Procured a whisky Barrel, now what

Since I didn't fill the barrel up fully 2 weeks ago I made another batch of the Imp Stout and it is ready to xfer into the barrel. But before I do, I wanted to come here to get the opinion of others.

The barrel needs about 2 more gallons to fill it to the brim. I have three options:
1.) fill it with the recently made imp stout (and add an airlock)
2.) don't touch it and just CO2 it every now and again for the next 6 months
3.) don't touch it at all

I did try and push all the O2 out of it the initial day of barreling (I stuck into the barrel a sani'd hose and turned on the CO2). don't know if this was necessary, but it made me and my brew club feel a little better about the head space and O2.

Also, I don't want to waste beer, so will the remaining beer be ok in the 5 gal carboy for the next few months (or will that be too much head space as well? And since there is some sedement in there, will that make the remaining 3 gals taste different? I don't have a 3 gal carboy, nor do I have access to one (I checked my local shop, they never heard of it). I do have gowlers that I could use, but thought I'd get your all opinions on what else I could do.

Thanks again!

 

Finally - March 8th we are barreling and bottling this BB Imp Stout!

 

Sorry, bottling from the barrel. Over half of it will go into corny's.

Thanks for the heads up on the cbc-1 idea.

 

Turned over a year old and it is still delicious and got a lot better. Putting it away till Apr 1, 2016. I have about a half corny left of this. I got it stored at about 6# of CO2 and in a dark corner of the basement where it is nice and cool all year round.

We just dismantled the Wild Turkey Bourbon Barrel however. I filled it up with h2o, all the way to the top, but evaporation happened and when we opened it there was a vinegar smell and a little mold build up. So, we pulled it apart and will scrub the insides with a water-n-mild-bleach solution. Rinse with water and let sit in the sun a few days. The top and bottom of the barrel will be lottery'd to 1 of the 8 owners, and everyone gets some wood staves.