http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1354454748
Any interest in this lads?
It'd be a pretty cool project if we could get our hands on a barrel
Thought about it before alright! Think I should step up to all grain first though to make sure I get the best from it!
Excellent idea! I've been thinking about this for a while. An imperial stout is the obvious choice...
Do you know where to get hold of a barrel Kev?
No, but hopefully somebody on here can point us in the right direction if they go ahead with a similar project in Dublin
Sounds good - count me in!
QuoteThought about it before alright! Think I should step up to all grain first though to make sure I get the best from it!
The only all-grain I've done was a Brew-In-A-Bag. But we don't need to go All-grain, it might be a more accessible project if we run with an extract recipe?
Tom here. Im new on the forum. Been brewing for a while - mostly kits but am doing AG now too. Im in Galway city.
Id love to be involved in this. Ive a 200 litre Jameson barrel which I bought for a similar project. From what Ive been reading though it sounds like you have to fill it as all the empty space/air isnt the best for the brew. Thats a lot of beer to make :)
Hi Tom,
That'd be fantastic if we could all chip in and do it in your barrel?
I dunno would we all need to do the same recipe? or different variations for extract, all grain etc
QuoteTom here. Im new on the forum. Been brewing for a while - mostly kits but am doing AG now too. Im in Galway city.
Id love to be involved in this. Ive a 200 litre Jameson barrel which I bought for a similar project. From what Ive been reading though it sounds like you have to fill it as all the empty space/air isnt the best for the brew. Thats a lot of beer to make :)
Welcome aboard Tom.
If you have a 200 L Jamie barrel then beware!! count yer fingers and hands They'll be snatched away!
Is the barrel still wet? Its important not to let them dry out.
If they do, they need to be resoaked with a sanitary liquid to swell the staves and render then tight again.
Now if you in the Galway group are seriously thinking of brewing 200 L of a particular beer ( Stout is recommended ) then investing 40€ or so in a couple of bottles of Jamies would not go amiss on the finacial spread sheet!!
Merry Christmas
Will
Im in if ye are :)
@Will - I have the barrel soaking at present as it was dry when I got it (One of the hoops was loose). Stout Fellow also said a steamer would be a good idea to make it expand. It was crying a few tears when I left it yesterday but it should expand back to a water tight state. Il just need to top it up with whatever water its lost when I get back after xmas. It smells pretty good but no harm in soaking it again in a fresh batch of Jameson.
@Kev Id be hoping others would suggest a recipe as Im still very new to AG. Im just copying recipes I see online. Id also like to get a few more brew days under my belt as Id hate to be the one to let down the whole project with a sub par OG.
Something to look forward to anyway! Cant wait.
He He He or should it be Ho Ho Ho??
TF that this won't be ready for the competition of competitions ( this year any ways )!!
Next year I probably won't bother entering the "stout aged in an auld whisky barrel sub-category"
Not sure when the January meeting will be Tom, but if you are about and agreeable Im sure there would be a lot of interest in this
Hi Tom. I would love to get in on this project. We agreed at the last meeting that Fridays suited more people for meetings, that would mean Jan 25th for the next meeting. That said, we could always meet sooner to discuss options. I don't think that filling the barrel would be a problem; 5 or more brewers could easily do it and as Will said you will have no problem finding willing brewers in Galway! Keep us posted ;)
Hi guys, I could donate a batch from my small boiler to this cause aswell. A lot of logistics to work out though.
This growing a set of legs of its own!
We'll have to thrash this one out at the next meet!
Great stuff. See ye on the 25th!
This project is looking promising - thanks Tom for the offer of a barrel!
QuoteWe agreed at the last meeting that Fridays suited more people for meetings, that would mean Jan 25th for the next meeting.
This is great news - I wasn't able to make Wednesdays and I know a couple of others in the same boat :)
Fridays are good for post meet pints too :)
No worries with the barrel. I saw it on donedeal & was in the area so couldnt say no. Only after did I do some reading & see Id need to fill it. So a group brew is perfect.
