Rebel Barrel 2014; Empty Oct beer and Possible Refill

[LordEoin]

we never decided anything about the barrel




[Topic split-off from September meetup - Garry 19/09/2014]

[Dr Horrible]

It was so loud there it was difficult to have any sort of conversation with anyone more than a foot or so away, I'd say we all probably had separate discussions on it, may as well try to thrash it out here.
I'm in favour of adding some Brett to the barrel, not anything too super sour, but something that would add something different,  so we could brew some styles like an old ale/porter/IPA and then see what a few months in the barrel would do to the flavour.
I know you had a good idea as well Eoin, about blending a few different brews from everyone together - you'd probably explain it better.  I'd be happy to go along with that one if the majority don't want to 'infect' the barrel, because once we do that there'll be no going back.
There was probably  more ideas as well, but my memory is a bit fuzzy about later on!

[Taf]

I'm very keen for us to take the October ale out of it, but not sure I currently have the bandwidth to commit to brewing something to refill it. Can we take out the current contents and rinse it with a campden solution until it gets filled again?

[LordEoin]

First of all, I don't think what's in the barrel will get any better and we might aswell set a date and empty it.

For a refill, the following were discussed on Friday (got bless my clear head):
- Set just a rough style guideline and all the different beers get blended together to secondary in the barrel
- Set just a rough style guideline and all the different worts get blended together to brew in the barrel
- Brett it up.
- Lager in it. Winter is coming!
We'll also need to decide where the barrel will be housed for the next batch.

Finally, it is Taf's barrel, so before committing to anything we should be sure that there are no plans already lined up for it.

At the end of the day, the wood and whiskey is gone from the barrel, so it really doesn't matter what goes into it.
We could easily dump a load of charred oak and whiskey into it if we wanted.
It's more the community aspect of everyone getting together to make something happen.

Personally, I like the idea of setting some lager guidelines and using the barrel to lager the blend over the winter.
Then we could plan something warmer for next spring/summer.

[Taf]

I totally agree re getting the October beer out soon, as not going to get any better, plus I want to give it a good dry hopping before I bottle it.

Like I said, not sure that I can commit re the refill at this point, but happy enough for others to use it. I do want the barrel back at some point though, when it has no more useful brewing purpose, but probably a bit of life in it yet.

[johnrm]

As Taf, my bandwidth is restricted.
I'm running on 9600baud...

I'll row in with whatever is proposed as best I can.

[Dr Horrible]

I like the lager idea a lot, something big like a Baltic Porter would be great.
If there's a few of us stuck for brewing time though, how about we get in on that Apple Juice group buy and do something cider related?  Maybe an Apfelwein?

[LordEoin]

eww

[Taf]

Like the idea of apfelwein as drank a lot of it, on recent trip to frankfurt. Isn't it just cider though? The quantities on that group buy look a bit unwieldy as is, but wouldn't completely write it off.

[johnrm]

Nothing with apples please.

Toasting your Barrel (for Will_D)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPj7zrysLps

Sulphur...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF5U1rK4VXs

[Garry]

Emptying the barrel: I'm up to my tits listening to bridezilla shit. And work is gone crazy over the last few weeks too. The next weekend I've got free is October 4th. John has a brew already planned that day. Balls. Unless we do it on the 3rd? The rest of October is booked up for me. November should hopefully be back to normal but I don't think Taf can wait that long 

Refilling: I won't be free to brew until November I'd say. I liked the idea of a lager because it would be in the barrel over the winter. That was until I heard Mr h talking about the size of a starter that would be required!

The Apple wine (non sprechen deutsch) would be an easy option to fill the barrel quickly but...... I don't want any more cider. I'll go along with it if there's interest though.

Baltic porter sounds interesting, I must research it a bit more.

I'm happy to leave the barrel in my garage. There's plenty of room. Unless someone else wants to host it?

[Dr Horrible]

Guess that's a no for the cider/apple wine then! A lager, especially a Baltic Porter, will need a massive starter, but came across some good advice recently that instead of making a big starter you should just   do a low gravity batch like a Helles or something first and use the yeast from that. If you used extract or something like that Craft Range that LordEoin posted about recently it would be fairly easy.
However that means two batches and there's restrictions on time over the next while. Would dry hopping the October Ale in the barrel be an option?  Pretty sure that's an Old style technique and would  buy a bit of time until everyone is ready.

[LordEoin]

I don't think dryhopping in the barrel would be an option. The hole is small and if we started shoving hops in loose we'd never get them out.
Everyone's going to be taking away 19-20 liters so it would be easiest for everyone to dryhop individually in the container they use or in a cornie.
It would also give everyone the freedom to dryhop with whatever quantities of whichever hop they like (or not dryhop at all).
That would also make later tastings more interesting, seeing what different people did to wreck enhance their share.

What size starter are we talking for the lager? And would it be easier for everyone complete primary before barrel blending.
It would easier to coordinate filling with fairly stable fermented raw beer than to try and get all of the batches of fresh wort in before it spoils.
Primary in the barrel also means that it'll be sitting on a lot of trub for a very long time as we'd not be able to rack it off.

[johnrm]

Hops will shag up the barrel. Don't.

Lager for me. No need for starter. I have about 300g dry lager yeast.

[mr hoppy]

Hops will shag up the barrel. Don't.

Lager for me. No need for starter. I have about 300g dry lager yeast.

Wow! Which one?