Conditioning Wood Casks For Beer

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I have just purchased two unused casks.1x 50 liter oak barrel and 1x 100 liter acascia barrel.Im am looking for someone that has had some knowledge on how to prepare these barrels for use for beer.I have just started to prepare them with H2O.The acasia has sealed well the oak has taken a sh..t load so far and refuses to seal at this stage.I guess its just the resin in the oak will take time to hydrate.So if you have some expierence with this stuff please put a post in.Any link you may have would be appreciated.Tried doing a search but couldnt find what Im after.There must be some English folk out there that know what to do.
Cheers Gryphon Brewing

 

[Screwtop]

A lot more experience available on AHB than what I have to offer, but from experience oak can take a sh_t load of liquid. Once I ran (before drought and water restrictions) a hose into an American White Oak barrel for 3 days to get it to take up. Have heard that American is no good for beer, adds too much character, don't know about French or English. Am not a great fan of too much French oak in some wines, depending upon grape variety and style so I don't think I'd ever use it for ageing beer. Old oak might be another subject depending upon beer style, and if long term storage was what you are wanting then there is the advantage of low/slow oxygenation. For short term cask conditioning then I don't think that the type or age of the oak would contribute much, it would probably be more beneficial to store in SS. Simply my 2c worth.

Cheers,
Screwy

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

A lot more experience available on AHB than what I have to offer, but from experience oak can take a sh_t load of liquid. Once I ran (before drought and water restrictions) a hose into an American White Oak barrel for 3 days to get it to take up. Have heard that American is no good for beer, adds too much character, don't know about French or English. Am not a great fan of too much French oak in some wines, depending upon grape variety and style so I don't think I'd ever use it for ageing beer. Old oak might be another subject depending upon beer style, and if long term storage was what you are wanting then there is the advantage of low/slow oxygenation. For short term cask conditioning then I don't think that the type or age of the oak would contribute much, it would probably be more beneficial to store in SS. Simply my 2c worth.

Cheers,
Screwy

Thanks Screwy
The casks are really just for a bit of serving bling on special occassions not for long term storage.I intend to ferment in stainless and the transfer to cask and prime then serve and drink in 3-4 days. I just dont know how to prepare the casks and clean after etc.Both the casks are Euro (Croatia produced) woods.Apprantley the acasia wood doesnt have any tannins like oak so this would be my first choice but the bugger is 100 liters.
Gryphon Brewing

 

[Doc]

From memory the barrel that Mark got for the HAG Baltic Porter project was already wet, so it was a case of cleaning more than anything else.
If you barrel has been dry for sometime, then it may take a week + until it has fully expanded.
As for cleaning I believe Mark put a number of rinses of boiling water through it, then put hot steam into it for many hours.

Doc

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

I'm sure the wild brewers of WCB would be interested in these as far as lambics are concerned.
Are you serving English ales from them ?, Gravity or engine?

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I'm sure the wild brewers of WCB would be interested in these as far as lambics are concerned.
Are you serving English ales from them ?, Gravity or engine?

Vlad ,I will be going Gravity as I dont have a hand pump.I managed to score an original brass antique tap off ebay and not the crap wooden things the casks came with.Planing to do English Ales with about 4% ABV but high IBUs so that should keep those lambic things away.
Doc ,how the hell do you create enough steam to sanitise a 100 liter keg? There is a train museum down the road maybe I will wait for the smell of burning coal.
Gryphon brewing

 

[willanth]

I've been looking into the idea of using oak casks to age an IPA that I'm working on. It sounds like it would be quite an undertaking to sanitize one. It's still something I would like to take a swing at, as I'm producing approximately 70 liter batches and it would be easy as to step up to 100.

Can anyone recommend a place to purchase casks?

Cheers,
Will

 

[tk75]

G'day guys...



Gryphon Brewing, great to see you are going to use oak casks...I have wanted to do this myself, eventually I will, just a matter of time, equipment and $$$.



Firstly buying a new cask for your intended purpose is going to take a lot more time in preparing the cask for use, i.e. Seasoning the cask and Cleaning. Neither is really a hassle but just time consuming. You will end up with more 'vanilla' flavours and slightly more woody tones but as you are only having the brew in the cask for a matter of days, you won't really extract that much from the oak to worry about overly strong tannins or woody flavours.



If you were to go for a freshly emptied cask, then it's only the cleaning you have to consider and the best place to get advice on the cleaning process is to ask a winery. Sulphur is the main substance which is used to clean/sanitise oak casks, however steam is becoming more widely used as it is less toxic.



I have small oak barrels for which I re-barrel ports and spirits...haven't needed to clean them yet(the alcohol keeps them sanitised) but when it comes time to clean the barrels, I am looking at making a fitting/extension to put on to the steamer on my coffee machine. I know this would be a little ambitious to clean a 100L+ barrel but maybe someone here knows of how to make a 'steam cleaner'...



:beer:

 

[Asher]

GB

Here's a couple of links with some info on new oak barrel preps.
There is a good section in Wildbrews on this subject as well from memory....

http://hbd.org/brewery/library/OakBarrelExp.html

http://hbd.org/brewery/library/LmbicJL0696.html#Oak

BTW - When they pick up enough brett that they are no longer usefull for cask ales, I'll gladly thake them of your hands to fill full of the Juncthouse pLambic :beerbang:

Cheers

Asher

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

I've been looking into the idea of using oak casks to age an IPA that I'm working on. It sounds like it would be quite an undertaking to sanitize one. It's still something I would like to take a swing at, as I'm producing approximately 70 liter batches and it would be easy as to step up to 100.

Can anyone recommend a place to purchase casks?

Cheers,
Will

Will
look for your local winery and ask them where they get their casks.There are still a few (coopers?) around these days which is mainly due to the wine makers.You didnt mention your location.
Gryphon Brewing

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

GB

Here's a couple of links with some info on new oak barrel preps.
There is a good section in Wildbrews on this subject as well from memory....

http://hbd.org/brewery/library/OakBarrelExp.html

http://hbd.org/brewery/library/LmbicJL0696.html#Oak

BTW - When they pick up enough brett that they are no longer usefull for cask ales, I'll gladly thake them of your hands to fill full of the Juncthouse pLambic :beerbang:

Cheers

Asher

I had a look at the links and its good info.Its been 24 hours now of pouring H20 into the 50 L oak cask and it just is not slowing the flow down.It resembles more or a Tea stainer than a cask.I think it will be going back for exchange.There seems to be 2 major faults in the staves.The 100 liter acacia cask has sealed up without any major dramas.
Gryphon brewing

 

[Asher]

Liddil recons it can take from 3 to 5 days!

Just set up some sort of recirculation system and sit it outside your brewshed as a one weekend water feature...

Are we going to see them for sale at gryphon brewing dot com anytime soon?

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Liddil recons it can take from 3 to 5 days!

Just set up some sort of recirculation system and sit it outside your brewshed as a one weekend water feature...

Are we going to see them for sale at gryphon brewing dot com anytime soon?

On sale at [email protected] maybe.Im just working on putting the whole barrel in a big tub and immersing the whole thing so I can attack from the inside and outside and stop wasting water.I mean this cask is really leaking.1 of the staves has a knot hole with a crack running through it and I dont think this will self seal.Off to drown the Basta.d.