Used liquor barrels

[joety]

Thanks for the tips. What do you plan to do with your keg for the month in between beers? I've read the sulphur stick method is good as it won't strip the keg of the oak flavor??

bump

 

[dcp27]

I've read the sulphur stick method is good as it won't strip the keg of the oak flavor??

this is true, but it needs to be maintained (once every 6 weeks) and comes with its own risks (sulphrous acid if wet, bad fumes). it's possible it may need to be re-swelled after as well.

 

[kingjohnh]

Any tips for removing the bung?

 

[igotsand]

with a hammer tap the sides of the bung, one side is beveled than the other and it will come a little loose, then pull it out by hand...
opening it up and smelling the inside of the barrel was amazing!

igotsand

 

[kingjohnh]

Thanks a lot. This did the trick. Never thought I'd have such problems with my bung hole! Yes, the smell inside the barrel was amazing. It's gonna be hard to wait to drink this beer!

 

[Steelers77]

Thanks a lot. This did the trick. Never thought I'd have such problems with my bung hole! Yes, the smell inside the barrel was amazing. It's gonna be hard to wait to drink this beer!

Your so dirty, LOL!

I sent you an email last night, I'm glad someone on here helped you with your bung hole!


FYI, there will be a new batch of barrels in July; I will take prepayment starting July 1st. I was told there would be 20 so get your beers a brewin' and let me know if you want one of these.

I also discussed the possibility of an all barrel comp in the fall with the owner of Old Sugar. He was in, so we will try to work on that and will let you guys know when it is. We are inviting those of you who have purchased Old Sugar barrels, sorry other guys.

Cheers,

John

 

[chezzesteak]

I am in.

 

[emjay]

I'm more interested in using this for wild beers with very little character imparted from the actual barrel itself, but I guess making some rum/oak beers until those flavors fade won't kill me

Though... this may sound like sacrilege to some, but is there a way to hasten the removal of rum and oak character so I don't have to wait so long?

 

[LongDukDong]

Please re-add me to the barrel list. I should have enough allowance saved up for one by then.

 

[dgmarquez]

Which barrels are these gonna be? Rum? Thanks.

 

[Steelers77]

I think both Rum and Honey Liqueur barrels, I think!

 

[scinerd3000]

Any chance you can score a larger barrel or are they all 5 gal?

 

[Steelers77]

Just had a bunch of 10 gallons, may have more in the future.

 

[Steelers77]

I'm more interested in using this for wild beers with very little character imparted from the actual barrel itself, but I guess making some rum/oak beers until those flavors fade won't kill me

Though... this may sound like sacrilege to some, but is there a way to hasten the removal of rum and oak character so I don't have to wait so long?

This is what I'm going to use them for. Make at least one Rum soaked beer, please, lol.

You can soak the barrel to get it neutral, take a look around on here, there are some threads.

 

[scinerd3000]

Just had a bunch of 10 gallons, may have more in the future.

damnit- ill have to keep checking back that would be perfect

 

[Steelers77]

10' are 150.

 

[emjay]

Got my barrel today

So is it sufficient to use the rum remaining in the barrel to slosh around and keep it wet, or do I need to add some liquor or water to it?

Also... when I go to add beer to it, the rum should be drinkable?

Oh... and when I shake it and roll it around, I don't really hear any liquid, but instead some solid piece clanging around. This normal?

 

[Atl300zx]

Got my barrel today
Also... when I go to add beer to it, the rum should be drinkable?

Yes, might even be better than when it went in.

 

[Steelers77]

Got my barrel today

So is it sufficient to use the rum remaining in the barrel to slosh around and keep it wet, or do I need to add some liquor or water to it?

Also... when I go to add beer to it, the rum should be drinkable?

Oh... and when I shake it and roll it around, I don't really hear any liquid, but instead some solid piece clanging around. This normal?

You may want to add a little rum to the barrel, when will you use it? If you have a beer ready to go I'd just put it in the barrel.

The solid piece may be a piece of charr that came off (I've seen this). Nothing to worry about.

I'm glad that past customs without issue.

 

[emjay]

I'm glad that past customs without issue.

Me too. To be completely honest, I felt I was taking a massive risk on the thing most likely being turned away. The fact that there's rum inside technically makes it illegal for me to import, but I couldn't ask any better than to get it in 2 days without a hitch.

 

[emjay]

Oh, and I might put beer in it Monday, but that depends... is it generally okay to put fresh wort in it, or is it better off being used as a short secondary to limit the extraction of flavors?

 

[Bottenbrew]

I personally use mine (from the previous batch) to secondary beer in for a week up to a month. It gets you all the flavor profiles from oaking, and doesn't leave sediment and trub in the barrel that I'll have to clean out later. Others will ferment in the barrel though, it all depends on what you are aiming for.

 

[Steelers77]

We are still taking pre-orders for the next round of barrels if anyone is interested.

 

[lastsecondapex]

Add me and let me know, I'll take one!

 

[Steelers77]

I need an email and a zip code and your name. You can send me a message.

 

[Steelers77]

Looks like there will be around 25 barrels available in July so I still have many available.
John

 

[bullywee]

I'm getting one or two this time round, I didn't move fast enough on the last lot.

 

[emjay]

What kind of barrels are we looking at this time around?

And regarding the 5gal rum barrel I just got, I've been meaning to ask if you had any more specific information about it. For instance, whether you know what kind of oak the barrel is made of (e.g. American, French, Eastern European, etc), what level it was toasted to (light, medium, medium plus, or heavy) and if you know approximately how long/how many batches these barrels were used for (as I assume the distillery replaces barrels once these old ones have been used for a certain length of time and/or number of uses).

The answer may affect how I ultimately decide to use my barrel (especially before it becomes neutral), so if you know any of these things (or can find out), that info would be really appreciated, as would anything else you think might be worth sharing.

I'm getting one or two this time round, I didn't move fast enough on the last lot.

The last one sat around for a while before I scooped it up about a week ago

 

[Steelers77]

The one you got Emjay was American oak, with a medium char. They were used twice for Rum which is around 1yr worth of usage. In the future (excluding the next round) all barrels will be used once and not twice.

From what it sounds like, you should get barrel flavors in a depreciating amount for 3-4 beers then you could soak it to get it completely neutral.

 

[emjay]

The one you got Emjay was American oak, with a medium char. They were used twice for Rum which is around 1yr worth of usage. In the future (excluding the next round) all barrels will be used once and not twice.

From what it sounds like, you should get barrel flavors in a depreciating amount for 3-4 beers then you could soak it to get it completely neutral.

Thanks for the info.

I gotta admit though, I'm not terribly into oaked beers or beers with spirits (and rum seems to be more difficult to pair with beer than whiskey would be!). Honestly, the main reason I'm even making one at all is because you've personally convinced me it would be a damn shame to waste the opportunity, and I agree - it's not every day I even have the option of using a rum-soaked barrel!

Really though, I don't want to have to make 3-4 oak beers before I can use the barrel for what I intended - wild ales. In particular Flanders Reds and maybe even Browns. So I'd like to get my barrel to neutral quickly.

Would repeated filling and draining with a solution of potassium metabisulphite and citric acid do the trick? I'm hoping that keeping the barrel full of this solution, replacing it twice a week, I might be able to get the barrel neutral in 3 weeks or so. You think that's realistic? I've found a lot of sources for maintaining and properly caring for barrels, but nothing really on intentionally speeding up the time for a barrel to become neutral - I've only read of warnings that using solutions like the one above will extract the flavors out of it, but they always seem to assume that this is undesirable, and so don't exactly outline a methodical approach to doing it