A Tale of Two Barrels (and some jars)

[MichiganCornhusker]

Hit me up, I have an empty 5 gal. rum barrel I could loan out for you to age some rum. It just emptied a week ago so keeping it wet would do me a favor.

Lol, I'll keep your barrel wet!
Consider yourself hit up.

[cranky]

Now your making me have thoughts about possibly barrel aging some apple cider then following it with a brandy That might be a way to get a used bourbon barrel ready for brandy One thing I like to do is keep jars on a heater vent with loose lids. My wife gets very hot when she sleeps so at night we turn the heat off and open a window so there can be huge temp swings in our house and I think it works out pretty well.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Now your making me have thoughts about possibly barrel aging some apple cider then following it with a brandy That might be a way to get a used bourbon barrel ready for brandy.

I think you would like experimenting with a barrel for cider and brandy.
I stopped into a cider bar in DC a few weeks ago. They have about 16 or 20 different fermented ciders on tap.
It was a great way to explore the wild world of ciders! They have everything from crystal clear dry ciders to cloudy rustic funky ciders.
And they had a few that were barrel aged. The barrel can have a pretty big impact on flavor. They had one aged in a second hand rye whiskey barrel that was one of my favorites.

[cranky]

Now I wish I had gone ahead and picked up one of those used barrels when they were on sale a couple weeks ago.

[WIski]

Still at 99...........

http://www.homebrewing.com/equipment/wh ... d565124e6e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Truckinbutch]

SOH and Mrs.SRD tole us we could have a new Gibbs 5 gal barrel each for Christmas

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

SOH and Mrs.SRD tole us we could have a new Gibbs 5 gal barrel each for Christmas

Hell yeah! Welcome to the Gibbs Christmas club . We're going to all have some really good spirits around here in 6 months or so.

I'll be sure to post a picture on Christmas morning

[MichiganCornhusker]

That's great about the barrels, guys, now we can all play along together!
When you fill those barrels also do some jars to compare. It would sure be interesting to see if we could come up with a simple jar protocol that would closely replicate the barrel.

Maybe try the Corene oak jar lids, or the pinhole in the lid.
The key would be direct comparison to exact same spirits in jars and barrel.

[Truckinbutch]

That's great about the barrels, guys, now we can all play along together!
When you fill those barrels also do some jars to compare. It would sure be interesting to see if we could come up with a simple jar protocol that would closely replicate the barrel.

Maybe try the Corene oak jar lids, or the pinhole in the lid.
The key would be direct comparison to exact same spirits in jars and barrel.

We will try to get close . Can't promise exact duplication .Progress we are making in our shops would boggle your mind .
Havin a stillin buddy triples what both of you get done . You gonna be impressed when you get by the next time .

[cranky]

Still at 99...........

http://www.homebrewing.com/equipment/wh ... d565124e6e" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Well yesterday my wife ordered one of these homebrew barrels It may not be new but it will just have to do.

[Bushman]

Last Christmas my wife got me a new barrel labeled with what we were thinking about naming a distillery if our son chose to take his Hospitality degree and go in that direction. Getting ready to bottle my first go of Rum from the barrel.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Well yesterday my wife ordered one of these homebrew barrels It may not be new but it will just have to do.

To be honest, I'm a little scared of a new barrel . Hoping it isn't over powering. Panickry had a used barrel, and at 6 months it was perfect. He did get a head start with sticks, but still.

To be honest, I'm excited about a new barrel, but will very much be looking forward to the subsequent fills as well.

Welcome to the party .

MCH, sorry to detail the thread that was supposed to be an experiment thread. Just seems that alot of us are diving into barrels for the first time together here. But you're green now, so feel free to split off a "A Virgin's First Barrel" thread and sticky your experiment

[MichiganCornhusker]

I think we can welcome any talk of barrel excitement here.
Exploring the effects of barrel vs other methods is what this is all about, more the merrier.

