Recommendations for Barrel char level?

[Miguel]

Looking to buy a 5 gallon Gibbs Brothers Barrel for whiskey. What Char level do you guys recommend?
Thanks,
Miguel

[RobM]

I was going to order from Gibbs but decided these guys might be a little better and really aiming to help.

http://www.thebarrelmill.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

If you call them, they will probably tell you that they have a 5 gallon charred barrel. All of their stuff is not online.

Rob

[Miguel]

Thanks Rob,
I will look into it.
M

[punkin]

There is a couple of threads on here where people discuss the charring of Gibbs barrells.
Working from memory, i seem to recall there was more than one person who opted for the heaviest charring and regretted it?

The coopers i buy my barrells from in Aus reccomends only medium toast for our purposes, although every manufacturers idea of charring would be different (which is why i didn't reply yesterday). I would still search out those threads if i was you before ordering, it's a big investment.

Gibbs have a good reputation round here, with a few different folks who were posting here reccomending them and none critisizing them, you might want to take that into account before ordering too.

[Miguel]

thanks Punkin,
I ordered a medium char after considering it for a while. Sometimes, they say less can be more.
M

[Dnderhead]

I thank toast level means more chard ---- charcoal inside the barrel how long is that going to last? if you want charcoal just add it to the barrel
then you can replace if you want

[Miguel]

Another thoughtful reply, you are right, hard to take the char out, can always add to if that's the flavor profile your seeking.
Thanks