Aging in whisky barrel

[GreenEnvy22]

I have a 2 L whiskey barrel, that currently has some cask strength bourbon whiskey in it.
I just finished Brewing a maple oatmeal stout, and I was thinking of aging a couple liters in that barrel, can then compare it side by side with the non-aged.

I know this is fairly common, but my question is, do I need to do any sanitizing of the barrel if I refill it immediately after draining the whiskey? The whiskey is just over 60%, so it should be pretty sterile in there.

 

[Punx Clever]

I have a 2 L whiskey barrel, that currently has some cask strength bourbon whiskey in it.
I just finished Brewing a maple oatmeal stout, and I was thinking of aging a couple liters in that barrel, can then compare it side by side with the non-aged.

I know this is fairly common, but my question is, do I need to do any sanitizing of the barrel if I refill it immediately after draining the whiskey? The whiskey is just over 60%, so it should be pretty sterile in there.

Hi there! I run my club's barrel aging program. We have two single-malt buffalo trace bourbon barrels, a local red-wine barrel, and a sour barrel. The bourbons and the sour are 55 gallons, the wine is 59.

When the bourbon barrels were new, they were shipped from KY to coastal VA. We filled them right away. No issues with unwanted organisms (sanitation) during that process. We are currently on the third batch of beer through each barrel.

Our standard procedure is to never leave the barrels empty. If you transfer in and out in the same session, you should be just fine across several batches.

The smaller barrels, like you have, will pick up oak and bourbon much faster than big barrels though. Our barrel beers get 3-4 months time, I'd bet yours would fall in the 1-2 week range before the oak is over-powering.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

Thanks Punx.
This mini barrel is on it's 2nd whisky in it right now. It had one in for almost 3 months when new (medium char), current one is about 4 months I think. I'll review the flavour weekly once it's in there and will then keg it in my mini 5L keg so we can compare side by side.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Is the barrel completely full of whiskey? One issue could be that if it was partially filled, the top staves could be dry(er) and potentially leak when liquid finally touches them (ie. a complete fill with your stout). But as Punx said, if volume and dry staves aren't an issue, you can just fill within a few days of emptying the whiskey.

Much longer and you'd be best served to do a hot water rinse to swell any dried staves and sanitize the interior surfaces of the wood. Also, a complete fill with stout would be ideal, as it would minimize the headspace. If you fill only half way, for example, you're more likely to expose your beer to a large amount of oxygen.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

Thanks, it's about 90% full now, and I rotate it every few weeks to try to keep all the staves wet. It will be getting a full filling of stout.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Perfect on both accounts. In that case, just empty then fill. You could do this a few days apart, but I wouldn't go beyond a week.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Not to discourage the use of real barrels, I'd love to have one myself, but aging in a fermenter with pieces of barrel wood offers a lot of control, convenience, and simplicity vs buying a real barrel. Also, it's easy to clean, sanitize and add char to tailor the resultant flavors, and when the beer has picked up enough barrel character it is a simple matter to remove the wood. Just my two cents.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

Not to discourage the use of real barrels, I'd love to have one myself, but aging in a fermenter with pieces of barrel wood offers a lot of control, convenience, and simplicity vs buying a real barrel. Also, it's easy to clean, sanitize and add char to tailor the resultant flavors, and when the beer has picked up enough barrel character it is a simple matter to remove the wood. Just my two cents.

Agreed on all counts. I just have these barrels onhand and they are nearing the end of their useful life for aging whisky.
Most of the whisky aging in my cellar is using cut up barrel staves I rechar.

 

[GreenEnvy22]

I kegged the beer today and put 2L into the barrel, will see how it turns out.
The whisky that came out is delicious btw.