Barrel Project - Summary Thread

[Bubbles]

I put 20+ in I just want 16-17 out, ours will run between next summer and Christmas 2014!! We have a control to measure it against

Now here is the surprising observation, SCD all brewed to the same recipe and correct me if I'm wrong but they all did tasted different.

Wicklow all brewed to the same recipe, with ingredients supplied and including the extract version they all tasted the same...do ne nu nu, do ne nu nu

Ciderhead, I must admit that like Shanna, I'm also struggling to see where you're going with this..

Perhaps you could explain why you're getting upset that there were slight differences in the SD component beers? Why are you even bringing this up now? I don't get it..

[Shane Phelan]

I think the main point here is that as SD barrel had contributions that tasted differently it would be difficult to replicate if you wanted to do the same recipe again. On the other hand the Wicklow barrel had relatively similar contributions so if they wanted to make the same recipe again next Christmas, they could with confidence, make the same thing again.

Personally I am not worried about this as the same thing happened with the barrel that Dr. Jacoby filled with RichieH/Kev and they had different tasting contributions which in the end turned out to be an amazing blend. I'm confident and hopeful (given that I have ~40L in it) that the SD barrel will be a great blend!   

[Ciderhead]

I'm not upset, I was making one point about repeatability of the brew thats all.

[Bubbles]

Ok fine. To be honest, I'm just looking forward to tasting the final result. At this late stage, I'm not at all concerned by the slight differences in the component beers.

Shanna, I think we should hold off on tasting that sample until more of the lads can attend a meet. What do you think?

Shiny, Beerfly, Ciaran, Rossa, Andrew - what are your thoughts on how long we should wait before tasting or bottling?

[Shanna]

Hi CH

Don't think anybody had used what was lying around but ordered the ingredients per the recipe laid out by Rossa. Ingredients would have come from different batches of grain so it is to be expected to have some variation. The different brews were produced by different brewers would not surprise if they produced slightly different results. At least one of my own brews went perfectly I hit the numbers but the 2nd was no where near as good due to some mistakes. Not sure recipe you chose to brew in Wicklow but I would have struggled to tell major differences between our efforts including your own.

Will be interesting to see the difference between the beers

Shanna

Have a few litres squirreled away to replace what we take out. Not sure what point your trying to make here? If I remember you were like a drug dealer in that you measured out the ingredients for each brew from a common supply source and had each person brew using this.  The SD brew was made to the same recipe using differently sourced ingredients. No real excitement in doing everything for somebody as it's supposed to be home brew not one gigantic brew.
I seem to remember you saying yourself that you were struggling to tell the difference between the different brews after a few samples but maybe there is something "inherently special" in the Wicklow brewing barrel. The need for a control somehow suggests something related to an experiment. I suspect all of these barrel efforts that don't have infection will be superb.

Shanna

Have to correct you there, the objective was to brew a barrel to one common recipe and attempt to simulate what 2 of the current Irish breweries are doing.
As competing clubs we could compare 8-10 different recipes at next years competition and critically we should be able to repeat the winner.
If SCD wins the comp next year how are we going to repeat what everybody brewed if the ingredients were whatever was lying around at the time ?  I followed the SCD recipe to the letter.
The "excitement" for us was that we all have different equipment from plastic buckets, biab to 60L mash and boilers, but even with those variables we got very similar tasting brews.  Best of all it was the cheapest way of doing it as we got discounts for the ingredients we bought in bulk.
It is a total experiment and if we come last at least we will know why and modify what was wrong with the recipe for the next barrel.
The reason we have a control is to determine what impact the barrel has had after 3, 6 and 9 months v's unbarrelled RIS.

[Shanna]

Fair enough though why anybody  would want to is beyond me

Shanna

PS:Next question is what does one do with 40ltrs+ of 10% beer?

I'm not upset, I was making one point about repeatability of the brew thats all.

[Shane Phelan]

Shiny, Beerfly, Ciaran, Rossa, Andrew - what are your thoughts on how long we should wait before tasting or bottling?

I would say taste away whenever you want, nothing wrong with being well informed of the progress.

In terms of bottling I have always wanted to take it out early (~4 months) as I didn't want the whiskey flavour to be overwhelming, the periodical tastings should verify whether that is too early or not. I don't think many people are of the same opinion though. 

PS:Next question is what does one do with 40ltrs+ of 10% beer?

I have been collecting 500ml bottles for the last few months. I'm only up to 25 so far although I will probably collect my ~40L with corny's and purge them with CO2 until they are bottled. I assume if we had a pump with a corny disconnect on one end we could transfer into purged kegs to reduce any further oxygenation as much as possible?

[Bubbles]

PS:Next question is what does one do with 40ltrs+ of 10% beer?

Answer: bottle it in small volumes! I'm planning on doing mostly 33cl bottles, as many as I can. I love strong beers like this, but I find that a 50cl of 10% is too much of a good thing.

Or, you could go mad, stick it in a corny, and dispense pitchers of it... 

[Bubbles]

I would say taste away whenever you want, nothing wrong with being well informed of the progress.

In terms of bottling I have always wanted to take it out early (~4 months) as I didn't want the whiskey flavour to be overwhelming, the periodical tastings should verify whether that is too early or not. I don't think many people are of the same opinion though. 

I'd definitely like to have a taste in the next month or two. But that all depends on how many of you lads can get down to an SD meet. How about we designate the November meet as the  "barrel tasting" meet? Hopefully everyone can attend and we can make a decision if and when we are to bottle?

In terms of bottling I have always wanted to take it out early (~4 months) as I didn't want the whiskey flavour to be overwhelming

Just a thought... I'd guess that most of the whiskey flavour is already going to be in our beer at this stage. I suspect leaving it 6 or 12 or 18 months won't make an appreciable difference in the level of whiskey flavour?

Though leaving it longer in the barrel will obviously draw out a lot more of the oak flavours.. I'd be just as concerned about having excessive oak flavour, as excessive whiskey flavour.

[Shane Phelan]

Yeah I was worried about not being able to attend this month for the tasting (will be gone on hols) so yeah I think a dedicated November meet for tasting is a great idea!

[Bubbles]

Nothing to report apart from the fact I seem to be hoarding a few barrel-aged stouts at the moment. Today I picked up a bottle of the Franciscan Well stout. I've also got a bottle of O'Hara's and Goose Island's Bourbon County. Looking forward to whetting my appetite with these before we bottle the big porter.

The two Irish stouts are quite light in comparison to the Goose Island which is 11% ABV!!

Anyone had any of these three before?

[Shane Phelan]

I have had the Goose Island before and found it tough going. I think it took me 3 or 4 hours to drink it!

[Bubbles]

Jesus! That wasn't the verdict I expected! 

Is it a bit... syrupy? Too boozy?

[Shane Phelan]

Both! I read reviews of it on-line and see people of are obsessed with it...I think maybe I'm just not 'ready' for that level of flavour/body yet perhaps.

[Bubbles]

I'll probably like it then! I like my stouts a little chewier.