BIABrewer.info

so a group of us got together and bought a used reconditioned wine barrel (225L).
we each brewed the same recipe - Robust Porter, and got together last night for the barrel filling. what an excitement!.
the recipe:

OG: 1.082
FG: 1.018
Color: 38.1 SRM
IBU: 28.5 IBU
ABV: 8.1%
6.00 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) 84.8 %
0.50 kg Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) 7.0 %
0.33 kg Carafa II (412.0 SRM) 4.6 %
0.25 kg Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) 3.6 %
40.00 gm Goldings, EK [5.00 %] (60 min)
Yeast: US-05

Mash @ 68 C, 60 min, efficiency 75%
Boil 60 Minutes

you can view pictures and read a write up here:
http://myhomebrewedbeer.blogspot.com/20 ... -post.html
OR use Google translate to read it in English

Cool,

Also liked the 200L braumeister and matching 240L fermenter!

Yes, the barrel is hosted at my friend Dagan's new nano brewery. 200L braumeister and nine 240L fermenters. they brew their own beers HADUBIM (the Bears) and contract brew for other wannabe commercial brewers.

http://myhomebrewedbeer.blogspot.com/20 ... -post.html


here's the label for their first commercial brew:

Shib, that is an exciting project. You must have had some fun doing that.

Sounds like you have an enthusiastic community of brewers there in Israel.

Hey Noam, guess what I just bought?

http://www.homebrewing.com/equipment/whiskey-barrel.php



I'm planning to run a few porters through it, and possibly an IPA (there's a local brewery that offers an oaked IPA that is fantastic).

Once most of the oak flavor is gone it'll be time to infect it with some bugs. Can you say "Flanders Red"?

If you do not have to space for a Barrel, you can still OAK your beer with these..

http://www.eckraus.com/wine-making/wine ... oak-chips/

Todd, I really wanted to get some casks once, like in the picture below. I found a place to order them online. My plan was to make historical IPA and put it in the casks. I couldn’t solve the cleaning and sanitisation issue. In the “old days” they used formaldehyde, which is extremely toxic. Did you come up with a practical solution to this?
Thanks

180 F water. The barrel that I ordered has been full of whiskey until just recently so there really isn't any concerns with having to clean/sterilize it. In the long run it will be used for long term aging of sour beers so, again, there is no big concern about sanitizing (we sour guys WANT the bugs in there!)

Todd, that's kind of pricey isn't it?
and Joshua, oak chips aren't nearly as fun as having your own barrel

A big plus is the bourbon/whiskey flavour imparted with a used barrel

Actually it's pretty cheap on this side of the pond. A similar sized Hungarian Oak barrel is $135 USD plus shipping and the French Oak is $300 USD plus shipping. Once the weather gets a bit nicer I will hit the Finger Lakes Wine Trail here and see about procuring a used wine barrel.

I never even thought of using hot water. Thanks! I googled it for ages too, and didn’t come across that. Makes perfect sense to me.




Beer in casks went off once it was started, and had to be drunk within a week or two because of the air getting in as it was dispensed. Do you know how your local brewery avoids that? or if there is a way I could get around that?

The local place is not doing cask ale, they simply aged a few batches of their signature IPA in oak barrels before kegging and then released it on tap at a few select pubs. This is the beer that they oaked, and here are the tasting notes. I believe it was done as an homage to the great IPA's of yore that once traveled the ocean in oak barrels.

I think the all brett IPA I did recently would be a pefect candidate to spend a bit of time soaking in an oak barrel......

I really don’t like oaked wines (I like many non-oaked wines). I like any kind of scotch though. Do you reckon I’d like naturally oaked IPA? Does anyone like oaked beers but not like their wine oaked?

Should I try it by throwing in some of Joshua’s oak chips? Does that work as well as an oak barrel, even though it might be less fun.

How does that sour beer taste? You’d need the patience of a saint (I don’t have that) to age it for so long. Is it worth the wait?

GR, Oaking Beer??? check this link for some Beginner's ideas....http://beersmith.com/blog/2012/02/20/oa ... rel-aging/

Have Fun!

Thaks Joshua, good link. I'll copy into links library, so I can find it again later. Hope you don't mind

GR, No worries, This topic could end today, or run for weeks with this link!!

Enjoy Experiments!

i have beer ageing on oak (cubes ) for over a year. yes, being patient sucks.

I have a 1 gallon glass growler. I regularly have some oak chips sitting in there with various things. At the moment I have oak chips, vanilla beans, Licorice root and all soaking in brandy!

In fact I am tweaking my beer now!

our barrel project is approaching it's third year. today was the first tasting of a sample taken from the second batch ageing in the barrel since last March.

it's a dark brown ale at around 10%. we will be bottling in a week or two.

Shib,I see you have one of those shy hydros too! Always facing the wrong direction.