7 replies to this topic

[HVB]

I want to start a few sours going and barrel age these. Now I know typically you would use old wine barrels for this but could it be done with old whiskey barrels? I have a place that I can get smaller sized used whiskey barrels. I know that characters is not typical for sours so I am wonder if there is a way to get that flavor out of the barrels. Would a sulfur-citric solution work to get rid of the whiskey character and leave these barrels pretty neutral for sours or would it be better to just find some small wine barrels?

[MtnBrewer]

I've been trying to make this same decision too. There's a distillery up in Denver called Stranahan's and they sell their used barrels for a pretty reasonable price. So I was thinking about getting one and doing a sour. But I'm worried about the whiskey taste. I like whiskey and I like beer but I don't like whiskey in my sour beers. I've pretty much decided to try to hold out for a wine barrel.The other thing I heard that scares me a little is that some brewers were telling me last week that a barrel with Brett, Lacto, Pedio and whatever else is in there will eventually contaminate any other barrels you have through the air. It sounds pretty farfetched to me but I admit its possible.

[strangebrewer]

If you can get smaller barrels i say age stuff in them until they are neutral, then start the brett, pedio, lacto love fest. If you want some oak character throw in some cubes. Really the benefit of the barrel is the O2 diffusion, concentration effect, and the barrel be the source of inoculation.

The other thing I heard that scares me a little is that some brewers were telling me last week that a barrel with Brett, Lacto, Pedio and whatever else is in there will eventually contaminate any other barrels you have through the air. It sounds pretty farfetched to me but I admit its possible.

Next thing you know the pedio will be living inside your head rent free 24x7. Spontaneous barrel cross contamination does sound far fetched but bugs are much tougher than yeast. I have Flanders, lambic's, regular beers, mead, and wine all going in the same room for nearly 2 years now with no cross contamination. However they are all in glass. Let me do some homework on barrel cross contamination and I'll get back to you. This is of interest to me as i'm planning a sizeable investment into a handful of 12-13gallon barrels for wine in the near future.

[EWW]

FWIW smaller barrels will give you more O2 then you really need - raj has a good write up on it

[HVB]

FWIW smaller barrels will give you more O2 then you really need - raj has a good write up on it

I new the o2 level would be more but I have to go and track down his writeup and take a look at it.

[Winkydowbrewing]

Wasnt there some talk in Wild Brews regarding the use of whiskey barrels, I dont think it was a whole lot and cant recall if it was directly related to sour beers, or just using them for some beers in general...i guess what i am getting at is that i have no important information and just wanted to give my fingers a work out...but, i will check and post again should i find something.

[EWW]

I new the o2 level would be more but I have to go and track down his writeup and take a look at it.

Raj's websitethe chart I was actually thinking of is on p. 197 of wild brews.300L/79.2g wine barrel - 8.5 o2 cc/L/yr40L/10.6g hb barrel - 23 o2 cc/L/yrthe rodebach tuns range from .53-.86 o2 cc/L/yr for perspectiveraj's site has the #s for plastic etc

Edited by ewanzel, 01 August 2009 - 09:04 AM.

[brewhead]

several baths of sulfer-citric will diminish the whiskey but i've found after doing several barrel projects, the whiskey is embedded and very difficult to extract entirely. additionally, small barrels tend to give up their oak flavor faster than large ones...so be mindful of that