Any suggestions on a Imperial Stout recipe for AG & Extract?
I filled the barrel today with the run off from my wort chiller. Chucked some sanitizer in there for good measure. Its full now & water tight.
(http://i.imgur.com/4Mcyfl.jpg)
What size is it?
200 litres :o
Suggest bringing a few recipes to the next meeting for review...
Just to be clear:
The idea of a barrel aged beer is to:
1. Get hold of a fresh oak barrel that has contained something nice (wine/whiskey/port/rum/molasses)
2. Fill it up with a full bodied beer ( Means Stout or Porter )
3. Mature and then bottle/keg/cask it
It does NOT mean getting hold of any OLD barrel of unknown provinance and filling it with 200 L of decent HB
Will
This barrel is defo not fresh but it does smell of whiskey. Its water tight also & in good shape. Once its sanitized with starsan & gets a good soaking in jameson it'll surely be good to age some imperial stout no?
Mmmm... Starsan infused Stout!
QuoteMmmm... Starsan infused Stout!
Starsan ferments out!!
Meh. I don't use starsan. Maybe I should start.
Waiting for feedback on my Gallon of Amphoclen...
I was reading up about that stuff don't allow dry on soft metals aluminium tin or copper!!
First sanitation I bet you lose your fingerprints ;D
Ive used VWP up until now. But every video I see the host is using starsan so it must do the job well. Il have a 32oz bottle arriving tomorrow from HBC. I guess thats one less (very important) variable to worry about. Dont fear the foam haha
QuoteIve used VWP up until now. But every video I see the host is using starsan so it must do the job well. Il have a 32oz bottle arriving tomorrow from HBC. I guess thats one less (very important) variable to worry about. Dont fear the foam haha
Vwp for cleaning and sterilising Rinsing
Star San for Sterilising only No Rinsing
I've never used a wooden barrel but I've read that they are sanitised by burning a sulphur strip in them. Got to be careful there's no alcohol vapours left in the barrel though as they could explode.
Speaking of explosions, StarSan is the bomb for sanitising the rest of your gear. Be careful not to leave it in contact with plated metals for too long though. It completely stripped the nickel plating off the brass shanks on my kegerator. Took me weeks to figure out what the off flavour was in my draught beers.
ditto for your chiller, water is best
QuoteI've never used a wooden barrel but I've read that they are sanitised by burning a sulphur strip in them.
Maybe a hundred years ago!!
Just make up a solution of campden tablets ( say about 6 to a couple of litres of warm water and give it a good rolling around. You could always fill it with diluted starsan and steep it for 5 mins.
To get crud out of corners eityer us a pressure washer/garden hose or throw in a couple of metres of brass or stainles chain a swirl around with a cleaner of choice.
If you use VWP ( I wouldn't ) then you will have to rinse with campden tabs to get the smell of the chlorine out.!
Better to use on of the Oxy-cleaners like W-5 "Stain Remover" from Lidl ( Contains Sodium perCarbonate )
For long term storage ( not full of beer/wine ) campden tabs or sodium meta-bisulphite solution ( whats in CTs ) and keep them topped up
We have those sulphur strips for sterilizing wooden barrels, so keep it authentic! Call into the shop and pick some up for free. Just tell the lads about the project and offer them a pint from it.
Regardless of how you clean and sterilize it, you just have to use a sulphur stick in a big wooden barrel before you fill it!
Might grab a sulphur stick off you tomorrow if thats okay? Thanks a million for that.
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1364024299
For your perusal lads
We should go in on that barrel group buy. A fresh barrel for less that the cost of buying whiskey to re-wet my one. Plus its coming from .. & not some guy on done deal. Makes sense. What ye reckon?
QuoteWe should go in on that barrel group buy. A fresh barrel for less that the cost of buying whiskey to re-wet my one. Plus its coming from XXXXXXXX & not some guy on done deal. Makes sense. What ye reckon?
