Barrel Aging

[yourlastchance89]

So I got this for Christmas. It’s an unused 20 L American White Oak barrel. I was wanting to use it for lambics, but it has been suggested that I age a few beers inside it first to extract some of the oak character from it so it doesn’t overpower the beer. I was curious as to what styles are best. I have an American Light Lager (4.9% ABV) lagering right now I thought about transferring in it for a few days and I also have a Belgian Tripel (8.5% ABV) fermenting also. Would any of these work? If not what would you use in my shoes?

EDIT If this thread is in the incorrect category moderators please feel free to move it

 

[friarsmith]

Perhaps buy a commercial Tripel and American Lager, pour them in sealed jars with an oak chip, and taste in 2-3 days. Might be interesting. You never know.

For a quick turnaround beer to fill up that barrel, amber ales and stouts are nice with oak. I had an oak barrel rye APA a few weeks back from another home brewer that was really nice. It was somewhere between an APA and American Amber in terms of color, malt and hops. A barrel aged English IPA might be nice too.

For a longer commitment in the barrel, Russian Imperial Stouts, barleywines and Belgian Quads are great on oak.