Very small (2.5gal / 10litres) Barrels and blending

[tizoc]

I have a small oak barrel (2.5gal/10L capacity, similar to this one) that was given to me as a gift some time ago, but I haven't used it for anything yet. I have no idea what kind of oak it is, how toasted is it on the inside or anything.

Now that I'm starting to play with making sour beers, I have been considering using it for aging some of them (that is, once I have gained a bit more experience, brewing sour beers is a very new territory for me).

But from what I have been reading, this barrel is too small and not a great option for extended aging, and is likely to impart too much wood flavor into the beer.

So what I have been thinking is, brew a sour beer (using the Modern Fast & Funky Souring method) and fill the barrel with it.

Then for sours I brew later, I can take some of that beer out and blend it into the new beer (and refill the barrel with the same volume of wort I took out so that it stays full).

Could this work? or is it a dumb idea?

 

[NTBeer]

Not dumb. What you are describing is known as a solera, though that process usually calls for a larger barrel.

 

[tizoc]

Yes, thats from where I got the inspiration. I always assumed that Solera implied that you used the barrel for fermentation too, while here I'm only used it for the oak character (because I'm refilling it with already fully fermented sour beer, not re-feeding it with wort), and blending into fresher batches because oak is expected to be too strong coming from that barrel.

Btw, I just noticed that I posted this in the wrong subforum (was intended to be posted in "Lambic & Wild Brewing", not "Recipes"). Is it possible to move this thread there? I feel it is out of place here. Sorry about that.