Bourbon Barrel Aging

Yep, since wood is porous water will evaporate out, thus increasing ABV.

If the barrel is "wet" from the use before, I wouldn't add additional bourbon. But if it's 'dry', I would add some.

 

@invertalon can you elaborate on the reasons to add/withhold bourbon when barrel aging?

 

Just my own thought, no real "scientific" reason. If the barrel is still moist from the bourbon in it before, the beer will absorb those flavors, along with the barrel notes of course. Most breweries do it this way, as I believe it is illegal for brewers to add bourbon directly into the beer.

However if the barrel is dry, I would add bourbon and let soak a few weeks before dumping and then racking the beer into it. This way you are also trying to sterilize internally to reduce risk of contamination. Again, just my thought though - no backed up reasoning.

 

Welcome to the BA site, rpmcoffman, and to the Homebrewing forum.

Just a quick question about your plans: Will you be filling this barrel completely, or is your batch of beer going to be leaving some air space? You didn't mention your batch size, but it's rare to get your hands on a small enough barrel to be able to fill it with the typical batch of home brewed beer. Leaving any air space will not be good for your beer's aging environment regardless of how good the barrel-aging process can improve a beer's taste.

 

Timing is all dependent upon the flavor your are seeking and the individual/specific barrel you utilize.

You need to take samples here and there to determine when it is ready for YOU. Some people like ton of ooak, others not so much. I typically age for a month, take a sample and then go from there sampling at regular intervals (Usually every 2 weeks or so). This method will help you to determine the change in flavor and bottle/keg when you are pleased with the flavor.

Each barrel will impart different flavors, in different amounts of time. I've had barrels that were vanilla bombs, and others that were chocolate bombs, some that were balanced Choco/Vanilla, some that have a slight sourness (Not from bacteria, just the barrel/wood flavor). There are tons of cellulose or "wood sugars" that can be affected by the charring of the barrel, where the wood was sourced, the aging process of the distillery before you got the barrel and how YOU handle the barrel before you age.

I will soak a new (New to me) barrel with a liter of whiskey for a few weeks sloshing the whiskey around in the barrel every day and then remove the whiskey before filling with the brew. I save the whiskey for the next "seasoning"; until it is too tannic then I toss it.

I also "season" the barrel this way in between uses. I get about 3-5 brews/rounds of barrel aging and then sour it or give it away.

I usually start with a DIPA or ESB, then do a barleywine, then a dubbel, then a stout or RIS, then I sour it or give away.

Barrel aging is a craft in and of itself.

Sounds like you bought one of the Woodinville 8 gallon rye barrels- correct? Those are great barrels for aging beers.

Edited to add: Yes the size of the barrel has a direct affect on the flavor and time. Smaller barrel=more surface area of beer in contact with the wood and speeds things up.

 

That issue has been raised in previous threads, and I think what you said is correct, but you may want to do a search of this forum for bourbon barrel threads and read up on it.

 

So do you soak your barrel with whiskey after each batch of beer?
Also, why start with a pale beer and then finish with a dark one? I always thought you would extract the most "barrel flavor" from the first use, and therefore would want a dark beer for first use. Is this logic wrong?
I'm looking at buying my first barrel in the near future, and appreciate any feedback/ advice.

 

The answer to this question is quite complex, I'll try to keep it short and to the point though.

Yes, I re-soak the barrel in whiskey between batches. This revitalizes the barrel with those whiskey flavors, so you get more use out of the barrel.

The first batch will have the most spirit/barrel flavor, and the least "oakey" flavor, subsequent batches will have a stronger oak flavor but less spirit/barrel flavor. "oakey" flavor to me are woody, not vanilla or chocolate or fit or raisin, but tannic and woody- just for clarification sake.

So if you prefer the oakey flavors over the spirit/barrel flavor, you need not "season" the barrel with whiskey between uses.

I know Brewers who actually hate the bourbon flavor and just want oak flavors so they use virgin barrels of steam wash their bourbon barrels to strip the spirit flavor a way. I think that's crazy.

So in practice with each batch, you actually need LESS time to get the oakey flavors out, but this is not always the cAse, hence why you need to try samples from the barrel at regulAr intervals to determine flavor profile and keg/bottle when you've got what you want.

That's why I season the barrel for a month or two with whiskey, so I still get a good balance of spirit/barrel flavor (the spirit soaks into the barrel, oxygen is pulled in and magic happens) with the woody oak tannic flavors.

Hope that answers your question.

 

As to the OP's question about adding additional whiskey to the beer, I would let the beer barrel condition first and then see how satisfied you are with the amount of whiskey flavor. If it's where you like it, then no need to add more. I don't see any big advantage to adding it at the beginning of the barrel aging process.

 

Alcohol evaporates as well, and I believe it evaporates faster than water.

 

Yes and no. Alcohol has a lower boiling point than water, thus we can distill ethanol off of water and concentrate it. But when we are talking room temperature and a mixture of ethanol/water, they basically evaporate at the same rate. It'snot as if you leave a glass of whiskey out for a few days it would suddenly evaporate all the alcohol and the water would remain.

Pressure and temperature have a lot to do with how you can separate the liquids.

When they are mixed and at room temperature the alcohol will evaporate at a greater rate than the water, but it is so slight it is almost an even rate.

Now if you had a container of 96.5% pure grain spirit in one glass and another glass of pure H2o, then the alcohol glass would evaporate at a greater rate. But again the rate would not bee too different, until pressure and temperature are increased.

You will get a slight increase in alcohol content from barrel aging, as the beer soaks up some of the leftover spirit in the barrel. There are calculations based on barrel size, volume of beer and spirit ABV/beer ABV that can be done to figure this out. I rarely do the math and just add a 1/2 point or 1 point and call it good. I do too much math already

 

I've never used an airlock, just bung it up. If fermentation is still active then I would use an airlock for sure. Or the bung would be expelled from the barrel.

 

I would taste after aging for awhile before adding any whiskey half the reason you age in a whiskey barrel is to impart that flavor on the beer. Brewers in the USA are not allowed to add whiskey to brews and this is a huge motivation to use whiskey or other alcohol barrels to age their beers, along with the wood flavor as well (not always oak).

However breweries that make some iconic bourbon barrel ales age for a very long time KBS and Bourbon County Stout both age for upwards of 6 months I'm pretty sure the BCS is almost a year. If your looking for that kind of heat and whiskey flavor you may have to add some.

 

I had this idea for a "BBA" stout- based on some different posts I've read.

Take a mason jar. Put your oak chips or spirals into the jar. Put your adjuncts (like cinnamon sticks, vanilla beans, etc) in the jar. Dump in your bourbon. Let this mixture "Age" for a long time. Instead of aging your beer on the adjuncts, just age the bourbon on it.

When it's time to bottle, just dump your infused bourbon into the bucket, priming sugar, and bottle.

Good idea?

 

Essentially that sounds like your making an extract thats pretty much how vanilla extract is made. Bourbon and vanilla beans the high alcohol content strips out the flavor from the bean. So I think that would work pretty well but may be some trial and error to getting the right balance of all flavors inside.

 

That's the way I do it, although I use just bourbon on the oak chips. (I have never added vanilla, cinnamon, etc.) I have not had success in getting a flavor that wows me, but I'm happy with the results. Essentially I have about 10 ounces of bourbon that was aged on the oak chips for 3-4 weeks, and then the liquid is added to the bottling bucket along with the priming sugar. You can search this forum and find previous threads for more info.