieved actually contains some raw spirits from the distillery still. If yours doesn't, then yes, I would add some.

 

[dcp27]

mine had a very little bit of residual liquor in it, but smelled incredibly of rum. I added about 1-2 cups of rum to it to keep it sanitized and plan to fill it with an old ale I'll be brewing next weekend and leaving in for several months. Great quality stuff as usual John!

 

[Virant518]

mine had a very little bit of residual liquor in it, but smelled incredibly of rum. I added about 1-2 cups of rum to it to keep it sanitized and plan to fill it with an old ale I'll be brewing next weekend and leaving in for several months. Great quality stuff as usual John!

One thing to consider is the surface area to volume ratio as opposed to a 32 gallon barrel. The local distillery by my house uses their 10 gallon barrels for a single malt whiskey and ages for 7 months, which they claim gives them a similar taste to a 10 year old single malt.

You're going to develop a lot of barrel character in the beer in a short period of time. Give it a shot after a week or so and see what you think before potentially ruining a batch of beer.

 

[dcp27]

One thing to consider is the surface area to volume ratio as opposed to a 32 gallon barrel. The local distillery by my house uses their 10 gallon barrels for a single malt whiskey and ages for 7 months, which they claim gives them a similar taste to a 10 year old single malt.

You're going to develop a lot of barrel character in the beer in a short period of time. Give it a shot after a week or so and see what you think before potentially ruining a batch of beer.

Oh I know its a much higher rate, didn't realize it was quite that high tho (nearly 20x!). I guess I'll be tasting it along the way earlier than planned, but its gunna be sitting for quite some time so I think I'll be OK either way.

 

[crazyirishman34]

What would be shipping to 02904 be?

 

[Steelers77]

One thing to consider is the surface area to volume ratio as opposed to a 32 gallon barrel. The local distillery by my house uses their 10 gallon barrels for a single malt whiskey and ages for 7 months, which they claim gives them a similar taste to a 10 year old single malt.

You're going to develop a lot of barrel character in the beer in a short period of time. Give it a shot after a week or so and see what you think before potentially ruining a batch of beer.

The stiller actually ages in these barrels for 4 months, so that gives you an idea of how fast these barrels impart flavor. I would agree with having multiple beers being ready for the barrel because of the speed in which it will impart flavor, age the first for a couple of weeks, then rack it out and put the next beer in. We use 5 gallon (new) barrels for wine and the first batch run through it took only about 2 weeks to be oaked, the next was about a month, and so on.

 

[Grimm]

shipping to 19054 (home)? or 08837 (work)?

 

[grape-soda]

Got any more barrels left?

 

[shelly_belly]

I was going to make a Barleywine to put in mine but instead I went ahead and put a very roasty Irish Red Lager in it today. Thank you John!

 

[Steelers77]

Damn,
Lookin' good. Those barrels are nice.

 

[VolFan]

Hi John, do you expect to get any more of these barrels? Would like to buy one if you are.

Thanks!

 

[Golddiggie]

Man, I can't wait to move so that I have the room to age in one of those... I already have a good barley wine recipe worked out, so that's not an issue... Just not going to do any long term aging where I live now, since I hope to be moving in under 6 months... But once I'm in the new place, I know who I'll be calling about getting at least one (maybe two) barrels for aging...

 

[Steelers77]

Vol fan I have a list going, you will be on it.

 

[xxHelderxx]

Shelly Belly- whats your technique for filling your barrel? Don't wanna derail this thread but do you have a link to something that might explain it?

Thanks!

 

[izatt82]

Let us know when more of these come around, they look very nice.

 

[NevermoreBrew]

can I get on that list too?

 

[lmnop]

I don't know if I'll be able to take advantage, but I'd also love to hear when you have more of these.

 

[shelly_belly]

Shelly Belly- whats your technique for filling your barrel? Don't wanna derail this thread but do you have a link to something that might explain it?

Thanks!

The beer was lagering in a keg and had a little bit of CO2 in it so I just pushed it slowly using a piece of racking cane stuck in a picnic tap with a rubber stopper to create a little counter-pressure. In other words, I used the BierMuncher Bottle Filler...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

I'm hoping I can Barrel age and lager at the same time!

 

[Virant518]

Sorry to keep cluttering up this thread, but I kegged my first beer off of the barrel, and I wanted to share my experiences. I figure more people are looking here than anywhere else.

I brewed a very cliche imperial stout to put into the barrel, after having tried a lot of wonderful, very sweet, foreign imperial stouts. OG of 1.097, FG came down to 1.023 with WLP007. Roasty, Chocolatey, smooth, and boozy when fresh. (Amazingly I got it to ferment out and clear in about 10 days.

Took the liquor barrel, which still had some residual booze i've been using to keep it swelled. Put a few gallons of water in and then dumped to clear the booze and sediment (if there was any). Beer goes in.

After 7 days, I pulled a sample to try and was surprised to find the liquor flavors were starting to overpower the beer, even as big as it was. By day 10, they were definitely overpowering, so I kegged the beer from the barrel, added a liter and a half of booze back into the barrel to keep it swelled and sterilized, and I'm going to let the stout sit for a while.

Moral of the story: those of you who are planning on months with lesser beers- taste your beer before letting it sit too long.

Although I suspect the more I use the barrel, the longer it'll take and the more oak flavors will come out instead of the liquor flavors.

 

[LongDukDong]

Add me to the list please!

Gracias.

Vol fan I have a list going, you will be on it.

 

[xeerohour]

Virant518, thanks for the information. I just put an Imperial Stout in my barrel yesterday, so I'll monitor it closely. Mine didn't get the OG quite as high, 1.087 for me, but did get down to 1.017, which gave me a good 9% beer. I'll let you guys know how it ages.

The only downside is I'll need a new beer to put in it really soon!

 

[dcp27]

After 7 days, I pulled a sample to try and was surprised to find the liquor flavors were starting to overpower the beer, even as big as it was. By day 10, they were definitely overpowering, so I kegged the beer from the barrel, added a liter and a half of booze back into the barrel to keep it swelled and sterilized, and I'm going to let the stout sit for a while..

good thing you mentioned that. If rum is anything like whiskey, it's aged at 1.5-2x its bottled strength, so that would certainly explain why it becomes overpowering so quickly.

 

[xeerohour]

The beer was lagering in a keg and had a little bit of CO2 in it so I just pushed it slowly using a piece of racking cane stuck in a picnic tap with a rubber stopper to create a little counter-pressure. In other words, I used the BierMuncher Bottle Filler...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/we-no-need-no-stinking-beer-gun-24678/

I'm hoping I can Barrel age and lager at the same time!

How did the lagering in the barrel turn out? I'm thinking about trying that out for my second beer in this guy.

 

[Native302]

Do you have anymore of these barrels available? I would like one please, shipped to 19968

 

[Primetime]

I'm also interested in a barrel when you get some more in. 48081
thanks

 

[Steelers77]

I have a list going and will let you know when I get some more.

When am I going to get some sample fellas?

Cheers,
John

 

[wpshadowens]

Please ad me to your list. Thanks!