Rum Barrel recipe ideas?

Hello,

I recently bought a 5 gallon used rum barrel from Farmhouse Brewing Supply. I am trying to decide on what to fill it with first. I am tossing around a few ideas.
1. Pumpkin Ale-way out of season but sounds like it would be a great pairing for the rum flavors
2. EdWorts Robust Porter-I have made this before and it was fantastic. I am thinking of maybe swapping some of the 2 row for smoked malt (about 30% of the bill)
3. I remember seeing a bananas foster ale on here...that could be good but I don't really want to go to tertiary before getting a beer in it. I would rather fill it sooner than later.

Does anyone have any experience with a rum barrel? I only see a few commercial examples and they seem to be regional (Tampa, New York). Thank you for any input.

I would do something dark....like a Porter or imperial stout

I did a Dark Saison that I aged some dried cranberries that had soaked in spiced rum for 24 hours...one of the best beers I've made to date

Avery out of Colorado does an imperial pumpkin ale aged in rum barrels called Rumpkin. Supposed to be pretty good if not boozy at around 17%. I'd think the molasses/ sugar from the rum barrel would pair well with pumpkin or maybe an imperial stout. My 2 cents.
Cheers ! I hope it works out for you.

Check out Widmer Brothers Kill Devil brown ale.

Pumpkin.

Thanks for the input. I am going to go with an imperial pumpkin for the first brew.

Sounds great! Let us know how it turns out, maybe throw up your recipe/ process. I know I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Recipe is below. Sorry of it is jumbled. I created this in brewtarget and am unware of an easy text export. I copied the print preview. The recipe i based it off of is from someone on the board. I don't recall exacty who poasted it and when and am sorry I can't give due credit. I brewed a similar version with less 2 row, no cocoa, no molasses, and actual roasted pumpkin (here i used canned) last september and it was excellent. I wanted to amp this up so it would hold up the rum and oak. I am hoping that by Halloween the bottled finished product will have smoothed out a bit.

Pumpkin Ale (Barrel Aged) - American Brown Ale (10C)
Brewer Nobody
Date 05/3/13
Batch Size 5.001 gal Boil Size 5.724 gal
Boil Time 60.000 min Efficiency 65%
OG 1.077 FG 1.019
ABV 7.5% Bitterness 41.8 IBU (Tinseth)
Color 15.9 srm (Morey) Calories (per 12 oz.) 255
Fermentables

Total grain: 15.250 lb
Name Type Amount Mashed Late Yield Color
Briess - 2 Row Brewers Malt Grain 12.000 lb Yes No 80% 2.0 srm
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L Grain 16.000 oz Yes No 74% 40.0 srm
Brown Sugar, Light Sugar 8.000 oz No No 100% 8.0 srm
Caramunich Malt Grain 8.000 oz Yes No 72% 56.0 srm
Molasses Sugar 12.000 oz No No 78% 80.0 srm
Weyermann - Acidulated Malt Grain 8.000 oz Yes No 80% 3.2 srm
Hops

Name Alpha Amount Use Time Form IBU
Hallertau 4.5% 0.300 oz Boil 5.000 min Pellet 0.8
Magnum 14.7% 1.000 oz Boil 60.000 min Pellet 41.0
Misc

Name Type Use Amount Time
Pumpkin Other Mash 5.000 lb 0.000 s
Nutmeg Spice Boil 1.000 tsp 5.000 min
Cinnamon Spice Boil 1.000 tsp 5.000 min
Allspice Spice Boil 1.000 tsp 5.000 min
Cocoa (Unsweetened) Flavor Mash 3.000 oz 15.000 min
Yeast

Name Type Form Amount Stage
Safale S-05 Ale Dry 2.232 tsp Primary
Notes

Dont forget you wont just be getting rum flavor youll be getting a lot of oak as well.

I'd do a Vanilla Porter, a Hazenut brown, or a chocolate stout. All would be fantastic with oak and rum. A German Hefe might not be bad either.

Quick update. The beer went through primary for about 2 weeks then into the barrel. I pulled a sample after 2 days to see where it was at (the barrel was used only once) and it was hot. I let it go for another day then bottled. I treid one after about a month in the bottle and it showed some exceptional promise. I tried one at 6 weeks and it was great. It tastes exactly like I thought it would. Hard to describe but pumpkiny with a good hit of oak and rum. I went easy on the spice but there is a rum sweetness. By Fall this should be killer. I only wish I bottled it in standard bottles. I have only kegged for the last year so the only bottles I had saved were bombers or 750 ml.