Filling SD barrel with English Barley Wine

[Bubbles]

Still scratching my head over a silly post made in this thread late last night by a certain forum member. While the post was subsequently deleted, I presume plenty of people had read it already. (A screenshot of the post was sent to me by another forum user.)

The poster had got it into his head that a comment I'd made on this forum 9 months ago was about him. Just to confirm, my comment had absolutely nothing to do with him.

[Shane Phelan]

When as the last time someone had a sneaky sample of this?

[Bubbles]

Long time ago dude! Think it was around September. We'll probably start discussing the emptying soon, maybe at next months meet? And of course, the possibility of a refill..

[molc]

Refill. Refill. Refill.

[Shane Phelan]

Another imperial porter! I drank all mine. 

[Bubbles]

Really the decision is Shanna's as he'll be the one tucking the baby in at night for the next year!

I'm up for it anyway.. The porter tastes so good I'd happily brew the same recipe again. My spies in wickla tell me that the SD porter has gone down so well at their meets that they're considering brewing the same recipe for their next barrel fill.

If we do another fill, i have a certain cider loving gentleman from wicklow lined up to do a batch!

[beerfly]

When as the last time someone had a sneaky sample of this?

Yesterday in motley brew

[Shane Phelan]

How is it coming along?

[Shanna]

I had thoughts of doing a Belgian sour but upon reflection it would probably just make my own brewery more problematic than it is. The roof in my shed needs to be replaced & I hope to get it done this summer weather/cash flow permitting. I would be up for a 3rd fill but only after the roof is sorted as I don't want to have the full barrel in the way. If we emptied the barley wine sometime in the spring I was thinking we could fill it with a few bottles of cheap bourbon or whiskey and just give it a whirl every 10 days to keep it moist. Would people think this would be enough to keep it okay till the next fill?

Shanna

PS: I recently got a couple of stainless steel carbonation caps courtesy of John C I might try bottle a bit of the & bring it to the next meet.

[Bubbles]

I had thoughts of doing a Belgian sour but upon reflection it would probably just make my own brewery more problematic than it is. The roof in my shed needs to be replaced & I hope to get it done this summer weather/cash flow permitting. I would be up for a 3rd fill but only after the roof is sorted as I don't want to have the full barrel in the way. If we emptied the barley wine sometime in the spring I was thinking we could fill it with a few bottles of cheap bourbon or whiskey and just give it a whirl every 10 days to keep it moist. Would people think this would be enough to keep it okay till the next fill?

Cheap bourbon? Couple of bottles of the good stuff more like!

But seriously.. There would be no point tipping whiskey into the barrel if we intended doing a Belgian sour. Even if we were doing a stout/porter, I'd still be a bit iffy about leaving the barrel more or less empty for an extended period of time. Could we look at re-siting the barrel? Any takers?

I'd volunteer, but I just don't have room in my shed. And leaving it exposed to the elements would probably be a disaster.

[Shanna]

I had thoughts of doing a Belgian sour but upon reflection it would probably just make my own brewery more problematic than it is. The roof in my shed needs to be replaced & I hope to get it done this summer weather/cash flow permitting. I would be up for a 3rd fill but only after the roof is sorted as I don't want to have the full barrel in the way. If we emptied the barley wine sometime in the spring I was thinking we could fill it with a few bottles of cheap bourbon or whiskey and just give it a whirl every 10 days to keep it moist. Would people think this would be enough to keep it okay till the next fill?

Cheap bourbon? Couple of bottles of the good stuff more like!

But seriously.. There would be no point tipping whiskey into the barrel if we intended doing a Belgian sour. Even if we were doing a stout/porter, I'd still be a bit iffy about leaving the barrel more or less empty for an extended period of time. Could we look at re-siting the barrel? Any takers?

I'd volunteer, but I just don't have room in my shed. And leaving it exposed to the elements would probably be a disaster.

Sour is a no go as far as I am concerned in current location. Barrel should stay ok as long as it's rotated & kept moist & closed. The barrels were originally like this. If leaving it empty is a concern let's delay emptying it for a while yet till I get a better idea of when I can get my shed roof sorted out. Let's talk about it on Thursday.

