So I've dabbled with homebrewing for a few years now but never much on the barrel aging side, mainly due to cost. Now though I have someone who is looking to learn and has more disposable income then anyone should. He said he'd bankroll the barrels and obviously we could just do trial and error but despite how much money he has I would still feel bad spending that much time, energy, and money on something with a low success rate. We like to do things out of the box so we are trying to avoid standard bourbon/whiskey or virgin oak barrels and instead look towards cognac, tequila, gin, etc. Just kind of curious if anyone has experiences with styles/flavors that would go well with a slightly unique barrel. Thanks!
I know that you can get apple brandy barrels from Laird's. Probably be dope with a strong scotch ale.
I did a French Saison aged with sour cherries in a red wine barrel. Turned into a fantastic sour beer!
Try using one of the honeycombs from Black Swan. They offer these in several types of wood. It's a great way to experiment with wood without committing the time and expense to large batches while you're learning. http://www.blackswanbarrels.com/
Check out http://madfermentationist.blogspot.com/ He has done lots of different barrel things. He is also here as OldSock
