Aging in oak barrels?

I just aquired 2 13 gallon oak barrels that were used for wine. I want to brew something and put it in one. I was wondering is this feasable. And if so what style should I brew for this purpose. I brew all grain. Has anybody done this? What were your results ? I’m thinking something Belgian / sour. Any thoughts ? Or recipes? ingredients?

A sour is your ONLY option as you can never sanitize that wood again.

THere is a ton of good info on sour beers with a simple google search

A sour is not necessarily your only option. Our local homebrew club has 4 barrels (2 wine and 2 burbon) and we have done clean beers in them. One of the Burbon barrels we did Denny’s vanilla porter that turned out excellent and one of the wine barrels has a saison in it right now. The others we put bugs in on purpose. A Flanders Red and Burton with brett. That said if i had those barrels i would look and doing a Lambic in one and maybe a english BW with brett B in the other but i like sour/funky beers.

Shoulda posted this but if you want to view our clubs barrel recipes go here:

http://www.mountbaldybrewing.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=41

you got lucky, you have no idea what is in a barrel and have no way of sanitizing it. You also must have gotten it out of there and drank pretty quickly

Not at all. In fact the bourbon barrel we put the porter in took quite a bit of work and finesse to get it rehydrated again to hold liquid. It is now the burton barrel and we are about to drain it and the beer it has in it is possibly one of the best beers i have ever had. I’m giddy like a school girl to get my share. The wine barrels were empty for months.

Many brewies do oak age beers. Our local one does a great Weizenbock in bourbon barrels so your statement that sours are his only option really isn’t true. Sorry

[quote=“BothFeet”]Not at all. In fact the bourbon barrel we put the porter in took quite a bit of work and finesse to get it rehydrated again to hold liquid. It is now the burton barrel and we are about to drain it and the beer it has in it is possibly one of the best beers i have ever had. I’m giddy like a school girl to get my share. The wine barrels were empty for months.

Many brewies do oak age beers. Our local one does a great Weizenbock in bourbon barrels so your statement that sours are his only option really isn’t true. Sorry[/quote]

if there used for wine I wouldnt do anything but a sour with it or expect a high chance of a sour of doing a clean beer, especially if aging for a while. SOme bugs might not start working for a while.
But if your brewing that much beer and expecting something clean you are taking a chance.

How a lot of breweries do oak aged beers is different from brewery to brewery

I know it’s a pretty large batch but I want to take the challenge. Besides I like the funk of sour beers. I just want to make sure I have a good recipe to work wth also.

[quote=“bargerhillrd”]I know it’s a pretty large batch but I want to take the challenge. Besides I like the funk of sour beers. I just want to make sure I have a good recipe to work wth also.[/quote] I’ve done an Imperial Brown and Russian Imperial Stout with my club. The brown did go off slightly however we don’t know if that was from someones batch or the barrel. And it actually made for one darn good beer! The RIS is still sitting but last I heard it is doing well.

if your going sour route you shouldnt have to much to worry about.

CHeck out madfermentationist blog he has a lot of barrel recipes or the babble belt

You can treat spoilage in a barrel using a two step process of sodium carbonate then neutralizing it with a citric acid wash.
+1 to a RIS

I love Firestone Walker Union Jack, and I know they barrel age. They give malt/hop info on their website. One of the only beers I would try to clone. I would do ANYTHING but a sour, btw; from what I understand, once you go down that funky Belgian road, you’ve infected everything and can’t go back. Then again, I could excise the whole country and every perverted beer-ruining technique they’ve ever come up with, no problem. But that’s just me, with my functioning taste-buds.

The good thing is that I have 2 barrels. One to Funk up and the other not to.

I’ve got an 11gal sour barrel. I remove 3gal every six months or so and replace it with new beer. Its making a very nice Flanders red. I have been making different beers when I add just to adjust it and make something slightly different each time.