Shanna

[Rossa]

I had thoughts of doing a Belgian sour but upon reflection it would probably just make my own brewery more problematic than it is. The roof in my shed needs to be replaced & I hope to get it done this summer weather/cash flow permitting. I would be up for a 3rd fill but only after the roof is sorted as I don't want to have the full barrel in the way. If we emptied the barley wine sometime in the spring I was thinking we could fill it with a few bottles of cheap bourbon or whiskey and just give it a whirl every 10 days to keep it moist. Would people think this would be enough to keep it okay till the next fill?

Cheap bourbon? Couple of bottles of the good stuff more like!

But seriously.. There would be no point tipping whiskey into the barrel if we intended doing a Belgian sour. Even if we were doing a stout/porter, I'd still be a bit iffy about leaving the barrel more or less empty for an extended period of time. Could we look at re-siting the barrel? Any takers?

I'd volunteer, but I just don't have room in my shed. And leaving it exposed to the elements would probably be a disaster.

Sour is a no go as far as I am concerned in current location. Barrel should stay ok as long as it's rotated & kept moist & closed. The barrels were originally like this. If leaving it empty is a concern let's delay emptying it for a while yet till I get a better idea of when I can get my shed roof sorted out. Let's talk about it on Thursday.

Shanna

Apart from the roof a sour barrel won't lead to the spread of bugs to your brewery in case you were worried

[Shanna]

I had thoughts of doing a Belgian sour but upon reflection it would probably just make my own brewery more problematic than it is. The roof in my shed needs to be replaced & I hope to get it done this summer weather/cash flow permitting. I would be up for a 3rd fill but only after the roof is sorted as I don't want to have the full barrel in the way. If we emptied the barley wine sometime in the spring I was thinking we could fill it with a few bottles of cheap bourbon or whiskey and just give it a whirl every 10 days to keep it moist. Would people think this would be enough to keep it okay till the next fill?

Cheap bourbon? Couple of bottles of the good stuff more like!

But seriously.. There would be no point tipping whiskey into the barrel if we intended doing a Belgian sour. Even if we were doing a stout/porter, I'd still be a bit iffy about leaving the barrel more or less empty for an extended period of time. Could we look at re-siting the barrel? Any takers?

I'd volunteer, but I just don't have room in my shed. And leaving it exposed to the elements would probably be a disaster.

Sour is a no go as far as I am concerned in current location. Barrel should stay ok as long as it's rotated & kept moist & closed. The barrels were originally like this. If leaving it empty is a concern let's delay emptying it for a while yet till I get a better idea of when I can get my shed roof sorted out. Let's talk about it on Thursday.

Shanna

Apart from the roof a sour barrel won't lead to the spread of bugs to your brewery in case you were worried

No but brewing a sour would

Shanna

[Rossa]

I had thoughts of doing a Belgian sour but upon reflection it would probably just make my own brewery more problematic than it is. The roof in my shed needs to be replaced & I hope to get it done this summer weather/cash flow permitting. I would be up for a 3rd fill but only after the roof is sorted as I don't want to have the full barrel in the way. If we emptied the barley wine sometime in the spring I was thinking we could fill it with a few bottles of cheap bourbon or whiskey and just give it a whirl every 10 days to keep it moist. Would people think this would be enough to keep it okay till the next fill?

Cheap bourbon? Couple of bottles of the good stuff more like!

But seriously.. There would be no point tipping whiskey into the barrel if we intended doing a Belgian sour. Even if we were doing a stout/porter, I'd still be a bit iffy about leaving the barrel more or less empty for an extended period of time. Could we look at re-siting the barrel? Any takers?

I'd volunteer, but I just don't have room in my shed. And leaving it exposed to the elements would probably be a disaster.

Sour is a no go as far as I am concerned in current location. Barrel should stay ok as long as it's rotated & kept moist & closed. The barrels were originally like this. If leaving it empty is a concern let's delay emptying it for a while yet till I get a better idea of when I can get my shed roof sorted out. Let's talk about it on Thursday.

Shanna

Apart from the roof a sour barrel won't lead to the spread of bugs to your brewery in case you were worried

No but brewing a sour would

Shanna

[molc]

Keep a plastic fermentor and siphon just for the sour and all good that said, I ain't leaving spur anywhere near my brewing until I get my mashing down. I have enough trouble in my life...