Group Brew - Oak Barrel

[n87]

Hi All,

A great suggestion was made by our very own Mr Wibble to brew an Imperial Porter and age in a rum barrel.

While the beer style and barrel type should be up for discussion, the general idea has merit and already a bit of a following from our group brew by correspondence thread.
Yogi Beer has mentioned that he may have a contact to get a Larks (Tasmanian Whisky) barrel at some stage.
By my calculations, we should be able to get 9 or 10 batches out of a barrel (~220L)

This is likely to be a long lead up, and there are quite a few things to be considered:
Where to brew ~200L of wort - Duane's system is the only one I can think of that may be big enough, or do we all brew smaller batches and combine them?
Where to store a barrel - Someone with a sizable shed or cellar will have to donate some space would be my guess
What to brew - Something big, and likely dark
What barrel - This will likely be a little less of a choice, and more of a get what we can when it comes up
How to package - BYO packaging? I like the idea of getting enough (champagne?) bottles and label them for the whole batch, makes it a little more special and 'worth the wait'
How much per share - This will likely be dictated by the amount of participants, but I would think 24x750ml would be a minimum, with some going to the barrel host and Duane if we use his system


Discuss!

 

[Dubzie]

Yes please!
I could clear a spot in my garage which stays fairly cool during summer.
if we do split batch sizes, i can do 60L-70L batch's in my rig and is quite portable (except the pully system)

 

[silvana]

The barrels I mentioned in the other thread were 100L and about $400 (delivered to Golburn) another option is
http://www.rolloutthebarrel.com.au/products.html

 

[n87]

hmmm... 100L would be easier to brew, but would (of course) limit the total output (~120 longnecks)

I guess it just depends on how many people are really interested, and how much beer each of us wants.
300 between 10 is much cheaper than 400 between 5

Much to discuss

 

[mr_wibble]

I emailed Bundaberg Rum Co. today to see if they sell used barrels.
Not really expecting much of a response though.

Someone was selling 1/2 and intact wine barrels near a local intersection recently.
Full barrel was ~$200.

Previously some club members did this project with a wine barrel. I quite liked the result.

 

[n87]

Provided they are sound, hold liquid and aren't too manky, a great deal
Any chance at getting the details?

 

[mr_wibble]

If I see the guy at the intersection with wine barrels again I'll stop and talk to him.
If I get a response from Bundaberg Co (etc.) I'll post here.

-kt

 

[RoundOak]

I'm bringing in a container load of 210 freshly dumped JD barrels in February - they are 200L capacity. I can swap some of the JD for 1st fill Woodford Reserve/2nd fill Early Times in the same load.

I should also have some Lark barrels (100L) in the new year.

Stock will be in Adelaide but I ship everywhere...

GL

 

[mr_wibble]

In November 2016 edition of BYO Magazine there was a recipe for a coconut porter in a similar vein to what Maui(?) Brewery makes.

Over xmas I used that porter recipe to make a double-batch into 2x kegs.

One keg got a pack of oak chips that had been soaking in dark rum for a couple of months.
The other keg got a 1/2 kilo of toasted desiccated coconut (as per the recipe, they added in-secondary)

The rum chips were quite noticeable after 48 hours. So I pulled them out.

The coconut... geeze!
I gave Missus Wibble a taster after 48 hours, said she could neither smell nor taste anything (I never told her it was the coconut one) To me it was like being smacked into the side of the head with a coconut.
Two days later same response from bother her, and my father.
The next day (so 5 days), gave it it my Mother... (paraphrasing) "OMG it's so coconutty."
Pulled the dry-coconut bag.

I think it's just the coconut solids at the bottom of the keg, but it's kind of coconut-creamy at the moment. I'm waiting for the underlying porter to get some age on it before doing a serious taste-test.

The takeaway messages:
Some people can't taste coconut.
Rum-oak porter takes up rum-oak flavour very f(n) quickly.

 

[mr_wibble]

If I see the guy at the intersection with wine barrels again I'll stop and talk to him.
If I get a response from Bundaberg Co (etc.) I'll post here.

-kt

I think I emailed the response to the CCCB mailing list, but just for the record:
Bundaberg Rum forwarded me to their cooper (maker of barrels).
Maybe I didn't explain myself properly in the initial contact email.

The cooper was more than happy to sell me a new barrel, but they said they never handled used ones at all.
From memory, new barrels were about $400-$500 (very ish, I don't remember).

 

[fungrel]

The takeaway messages:
Some people can't taste coconut.
Rum-oak porter takes up rum-oak flavour very f(n) quickly.

I made the mistake of oaking beer while i carbonated it, thinking that it would be a while before i had to transfer the beer off the wood. Nope.

 

[n87]

Fungrel, were you using chips?
Apparently the surface area has alot to do with it (makes sense)

 

[fungrel]

Nope. Boiled staves. Even then, 3 weeks to an almost overly-saturated flavour. Can't imagine how quickly chips could impart the same flavour, perhaps a few days??