New oak barrel

[alohashine]

Was just gifted a brand new 10 gal oak barrel by a friend. I generally make molasses based rum off my 6 gal pot still that I age in Mason jars with toasted or charred oak sticks.
After cuts, an average batch yields around a 1/2 gal or so during a spirit run. Sometimes a bit more. My point is, it would take me a long time to fill up a 10 gal barrel, and I'm worried about the angels being too greedy. Is is worth trying to fill up the barrel? Or should I just stick with the original Mason jar plan?

[Shine0n]

Start stripping to get enough low wines to complete 2 or 3 spirit runs.
since you plan on barrel aging you don't need to be as tight with your cuts.
I'd make a ferment large enough to do plenty of strip and make a weekend of it to get that barrel full asap

Shine0n

[still_stirrin]

...it would take me a long time to fill up a 10 gal barrel...is worth trying to fill up the barrel?

You don't have to fill it "all at once". But, making regular additions will eventually fill it. And as luck would have it, you can even remove a little for your "drinking jar" as time goes by as well.

Aging rum this way is a good way to do it. The differences between batches will "average" in the larger cask with the younger product mingling nicely with more mature spirits.

If I had the 10 gallon cask, certainly I would put it to good use. Give it a go....and keep your fermenter cycling routinely.
ss

[The Baker]

While it is not yet full turn it from time to time.
Geoff

[scout]

It's not a problem to not fill a barrel in one step. What you want to do is first prepare the barrel by swelling the wood so it becomes tight, that will take a week but you can let it go for two or three even.
While you are prepping the barrel go ahead and get ready to make a run if you can. Once you have the spirits, put them in the barrel and knock home the bung.
Now you have two ways to keep the barrel tight while you get enough spirits to fill the rest of the way.
1. you can turn it, this works great if you have half a barrel full or a little more.
2. soak the exterior of the barrel by laying it in a deep tray and turning the barrel to keep all the staves soaked and therefor tight. (this method is great if you are making small batches that aren't going to get you to half full very quickly)

Hope that helps you out and saves your barrel.

[WIski]

Congratulations on your new barrel. You are going to love this new addition to your hobby. One thing you may want to consider is that the new barrel is going to impart some pretty strong characteristics including flavor on your rum. The type of oak, the char, and the toast levels will all play a role in what happens inside the barrel. I would suggest you may get more wood flavor than is traditionally thought of as rum. You may want to run one or two batch's of whisky or bourbon through it before aging rum in the new barrel. But then again you may like what the new barrel does to your rum. Just something to consider is all.

[zapata]

I say get a bigger boiler. I can think of few reasons to stick with a 6 gallon pot if you have a 10 gallon barrel. Filling that barrel is worth it, but would be a bit of a pain even with a 15 gallon boiler.

2nd the suggestion to fill it with whiskey at least once if it is charred. Charred oak is the definitive character of north american whiskeys. Nothing else tastes right to me on first fill charred oak.

[Shine0n]

+1 for filling with whiskey first, all of the major rum distilleries use used barrels for that purpose of not over oaking.
But then again, you may start a new trend on using fresh barrels for rum... hmm
who knows, let us know on how this turns out.

Shine0n

[Oldvine Zin]

+1 for filling with whiskey first, all of the major rum distilleries use used barrels for that purpose of not over oaking.
But then again, you may start a new trend on using fresh barrels for rum... hmm
who knows, let us know on how this turns out.

Shine0n

I have some rum sitting in what started out as a new 5 gal Gibbs barrel for a bit over a year. Have to say that it's my best rum to date

OVZ

[OtisT]

I have some rum sitting in what started out as a new 5 gal Gibbs barrel for a bit over a year. Have to say that it's my best rum to date

OVZ

Glad to hear this turned out for you OVZ. I just filled a new small MT+char barrel with rum yesterday, and have been second guessing that decision all day today until I read your post.

[Shine0n]

Good to know OVZ, I thought I was over making rum and now I feel the need to ferment a batch plus I have a load more dunder (infected of course) to use and will do all 4 in the low wines run.

I've not yet sourced a good deal on new barrels and might have to bite the bullet and splurge.

Shine0n

[Oldvine Zin]

I just emptied that rum after 17 months in barrel. Lots of oak notes but not too much, I think I pulled it just in time. I was hoping to age it for two years but after tasting it two years would of been too much. I'm going to refill it with more, and in two years I'm hoping to do a taste test between the 2, used barrel vs new.

happy holidays
OVZ

[Badmotivator]

I'll add a vote for rum in a new barrel. I have done many rums in new white oak badmotivator barrels, and have never been unhappy with the amount of oak flavor I get. Perhaps OVZ is right and the oak will eventually get too strong, but I don't have any fear of that. Here's one I harvested recently. It is a little young still, but almost fully mature. I'm probably going to leave my other rum barrels alone for longer than 16 months.

[Oldvine Zin]

That's the beauty of a bad mo barrel - a lot less oak surface area than a 5 gal barrel, closer to a 53 gal barrel

OVZ

[Oldvine Zin]

17 months in a five gallon - so good

Lots of Christmas presents

Happy Holidays
OVZ

[Shine0n]

Very nice indeed OVZ

[OtisT]

Nice haul OVZ. happy holidays. Otis

[nerdybrewer]

That's awesome OVZ!
Love the pictures too!

I stole a quart from my summer batch as my store of rum that's over 1 year old has become diminished.
It's still a bit rough neat but great in Coke.

This is the stuff I added to the barrel last June so it's not quite 6 months old yet.
I reused one of my 15 gallon barrels si it originally had Oola Bourbon, then I bought it and put rum in it for a year, now it's got it's second 15 gallon charge.
I added a bunch of sticks from a used wine barrel, hoping that imparts a unique flavor.
Hard to wait another 6+ months but it's worth it.