I just ordered a freshly dumped 8 gallon whiskey barrel from Woodinville Whiskey. What is the best short term storage method? Short term being no more than 2 months at most.
Filled with beer
Great info can be found here
http://www.milkthefunk.com/wiki/Barrel
Used one for a couple batches some years ago - worked well. Now it’s a nice end table. Agreed - best to keep it filled for storage.
Yes, obviously filled with beer. A 9% RIS as soon as I make it which will be this weekend. Unfortunately it won’t go into barrel for at least 30 days after primary. So again I ask, How would one store for the short term?
Follow the link to the Milk the Funk article. There is a section there covering this. Storage solution with take with it some of the whisky flavor, but as would the water required to swell the barrel.
Fill it with whiskey?
Leave it dry. 3-5 days before you’re ready to fill it, rehydrate it with hot water. That’s what I do if I were in your position. Why do you need to wait 30 days after primary though?
Thanks for info. Thats basically what I am going to do after much research. As far as waiting 30 days after primary, I want beer to fully ferment out and settle a great deal before going into barrel so as keep as much stuff out of barrel because i will have a second batch of beer ready to barrel. Maybe I’m wrong about that but also first time barrel aging.
Update if anyone has interest. I originally asked how to store a recently dumped 8 gallon whiskey barrel. I covered it with a dark plastic bag and put in my basement. The temp is about 65* and the relative humidity is 45 to 50%.I fermented my RIS out to two weeks. Instead of a secondary in glass I will just rack to the barrel. To check for leaks on the barrel I filled with distilled water and let sit for 8 hours w/o a drop of water leaking out. I don’t think I will do that the next time I purchase a barrel as long as it was freshly dumped as stated by distillery. I will let sit in barrel for thirty days then sample for taste and aroma.
Have not used a barrel yet myself, but have read a lot about them on here, so a couple points to mention:
- Smaller volume equals greater contact surface area to volume ratio, reducing necessary time to flavor your beer. You may want to check sooner than one month
- Make sure you are filling the barrel with 8 gallons, you want as little head space oxygen in there staling your beer as possible
If you already have these items planned, I apologize for guessing on the process. Really just wanted to make sure you were not putting 5 gallons into your newly dumped 8 gallon barrel
*UPDATE: RIS has now been in the barrel for 2 months. I made 2 stainless steel sampling ports from 3/16" rod. One for barrel head (sample tap) and one for stave (vent). I must say I was anxious while drilling the holes but you can’t make an omelette w/o breaking a few eggs. Anywho, the beer is evolving greatly. Good oak character, not to much oak at least as far as I can taste. It has a good aroma from the rye whiskey and the taste might be a bit more whiskey than I want but hopefully it will tame. As I was told early on that I should only barrel age for 1 month or too much barrel character will come through. I’m going to let age at least 1 more month, taste and decide if more time is warranted.
Once the whiskey is there it’s there. If you feel like it has too much whiskey now then it’s not going to get better by leaving the beer in there longer.
Can always blend it if the whisky character is too much.
So today I took the bung out. I really hated to do that but obviously it needed done to check on evaporation and topping up. Added 1-1/2 quarts of same beer Ive been keeping in a few growlers with airlock. So with 2 months aging and 1-1/2 quarts to the devils share I’m going to let it go at least another month and probably more like 2 before I decide to keg. I also didn’t notice any sign of a pellicle. Any thoughts on that are appreciated.
Our thoughts are irrelevant, who does it taste?