Aging in a barrel

I plan on brewing a porter soon and letting it age in a barrel I recently acquired until the fall. I plan on fermenting in my carboy and transferring it into the barrel after it's finished fermenting. When it comes time to transfer it to the barrel, what is the best way to sanitize the barrel? Should I just pour in some sanitizer and swish it around as I do with the carboy, or is there a better way. I don't need to worry about leaving headspace in the barrel, but will the barrel give me some sugars I need to worry about creating gasses, requiring an airlock, or can I just seal up barrel with the bung and let it rest?

I've never used a barrel before, so I'd like to figure out the best practices before I do this.

What kind of barrel is it and where did you get it? If its a barrel from a distillery the inside should be sanitized from the alcohol in it. If its a random barrel there's probably something living in the wood already. Also there's a ton of surface space in a barrel so it could get too oaky very quickly. So tasting it regularly is a good idea instead of just laying it down for months

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Jamil-Show/Wood-Aged-Beer-The-Jamil-Show-07-30-07. Here's a little info on wood aging beer

buzbey is right on, but to answer the airlock question, yes. You need to keep it under an airlock. Don't just seal up the barrel. There could be trapped gas, or the beer could start fermenting again and simply blow the bung off.

I figured with the airlock but wasn't certain. I obtained the barrel from a post on the vendor showcase ( https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/5-gallon-whiskey-barrels-stand-386723/ ). I didn't think about aging it in the barrel too long. I'd prefer to not transfer it too many times, just get it in the barrel and keep my eye on it for a while to let it become more delicious.

I got the exact same barrel and put some of my personal choice whiskey in it while the porter/stout was fermenting. Once fermentation was complete I drained the whiskey into a holding tank for the next soak, or leave it in, depending on how much whiskey flavor you want.

I let the first batch sit for 1 1/2 weeks and gave it a taste. It turned out to be the perfect amount that I wanted.

The 2nd batch I let sit for 2 weeks and then took a sample. The beer I had in it was a 10% Russian Imperial so I let it go another week, for a total of 3 weeks. The flavor wasn't as pronounced as the first batch, but the oak is still there.

I never used an airlock, just the bung that came with it topped to the brim with beer and whiskey.

Also, if you plan on bottling this batch after aging in the barrel, just know that it could take considerably longer to carbonate due to the spirit you used. If you're kegging it shouldn't be too big of an issue.

^^^ follow that schedule, a few months in that small of a barrel will taste like lumber

1.5-2 weeks in the barrel, then into bottles.. Then I'm going to have to hide them from myself until fall comes around. Thank you guys, for saving me from making liquid wood...


So, on sanitizing the barrel, just add some tasty whiskey to it for a bit before I add the brew, or swish around a little sanitizer before transferring? How much whiskey did you add to it anyways?