I didn't mean copy my recipe, I just meant that if you can make enough extra spirits to do some jar aging along side your barrels with your same spirits it might be enlightening. I'm just happy to be able to try one out myself.

[Rng4]

I got one of those 5 gallon used barrels and filled it yesterday. I do have some left over so I will put that in jars with charred sticks. The only limiting factor I can see is that the oak sources will be different which I imagine will affect the flavor imparted. But will be interesting to find out.

[Truckinbutch]

MCH , what level of char did you order for your barrel ?

[MichiganCornhusker]

I don't think I specified a char.
It's pretty heavy though. Looking inside its alligator everywhere I can see.
When I filled it with water and drained it lots of char chunks got flushed out, so I would say heavy.

[Truckinbutch]

Thanks .

[DFitz]

Here is a pretty in depth discussion on toasting and caring barrels.
https://www.straightbourbon.com/communi ... s-toasted/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

I called gibbs a while back, they said they do a #3 char on their bourbon barrels. When you order, they ask you what you putting in them. Rum, whiskey, etc. Unless you know the char, this is how they determine which char to send you.

[Worm_Drippinz]

Damn. I missed this thread and bought three 2l barrels for giving as gifts on x mas. I was going to teach my family about aging and to not over oak the hooch but I might just save the barrels for experimenting and also buy a Gibbs.

I did alot of research and did NOT buy the elguedo barrels.

The ones I had shipped seem well made, no wax and all sealed up today. (Just landed earlier today)

I am following this thread closely and am very happy I was able to find this.


I only saw a few barrel posts using the search feature so I am partially bummed I didn't just but one bigger barrel from the get-go.

[bilgriss]

I"m hoping I don't lose track of this one, and posting a response to increase my odds.

Hope everyone who asked Santa for a barrel gets one.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Hit me up, I have an empty 5 gal. rum barrel...

Thanks to DFitz I have a delicious used rum barrel to fill up as soon as I can get my rum schedule up and running.
It was also very cool to see his shed, I'm always impressed by the level of expertise demonstrated by members here on HD, and DFitz has some very rocket science gear!

I bottled up some whiskey that I've had on oak since this spring and I think I'm going to need to add a time factor to this experiment. Probably pulling off samples at something like 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and a year.
And then I'll still need to see if or how they evolve once I've pulled them off the oak. This is gonna take a while...

On a side note, I pulled some panela rum off from a couple Brazilian woods and I'll say they are very unique.
Amburana and Canary Wood both give great flavors and aromas to the rum, very fruity with some spice notes, completely different than white oak.
I really encourage you panela/rum guys to look into these, and some of the other woods they use to age cachaca, I think you will be impressed with what they bring to your rum's character.

[Truckinbutch]

SRD and I talked to a gal named Becky at Gibbs Bros Cooperage today (yeddy now , I guess) . Ordered 2 5 gallon kegs with #3 char and faucets with the barrels predrilled for the faucets . ETA 2-3 weeks . DAMN ! I love this hobby !

[spirit run dave]

Getting excited over the barrel,never poured a drink out of a five gallon barrel. Those quart jars just doesn't seem to last very long.hahaha

[FreeMountainHermit]

never poured a drink out of a five gallon barrel. Those quart jars just doesn't seem to last very long.hahaha

Massive upgrade !!!

[MichiganCornhusker]

Just an update.

Jars are in order, top left down to bottom right.

I guess it makes sense that the low temperature toast with no char is taking color the slowest, and the higher temp toasts with char are turning a nice bourbony color faster.
I aired out the jars but didn't get a chance to do any taste sampling. Next time...

[speedfreaksteve]

SRD and I talked to a gal named Becky at Gibbs Bros Cooperage today (yeddy now , I guess) . Ordered 2 5 gallon kegs with #3 char and faucets with the barrels predrilled for the faucets . ETA 2-3 weeks . DAMN ! I love this hobby !

