Temperature Cycling 5 Gallon Barrel

[JB_12]

In the process of cranking out low wines for final whiskey spirit run in order to fill a 5 gallon barrel. I live in a warm climate and will be aging the barrel in my garage which is typically 90-95F. I have a large upright freezer fermentation chamber that I temperature regulate. I’m hoping to, in the vein of Brown-Forman, temperature cycle the barrel between garage temps and my fermentation chamber (32F). I would move back and forth once every week or two. I expect to age it this way for a minimum of 6-9 months but with hopes of coming out with a whiskey that tastes 12-18 months aged.

Will this temperature cycling in a 5 gallon barrel make the expected difference?

[BrewinBrian44]

If you’re going to the trouble of producing enough spirit for a 5 gallon barrel, you’d be much better off letting time properly age the spirit. A 5 gallon barrel is still considered small by traditional standards and can oak your spirit quite fast on its own. With a fresh barrel, you’ll already have heaps of oak character after a year of aging, so why rush it? You won’t achieve an aged character faster by doing what you describe, as there are many other variables to the aging process other than oak extraction, like the micro oxidation that happens from the breathing barrel and it’s affect on the chemical compounds present in your spirit. These compounds change over time and build the character that makes the spirit actually taste aged, but time is the only way to get there. Temp cycling a small barrel between hot and freezing will likely over oak it. Patience will reward you! Some members on here like storing their barrels in their attic during summer months to do a little bit of what you are looking for since theres decent temp fluctuations between day and night.

The temperature cycling is a more appropriate method for folks that age in glass with oak staves to try and speed up the process. Even with the glass aging method, more time and less oak will yield a superior product in the end without fussing with it.

[Tummydoc]

I agree with Brian, it's not worth the effort. I have four 5 gallon barrels that I keep in my yard storage shed. Summer days gets over 100 farenheit in there, nights 60-70. 5 gallon barrels age at about double the rate of a commercial barrell, so 1 year is like a 2 year whiskey or rum. Lots of tricks have been tried to speed aging, none really work and most are marketing gimmicks. (Rocking boat at sea, ultrasound, UV light)

[Sporacle]

I have my barrels as high up the shelves and as close to the western wall (southern hemisphere) in my uninsulated shed, they get a good temperature swing just with the ambient change over the period of a year summer swing would be 42 to 18 Celsius and winter would be 22 to 2 Celsius.
Not sure if the swing works, it's probably more on me with improving my cuts, managing my greed and having patience

[Ben]

It's going to "age" (extract wood flavor) fast at 90-95f... I wouldn't want to speed that up any further. The oak flavor is going to come up much faster than the other aging characteristics.

There is more to aging than just getting oak flavor into the spirit. Whatever method you choose, pull a taste routinely and see if the oak is where you want it or not.

[JB_12]

Thank you all for the replies. I will skip out on all the labor of cycling the barrel and see how a year at 90-95F temps does the whiskey. Appreciate the input!

[Deplorable]

Thank you all for the replies. I will skip out on all the labor of cycling the barrel and see how a year at 90-95F temps does the whiskey. Appreciate the input!

Start checking it at around 8 months. My 2nd fill 5 gallon barrels that Ive filled in the fall take about a year in our mild climate before they start getting really good, at 18 months the first one is really a pleasure to share. The 3rd fill on one of them will go in over the 4th of July weekend with some new toasted and charred oak fingers to make up for the flavors the barrel has already given up.

[JB_12]

Thank you all for the replies. I will skip out on all the labor of cycling the barrel and see how a year at 90-95F temps does the whiskey. Appreciate the input!

Start checking it at around 8 months. My 2nd fill 5 gallon barrels that Ive filled in the fall take about a year in our mild climate before they start getting really good, at 18 months the first one is really a pleasure to share. The 3rd fill on one of them will go in over the 4th of July weekend with some new toasted and charred oak fingers to make up for the flavors the barrel has already given up.

That sounds great! How many fills do you think these 5 gallon barrels have on them before needing to be replaced? Is it worth it to take the head off and to strip down the staves a bit and maybe do additional char in between fills?

[jonnys_spirit]

I think it’s worth a try. Seems like most commercial producers are all over the map and it definitely makes a difference.

What’s your barrel entry proof?

Cheers,
Jonny

[Deplorable]

I dont think I'll be taking mine apart. Im just going to go with the approach of adding oak fingers into them as a supplement. Ive got a spool of SS lockwire I can thread though a hole in the fingers, and tie to a SS crew in the bung to make fishing them out easy.