Barrel project

[Ailbhe]

I'm definitely interested in this

[irish_goat]

8 Degrees got some casks off Jack Teeling so maybe he's worth getting in touch with.

I have a contact in Cooley if they're still selling them.

[Tucan]

[quote

Thanks for that Kieran. Out of interest did you try Kilbeggan or any of the other whiskey distilleries?[/quote]
I've emailed Jameson to see if they sell their old barrels or have an agent who dose.
So far no reply

[MAF]

I want to get one going. Anyone interested?

Idea is we buy an ex whiskey barrel between us, decide a recipe, do a load of brews each to fill the barrel, as it takes about 200L to fill it. (You really need to be an AG brewer for this to work.)

Leave it to age and then get some excellent beer 9 or 12 months later.

just curious, why does it have to be AG?

[MAF]

Had typed a long reply to this and my phone crashed.

The short version:
Extract+hops may be a more consistent way if you are looking for each brewer to make a similar beer, as it takes out the vsriables of peoples equipment/mash temp etc.
That said, I dunno if you would get enough people willing to brew with extract, and you would have to be sure your extract is fresh.

We've been discussing a barrel project at the SE meets, hopefully we can get one going!

[newToBrew]

I doubt very much that that these would be fit for purpose - but you never know !!

done deal

[Eoin]

I doubt very much that that these would be fit for purpose - but you never know !!

done deal

Ask him if he can fill one up with water for a while, see does it expand and start to hold liquid. Then get yourself some sulphur wicks to do the inside of the barrel.

[nigel_c]

I'd be up for this. Would be nice to get some smaller barrels and do club taste offs. North co Vs Liffey Vs central boys. RIS or even a nice barleywine.

[marceldesailly]

Couple of points based on our exerience ( Peter has prob touched on some in his comment)

1. Get a fresh barrel, if it means waiting wait. The aim of the barrel isnt just as a wooden fermenter,unless you are going for fresh wood, it needs to become an integreal part of the final beer.

2. Don't rush the recipe formulation. You need to decide what characteristics you want from the final beer. Our recipes took a fair bit of thought and research into how we would get the beer we wanted.

3. It will attenuate. A well repeated comment amongst the three of us is " it'll never attenuate", a disparaging comment thrown at us one evening when we explained the plan. Both beers have come in well below 20.
And as peter said it will most likely drop a couple of extra points in the barrel; just dont expect it to drop 20 points.

4. If there is ANY doubt about a batch bin it. Don't even think twice about it. Do NOT let it near the barrel.

5. The barrel should really be filled in one go. It doesn't need to be full to the brim but make sure it's at least 85%full.

[Ruairi]

I had been trying to source a barrel for ages but thought 'obviously a standard size one is way too big for a one off brew'. Since that I got an email off a guy from Coillte(who was very helpful), who apparantly supply a lot of wood for barrel making.

Basically he said the best bet was to approach a cooper about the possibilty of reincarnating some used standard size barrels as small 5-6 gallon ones. Which some of them do anyway to sell on as furniture.

So you would end up with a smaller barrel that would have staves from old whiskey barrels.

Group Buy...

[Will_D]

I would suggest that time is the essence ( or rather the destroyer of essence ).

We need a barrel that is still wet inside from the wiskey.

If its allowed to dry out/oxidise then there is the problem.

If we could get the barrel to the cooper and IF he could remake a smaller barrel in about 12 hours then it still won't work.

To make a barrel the staves will have to be re-heated and charred so that they will take up the new shape.

Even if you didn't use the traditional raw oak fire and tried to use steam instead still has the same effect:

Oops!  There goes the subtle aromas!!

The only way is to get a big wet barrel and fill it with beer

Will

[Rossa]

I was in touch last year with the brewer down in Kilbeggan. I spoke to him on the phone. An american lad. I might give him a shout if no one else has a contact?