I've recently been given the okay by SWMBO to get a barrel for sours. I've found a 10 gallon whiskey barrel and after emailing with the distillers, it's definitely a fresh one emptied earlier this week.
With this being a whiskey barrel opposed to wine, i'm guessing i'd have to do a few clean batches (porter, stout, wee heavy, barley wine, etc) to knock out the whiskey flavor before inoculating the barrel with bugs.
And as this is a 10 gallon as opposed to 5 gallon, i'm a little less worried about oxidation and aceto especially if I wax 50-75% of the staves.
I was just wondering folks thoughts on my line of reasoning and if anyone else has found success with whiskey barrels for sours.
Thanks!
With this being a whiskey barrel opposed to wine, i'm guessing i'd have to do a few clean batches (porter, stout, wee heavy, barley wine, etc) to knock out the whiskey flavor before inoculating the barrel with bugs.
And as this is a 10 gallon as opposed to 5 gallon, i'm a little less worried about oxidation and aceto especially if I wax 50-75% of the staves.
I was just wondering folks thoughts on my line of reasoning and if anyone else has found success with whiskey barrels for sours.
Thanks!