anyone have advice for topping of an oak barrel? I am putting my beer from primary into at but I know I am going to be short. What can I use to top it off to avoid spoilage? Thanks.
How long do you anticipate this being in the barrel? If you are talking many months, either an older barrel or aging a sour or something, you may be able to brew up another similar batch to use for topping off. I brew extra knowing I will need to top off. If it is short term, first use for a barrel for example, and it won't be more than a month or two, I have just purged the barrel with CO2. Even if I am a little short, the CO2 will keep most of the O2 off your beer. If neither of those sound good to you, use a finished beer that has similar taste and characteristics as the beer you are aging. Ten or twenty ounces of beer in five gallons won't change the taste much. Just be wary of what yeast or bugs you may be adding to your beer.
thanks. Yea. I am thinking a month tops. As far as taste, the cherry concentrate is going to overpower most of it anyway. Would yeast from a commercial wit beer do any harm (I am assuming there will be no bugs in it considering) ?
I would top it off with something as close to the base beer as possible. I would suggest brewing another batch of the same, but if you will only have it in there a month you might not have time.
One thing that is nice about having a second batch/extra beer is if the barrel beer turns out with more barrel characteristic than you want, you can use it to blend to how you want it.
