Hello guys, I'm a new homebrewer with about a dozen batches on my system. I recently saw a link from Adventures in Homebrewing about a sale on 5 gal Balcones barrels and instantly thought about throwing a stout down on one and then using as a souring vessel later on. I know about Milk the Funk (which can frankly be a bit overwhelming with information), but was just wondering from anyone on here if they had any protips/horror stories for first time home barrel-ers, in regards to contact time, headspace/oxidation issues with clean beers. As a few of us I enjoy the shit out of BA beers and would love to be able to pour some of the tap. For anyone wondering about the deal it's here https://www.homebrewing.org/Used-5-Gallon-Whiskey-Barrel_p_2187.html Thanks guys!
Sounds like a good plan. That said, these small barrels will take more than one clean beer to make them neutral. I'd think two or three, actually. They also tend to impart character VERY quickly. Here's some good reading from member @OldSock: https://www.themadfermentationist.com/2012/09/rumble-barrel-belgian-strong-dark-recipe.html I've used them before with very good luck, but I bought mine from another homebrewer who had used it until it was neutral, so I'm not going to be much help until you want to use it as a long term vessel for maturing sour beer. Also, don't let MTF overwhelm you. Just read the wiki beforehand and ask informed questions. If you already haven't read it, here's the link to their barrel page: http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Barrel If you are using it second use (first for beer), you should get the wood and spirit character that you desire in a matter of weeks, so oxidation shouldn't be an issue.
Did you get any indication how long ago the barrels were emptied? I'd be a little bit concerned about their storage conditions since emptying and whether the wood might have had too much time and has started drying/shrinking, and whether the chance exists that foul air has reached the interior.
My understanding is that these things come bunged and shrink-wrapped and are pretty freshly emptied. I guess if the OP is worried about the barrel leaking, he could always swell the barrel, but then he'd lose a lot of spirit character.
How do you go about tasting then? Nail or a thief? I’m more concerned in regards to tasting during the quicker turn, first/second, beers. Thanks!!
You could always install a nail, but a thief would work just fine. Purging any headspace that you have afterwards is also a good idea.
I have 2 of these barrels and they have provided wonderful character in the beers I've made with them, which has included RIS, smoked imperial brown, and old ale among others. The price at AIH is pretty good but I've occasionally seen them at $90-100. In my experience the sweet spot for aging in these barrels is 4-6 weeks. I haven't tried longer than 6 weeks because I've always been happy with the character around that time. For beers that I intend to barrel age I adjust the yield of my recipe to at least 6 gallons so I can completely top off the barrel and usually have a bit of the base beer I can bottle condition as a bonus. It's fun to do a side by side and really understand what the barrel contributed. I've always sampled using a thief, I've just never gotten around to installing a nail. I intended to use these barrels until they went neutral and then use them for wilds and sours, but think my mileage using them for clean beers will be longer than I anticipated using the following method. I cold crash and use gelatin for the the beers prior to racking them into the barrel to minimize trub and yeast that will settle out in the barrel. After emptying the beer from the barrel I add a 1.5L bottle of "cheap" bourbon if not immediately refilling the barrel with beer. I used to use Wild Turkey 101 in the past but Ezra Brooks has been my go to recently. Rotate the barrel every few days until you're ready to put another beer in the barrel and then empty the bourbon. This beer barrel bourbon is quite delicious in it own right. I've gone a few months in between beers using this method and the beers have come out great,. No idea how long I'll be able to keep this up.
Got my first one from balcones online which was dumped a few months before. I ended using some hot water to make sure it was clean before adding beer to it. After 3 weeks my ris is tasting real good and will likely bottle this weekend after 4 weeks. FYI seems like the barrel is really 5.5 gallons and not 5 gallons. Made it hard to keep it topped off when I didn't expect that much volume in the barrel.
There was a great thread on wood/barrel aging here a while back. @GUNSLINGER seemed to have a lot of info. Perhaps someone who see he's better than me can get it here.
AiH is my LHBS. They move those barrels pretty quick, so I haven’t heard of leakage problems. The guys I know who have used them say short contact is better, as you can get too much barrel character.
I used one of these a short time ago. I followed the re-hydrating steps that are covered in this document: https://www.williamsbrewing.com/pdfs/b03.pdf. I did not perform the sanitizing step. I can confirm that, as @Eggman20 mentioned, the barrel is bigger than 5 gallons. I'm not sure that it's 5.5, but it definitely holds more than 5; be prepared for that if you plan to fill the barrel all the way (which they suggest). I can also confirm that short contact--at least for the first fill--is the way to go. I had my beer in the barrel for 3 weeks, and that was plenty. Thinking back, two weeks might even have been enough. You will get lots of barrel character, initially.