Sounds good to me, a fresh barrel from the distiller should have a decent waft of whiskey from it! Easier than re-soaking your one Tom
Haven't been around much the last while, but I'll definitely chip in for a new barrel too
QuoteA fresh barrel for less that the cost of buying whiskey to re-wet my one. Plus its coming from .. & not some guy on done deal.
Makes sense to me, good call.
Just throwing my name in the hat here too, sounds cool, id bunce in on the barrel and be well into doin an extract brew towards it...
just to clarify, is it definately an imperial stout planned? I know its a bit trendy at the moment but would chocolate flavours be welcome?
are we all doing the same recipe?
has one been decided?
Great Mick. Nothing planned yet but we should defo discuss it properly at the next meeting.
cool man, I might post a few recipe's or bring some into the next meet up so we could see about picking one, or checking compatability with each other etc...
Count me in.
Most of us have their brews fermenting. If you have some brew day pics or fermenting beast pics post them.
I got to use my hop rocket for the first time & I also made the coffee can housing for my solar pump (thanks st.fursey)
I still need to get my sparge speed dialed in with the pump & my taps as I sparged too quick this brew. Practice makes perfect.
First time using a plate chiller (thanks barkar) I didnt whirlpool for long enough & got about an inch of cold break in the fermentor.
Should be grand though.
(http://i.imgur.com/O7799yfl.jpg)
http://imgur.com/O7799yf
I meant to take a picture of my mashtun almost overflowing but got distracted with making a new fermenter kettle. Of course I didn't take pictures of that either! Boil-off from the new kettle was quite low and slow to get a rolling boil, going to need to insulate it before the next day.
That's some impressive krausen there Tom!
Quote from: eanna on May 07, 2013, 12:50:48 PM
That's some impressive krausen there Tom!
(http://images2.fanpop.com/images/answers/1000/1170_1236646826720_400_289.jpg)
hey look at that... I'm guessing I now know what a thrumometer is. :)
very nice... It did cross my mind to take some pics as I was going but didn't.
Have to say I had a fairly impressive krausen myself this morning.... (why does that sound dodgy?) but admittedly not as large as Tom's... ??? (??!!)
may take a pic this evening if it's still up.
I think i loaded these correctly
17kg + of grain
mashtun and Tesco kettle herms doing its thing, you will notice the difference in the two temps, top one is in the belly of the mash , the other controls the temp on the herms , after a couple of minutes of recirculation it corrects itself 65c was dialled in for the 90minutes
No pictures of inside the tun unfortuntely but , it pretty much took up a whole 80 litre tun
Heres a pic of new hop plant given to me by Tom from letterkenny- Nugget 3 weeks from a rhizome , not bad eh
Last one of the og, came in 98- 100 ish
Hows the fermentation going Enda?
http://imgur.com/a/huLUr#0
first time uploading images so hope this works,
bottled two brews (one for housemates first brew), transferred one to secondary, and brewed this bad boy, then brewed another lager kit got for 1/2 in bargain bin at HBW next day.
I think the hop sack was bad idea for the superhopped brew but live and learn. took forever to get the hops in, and ill have to wreck it gettin it back out. just need one o them racking wands for next time.
was gonna steep some grains in seperate pot but realised they'd be touching the bottom and thought this could be bad so stuck em all in, really reduced the volume when i took em out, but just as well as 4.5 kg LME went in after. (steeped brown malt for 50min, others 30)
came in at 1.07, this is a regular occurence when i try high gravity so im doing something wrong, i dont really do that whirlpool thing, i just pour through a strainer (its been cooled to 35C at this stage), but dont see how that could affect it.
i just added 1kg demerara to the stout today after its fermentation subsided a bit to bring up the gravity, should bring it up to 1.087.
If you're doing a partial boil, cool, take a gravity reading and top up with water until you reach your desired OG.
