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Main
Date: 11 Nov 2006 21:29:57
From: Duke
Subject: Would like to use an oak barrel, but....
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Hi all,
After doing a bit of reading on the subject I am interested in trying to do
a barleywine style beer and then aging it in a used
bourbon/whiskey/scotch/etc. barrel. From what I read you can get the used
barrels from different distilleries. The one issue I have is that I do not
have the room to keep a 55 gallon barrel full of beer at the proper
storage/aging temperature. Another issue is that brewing, fermenting, and
secondarying 55 gallons, plus what I would need for evaporation, while
do-able, would be very cumbersome for my 10 gallon setup. I have seen 10
and 15 gallon oak barrels for sale and thought that might suit my needs.
However, after about 3 more seconds of thinking about this I realized that
the bourbon/whiskey/scotch/etc. barrels are fired/charred on the inside. Am
I incorrect about this ? I thought about possibly buying one of the new
barrels anyway and just filling it with bourbon/whiskey/scotch, letting it
sit for a year and then using it, but I imagine the charred interior of the
real bourbon/whiskey/scotch barrels accounts for part of the taste. So if I
used a new uncharred barrel I would lose that.
So this is what is has come to....
I see that Northern Brewer sells "fire-roasted" oak cubes. They sell them
in 8 oz packs. My thought was to get around 40 to 56 ounces of these cubes,
cover and soak them in some bourbon/whiskey/scotch for a couple of months
and then add them to my tertiary stage (aging) of the barleywine.
So what do you think about that plan ? Has anyone used those oak cubes
before ? Am I heading down a terrible path that will result in 15 or so
gallons of swill only fit for the drain ?
Comments welcome,
Duke
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Date: 11 Nov 2006 19:05:50
From: Phil
Subject: Re: Would like to use an oak barrel, but....
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On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 21:29:57 GMT, "Duke" <sorry@no_spam.com > wrote:
>I see that Northern Brewer sells "fire-roasted" oak cubes. They sell them
>in 8 oz packs. My thought was to get around 40 to 56 ounces of these cubes,
>cover and soak them in some bourbon/whiskey/scotch for a couple of months
>and then add them to my tertiary stage (aging) of the barleywine.
You can buy oak cubes, oak chips, oak crumbs and oak staves. They all
work. I soak my oak chips in scotch to sanitize them as well as to
give some flavor to the beer.
Phil
======
visit the New York City Homebrewers Guild website:
http://www.hbd.org/nychg
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Date: 12 Nov 2006 05:28:05
From: Duke
Subject: Re: Would like to use an oak barrel, but....
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"Phil" <dogglebe@yahoooo.com > wrote in message
news:b8pcl2lhd73pfvkq3a5fgc71f5fu12hh2s@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 21:29:57 GMT, "Duke" <sorry@no_spam.com> wrote:
>
>
>>I see that Northern Brewer sells "fire-roasted" oak cubes. They sell them
>>in 8 oz packs. My thought was to get around 40 to 56 ounces of these
>>cubes,
>>cover and soak them in some bourbon/whiskey/scotch for a couple of months
>>and then add them to my tertiary stage (aging) of the barleywine.
>
> You can buy oak cubes, oak chips, oak crumbs and oak staves. They all
> work. I soak my oak chips in scotch to sanitize them as well as to
> give some flavor to the beer.
>
>
> Phil
> ======
> visit the New York City Homebrewers Guild website:
> http://www.hbd.org/nychg
Hi Phil,
I am presuming these will float. Do you use some sort of mechanism to
weight them down or just let them float ? How long do you typically age on
these chips ?
Thanks,
Duke
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Date: 12 Nov 2006 18:18:24
From: Phil
Subject: Re: Would like to use an oak barrel, but....
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On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 05:28:05 GMT, "Duke" <sorry@no_spam.com > wrote:
>I am presuming these will float. Do you use some sort of mechanism to
>weight them down or just let them float ? How long do you typically age on
>these chips ?
They'll float for a while and then sink. I generally leave them in
for the entire secondary.
Phil
======
visit the New York City Homebrewers Guild website:
http://www.hbd.org/nychg
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Date: 12 Nov 2006 17:08:29
From: 2fatbbq
Subject: Re: Would like to use an oak barrel, but....
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"Duke" <sorry@no_spam.com > wrote in message
news:Fhy5h.198$5F2.157@trnddc04...
>
>>
> I am presuming these will float. Do you use some sort of mechanism to
> weight them down or just let them float ? How long do you typically age
> on these chips ?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Duke
>
when I use the oak chips they get tossed in the 2ndary--will float for a
while then of course sink--you do get the hint of an oak flavour---imo
anyway
Buzz
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Date: 15 Nov 2006 22:44:26
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Would like to use an oak barrel, but....
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On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 21:29:57 GMT, <sorry@no_spam.com > wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> After doing a bit of reading on the subject I am interested in trying to do
> a barleywine style beer and then aging it in a used
> bourbon/whiskey/scotch/etc. barrel.
Just so you know, traditionally beer was stored in barrels that were first
lined with something called "brewers pitch". It basically insulated the
beer from the wood so that there was no real infusion of flavor. The whole
thing about "flavoring with oak chips" is probably based more on myth than
reality.
However, there's nothing wrong with doing it if you want to. Personally,
I'd go with the chip/cube route. It sounds a lot easier than trying to
get/maintain your own barrel.
John.
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Date: 18 Nov 2006 03:32:05
From: John Smith
Subject: Re: Would like to use an oak barrel, but....
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The oak barrel is a lot of work. A new barrel is going to give off a lot
more oak flavor than a barrel that has been used previously for wine or
spirits. Preparaing a new barrel is also some work. And, you have to
decide if you want French, Hungarian, or American oak. American is the most
"oaky". Toast is another decision.
If you use a wine/spirit barrel, it needs to be fresh and not dried and with
no spoilage. You just can't bring them back once they turn the corner.
Using oak in steel or glass is much easier to control. One suggestion, if
your setup makes this possible is two split your batch into two smaller
batches. I often break a six-gallon batch into two three-gallon carboys.
You can experiment with oak in one and leave the other without oak. If the
oak flavor is too strong, you can cut it back by blending the two batches
back together. This is especially helpful with a big beer that you want to
age for some time.
Good Luck!
Carter
"Duke" <sorry@no_spam.com > wrote in message
news:phr5h.278$v93.17@trnddc06...
> Hi all,
>
-snip-
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