Rebellious Lambic - AKA Old English October Beer...

[mr hoppy]

The second link in reply 26 has some interesting information on how to manage the barrel between fills.

[LordEoin]

There might be an obvious answer to this that I'm just missing, but...
Who's going to drink 225liters of Lambic? That's about 18 Slabs.
Why not just stick with the current barrell, bang on a crowd pleasing session beer and have a party?
Sam's IPA should have freshened up the barrel a bit if anything.

[mr hoppy]

*Flanders red is theoretically a better match but having tasted Rodenbach it's going to be an oud bruin.

Heresy!

@Lord Eoin - barrels aren't really ideal for session strength beers because even when they are very thoroughly cleaned they will harbour bugs that will screw up a party beer - brett can penetrate quite a distance into wood. That's why they tend to get used for dark stronger brews (which can withstand the bugs and are ideal for aging) or sours to which bugs make a positive contribution.

Having said that, whatever goes in the barrel has to work for everyone involved.

[mr hoppy]

Anyone tried the Oaked Arrogant Bastard from Bradleys?

Have the recipe. Might be a good crowd pleaser to keep the barrel tipping over.

[LordEoin]

have you tried the recipe? there's a lot of mutton dressed as lamb in the online recipe world.

How about we get all the suggestions together, then put it to a poll?

Personally, I'd prefer to keep the current barrel in circulation for as long as is viable, spreading its seed across cork (like so many of us have over the years) leaving a legacy until there inevitably  comes a time when it just needs to be shot and burned.

So far the suggestions are: (and excuse me if i missed any)

• Rodenbach (mr happy)
  
• some sort of easy drinking party beer(lordeoin)
  
• Oaked Arrogant Bastard(johnrm)
  
  Any more suggestions?

[Taf]

Bacon!

[mr hoppy]

have you tried the recipe? there's a lot of mutton dressed as lamb in the online recipe world.

How about we get all the suggestions together, then put it to a poll?

Personally, I'd prefer to keep the current barrel in circulation for as long as is viable, spreading its seed across cork (like so many of us have over the years) leaving a legacy until there inevitably  comes a time when it just needs to be shot and burned.

So far the suggestions are: (and excuse me if i missed any)

• Rodenbach (mr happy)
  
• some sort of easy drinking party beer(lordeoin)
  
• Oaked Arrogant Bastard(johnrm)
  
  Any more suggestions?
  

Erm, I suggested the Arrogant Bastard as well, Ferro ferk's sake! Reason being I think it's as close to "some sort of easy drinking party beer" as you can do in a barrel.

I got the recipe from Mitch Steele's IPA book. Mitch is the head brewer at Stone so I'd say he knows what their recipes are! Sorry if that comes off a bit stroppy, I'm on to the Bink Tripel now. 

For me, the endgame is a sour, but like eoin says lets keep it going one way or the other!

[mr hoppy]

Traquair House Jacobite Ale (also available in Bradleys!) is another awesome, inspirational and generally appealing oak barrel aged ale. (Less hoppy than Arrogant Bastard though).

[mr hoppy]

One last (marginally insane) suggestion:

Pilsener Urquell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhI06uGzQzM

The reasons it's marginally insane is

1 - we'd have to coat the inside of the barrel with pine sap

2 - and wrap the barrel in metal tubing that can carry glycol so that it can be lagered outside a fridge:

http://byo.com/brown-ale/item/1877-build-your-own-glycol-fermenter

Anyone else got any ideas?

[Will_D]

The world is a poorer place without Michael!

Regards the questions:

The oak lager barrels (not shown in Vid and more used in Pilsn than Bud..) are lined with pitch IIRC as pine sap would certainly flavour the lagers!

If you want to wrap a cask in a cooling jackect just use regular PVC or PP Beer/gas line. If you can source a pub beer chiller with the "Python - Glycol" option then thats all you need else you need a freezer with another coil of pipe inside it and a pump. Fill the with the system with Anti freeze and Bob never touched the Fanny of yer Aunty!

If you don't like glycol use brine but check your pump spec.

$2000 he reckoned on the build!! Obviously no Welsh genes there BaaaHaa!

[mr hoppy]

You're right Will - it's pitch, though I thought the pitch in Plzen was made from pine sap.

If there's no barrels in part 1 they are in part 2 or 3.

I must re-read your suggestion about brine in the morning, sounds very interesting.

[johnrm]

Wakey wakey.

Barrel condition and availability TBC
Style and Recipe TBC.

Difficult to pick out something that you want oak and poss Whiskey in other than a stout.
I like Ambers.
Fat Tyre clone?...
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/607/

Need 10 x 23l batches to fill 225l barrel

1. johnrm
2.
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8.
9.
10. johnrm (2nd batch if short bodies)

[Taf]

I'd be hoping that most of the whiskey is gone out of the barrel at this point, after the black IPA, and it will probably have water in it for a while after that. I'd be up for refilling again, but what about something funky like one of  Mr Happy's Gose's or something with a bit of brett in it, along the lines of Orval, as really not into the standard Belgium beers?

[Garry]

This is probably a boring suggestion but what about an old English October beer? It could be just a SM&SH of ale malt and maybe EKG? High OG obviously and dry hop in the barrel for a year or two? We wouldn't be worried about too much whiskey in the beer since this is probably gone now.

These beers would traditionally have been brewed to celebrate the arrival of a newborn. I can count 5 rebel babys born in the last 12 months. All boys if I remember correctly? There may be more?

Let it age for 18 years, imagine tasting it in 2032 with our sons

[Taf]

Sounds like an interesting one alright. Lets get a few more suggestions, and then put it to a vote.