Beer Forum

Anyone have experience using new oak barrels? I want to age a few batches in it for the oak character before switching it over for sour beers. How long should the first batch stay in before it gets too oaky? How many batches before the oak character is removed? I've got it filled with Barolkleen now, which I'll then neutralize with with Sodium Sulphite and citric acid. Do I need to burn a Sulfur strip in it or should it be good to go?

I'd like to get a Russian Imperial Stout in it soon followed by a Barleywine and an English IPA. What other styles do well in oak barrels?

Tanks

What capacity barrel is it? That will greatly affect how long you'll want it on the oak.

Yeah, that's what I thought. It's 5 gallons.

The local brew shop has as what I think is a 7 gallon NEW American oak barrel. I've been tempted to buy it. I am really curious about the process of getting a new barrel ready for sour beer aging.

Please keep reporting on your progress and process.

I've been playing with the idea of getting one of those barrels too. I can buy cheap red wine from a local winery for not much money. I figure I can fill the barrel with that for a couple months to soak up the oak taste. I'm not real fond of their wine anyway so tossing it down the drain with the heavy oak flavor wouldn't be that big a loss.

Wayne

Bugeater wrote:I've been playing with the idea of getting one of those barrels too. I can buy cheap red wine from a local winery for not much money. I figure I can fill the barrel with that for a couple months to soak up the oak taste. I'm not real fond of their wine anyway so tossing it down the drain with the heavy oak flavor wouldn't be that big a loss.

Wayne

Toss it??? I thought Brewers Code was that you send it to Justin...

I thought about throwing a cheap wine kit in there too, but then I'd be stuck with 5 gallons of shitty wine. A batch of beer is a lot cheaper than a crappy wine kit.