It could be that you're adding too much water. Ie adding water to your desired volume and not taking into account system losses such as boil off rates and hop soakage.
must be that aright. the balls with partial boils is that youre hitting a desired temp when mixing with cold water, so you have to plan your volume accordingly, Ill just do smaller brews from now on, trying to do one a week these days so dont need so many bottles from each one anyways... you'd think the recipe's (which i use as a guide to plan my own) would account for the hop soakage etc,
cheers
All,
The publishing team are currently look at the best ways of documenting the NHC's fantastic "Barrel Project". We've decided to create and publish a series of articles on the project over the next 6 months or so.
The series will cover technical aspects of aging beer in barrels, purchase and delivery of the said items as well as a report from each individual club barrel at various stages of the process.
To achieve this aim, we will need a nominated representative from each barrel project who is willing to supply us with the necessary information like recipe, barrel siting, filling, tasting notes, competition success etc. Photos would be great too, if you have any. If you're interested in being your project's rep, can you attach your name to the thread below?
http://nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,2611.0.html
Many thanks,
Conor.
We talked about what to do with the barrel after this brew at the last meet. What about setting it aside for a lambic? It'd be a lot of work keeping it topped up but you could brew 200 litres to start & leave it as long as you can hold out. Then brew another 100 litres every year & take a 100 litres out so you'd be getting beer to bottle/drink/cellar plus get a blend in the barrel for future & make it a gueuze.
I dont know what the correct wood is for this or even if its possible considering it was a whiskey cask. Just thinking out loud.
Great idea. I'd hate to see the barrel go to waste. Oak barrels are traditionally used for lambics. It would also be a way of using old hops as lambics use aged hops for their preservative effects rather than for bittering or aroma. We could have some seriously good traditional lambic style beer in a couple of years
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Any volunteers for doing an article on our barrel brew?
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Il be sitting in a van on tour for 18 days from next week so Il have a lot of free time.
Barrel has been emptied. Its gorgeous! Lambic is in the barrel now. Im sure the lads with the cameras will post pics here.
Quote from: Il Tubo on November 21, 2013, 03:45:52 PM
Quote from: Hop Bomb on November 21, 2013, 02:43:16 PM
Lambic is in the barrel now.
Already? Did ye rinse the barrel out before filling?
Are we seen as the "special cases" or something? Of course we washed it out! :P Our transfer method was a thing of beauty also.
Auto syphon -> solar pump -> beer line -> corny disconnect -> down the diptube & into the bottom of co2 purged cornies. Transfer was slow but worth it. No excess oxidation for our baby. 8)
Congrats lads. Feckin' class project. I wish I could have come out to watch the action. I'd love to see the pics.
Seán
No worries on that front at all as it was well washed. The lambic is a long term project for us & it'll probably be two or more years before we get a good blend from it. By then anyone who isnt in to sours probably will be & we wont be going "we should have done this last year" or whatever.
Where would one go to get another fresh barrel? Is there a distillery in Killbeggan still? We'd like to keep the barrel aged RIS brew going.
The stout that came out of the barrel was so good that we all wanted to do it again. Well worth the time we put in!
Quote from: Il Tubo on November 22, 2013, 10:31:18 AM
Perhaps worthy of a discussion in its own right, but our resident lambic experts advised against a lambic on the basis that the stout that house soaked into the barrel would be overpowering, and that perhaps an oud bruin (or flanders red) would be a wise intermediate step to wallpaper over the stout.
Thoughts?
RDWHAHB!
I think that the volume of fresh lambic will dilute whatever stout has soaked into the barrel. Sure there's nothing like a bit of experimentation to find out for sure.
Our barrel washing technique was nothing short of awesome, watch this space for photos...
+1 on doing the RIS again, I'd love to make it an annual event
What size are the wine barrels TubeMan?
Im guessing the 9 barrels arent all for you Tube?
Quote from: Il Tubo on November 22, 2013, 06:04:47 PM
225L. You're still in?
Definitely
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