That'll be a dream setup! How much did that set you back?

[MichiganCornhusker]

Update for April:

Aired everything out and did a sampling.

The 375f jars are still young. A bit headsy, light color, and oak flavors in a woody sense.
Even in these jars I can start to see that the char is bringing color and the toast more flavors.
The best jar is the one with the toasted stick charred on two sides.

The 400f jars start to turn. The 400T is mild, much like the 375f jars.
The 400TC is the first "good" jar, one I could pour right now. Has definite caramel and blended headsy.
The 400 4C has less flavor, and the 400 2T has a strong oak barrel smell and taste, somewhere between woody and bourbon flavors. Actually reminds me of oak flavors you find in rums. No caramel but light vanilla at the finish.

425 T is a bit headsy, fairly unremarkable but drinks like a mild store bought.
425 2C is pretty dang good. Light caramel, not much vanilla, blends well with the late headsy flavors.
425 4C has solid caramel smell, good oakiness, could happily drink this right now.
425 2T has strong oak barrel, good color, and a unique interesting spice flavor like clove or maybe anise, but very light on back end.

The 400LT is very light and mild, not much different that white. Kinda like kool-aid when you use too much water.
400 MEGA is the one jar that doesn't seem to taste right. Some weird flavors in there, not burnt or smokey, but maybe it's a little of that acrid taste. Just seems totally off compared to the others.

The maple sticks are bringing the strongest color so far.
M400 2C actually smelled a bit like maple syrup when I opened it up. I don't think I just imagined that.
M400 4C is smooth but has less nose and flavor than the 2C. Something from the maple in each but not the caramels and vanillas the I'm seeing with the oak.

Same for the cherry sticks. It's making smooth whiskey but the flavors seem more subtle than the oak. Nice color though.

The white jar still tastes light, mildly sweet, bright and a bit of late heads. I deliberately added in some heads for flavor and to see how the oak blends or balances with those flavors. I'm glad I did because the oak works very well with the light heads character in most of the jars.

While I was at it I poured a few other bottles to compare:

Jameson tasted thin by comparison, smooth and light, obviously less oak character.

Jack Daniels, oaky/woody, sweet, not as much flavor as I remember.

Hudson Whiskey Baby Bourbon is much more of everything, more oak, caramel, vanilla, body, and similar late heads flavors.

Bundaberg Red Extra Smooth Rum filtered with Austraillian Red Gum, delicious like a chocolate bundt cake after all the whiskey!

With the exception of the Mega jar, I'm not getting any over oaked or burnt/acrid flavors. Makes me wonder what happens past 425F.

Right now I'm leaning toward the 425f jars. I could bottle the 4C right now, and the flavors coming from the 2T are very intriguing.

I'm really going to enjoy this adventure. I'm a little surprised just how wide the range of character is right now after about 4 months. Will be interesting to see what happens to the lighter bottles over time, and to see if the darker jars become "overdone" in a year.

Btw, I plan to sample the Gibbs barrel and the BadMo barrel at the 6 month mark.

Back in the attic for now though.

[oakgriff]

Got an update Cornhusker? Dying to know how this turned out.

Thanks for sharing!

[MichiganCornhusker]

Got an update Cornhusker?

I opened everything up just after the 1st of the year.
I've been wanting to get through various comparisons before posting an overall set of impressions, but I will say that this has been very enlightening.
There is a very wide range of flavors and colors. Entirely different tasting whiskeys from the same batch.
Some light springy whiskey, some woody, some like cinnamon, some like creme brulee. Really all over the map.
Some are too light for my taste and some are pushing the limits of toast and char into acrid, so I do believe my range of temps and chars has done a good job of defining the outer limits.

And I am happy to discover that while the Gibbs barrel has produced excellent whiskey, many of the jar aged versions are just as good, and in some cases preferred by some people.

I'll be back to update this soon, but right now it's a lot of drinking and note taking, brutal work!