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Well I finally pulled the trigger on 2 new #3 15G Gibbs barrels. Lots of work to do to fill them as I can only get about 3G or so of barrel strength / week. This will be my 1st time using these barrels, does anybody have any experience with this size Gibbs barrels. i.e. loss / yr, etc. I plan on filling one with my standard sour mash rye bourbon (75/12.5/12.5) and aging for 2 to 3 yrs. Not sure what'll go in the 2nd one, maybe my wheat bourbon with a bit of honey malt added.

15G seemed to be the sweet spot for price (US $310 per delivered to California), handling and hopefully angels share.

Redwood: I don’t know anything about barrels. I’m just excited for you!
Hahahaha! Yes!
JBC

Well, I'm jealous! RHB, I'm just wondering what the recommended duration for first fill is for a 15 gallon Gibbs. Do you think it'll go 2-3years?

BTW, do you recall how much the 5 gallon barrels were? There is no pricing on their website.

TB

I age in 15 gallon barrels, with a #3 char, however not made by Gibbs. Bourbon has been bottled at between 20 and 24 months and the angel's share in a Mississippi non air conditioned warehouse has been about 9-10% per year.

My mash bills are actually 66% corn, 17% malted barley, 17% rye, and I have an identical mash bill where the rye is replaced with wheat. I barrel each of them separately, and will combine barrels of each recipe after aging.

You could try something similar. Fill each barrel with a different mash bill, and then you could bottle them separately as well as blends with differing percentages from each barrel.

DeepSouth wrote:My mash bills are actually 66% corn, 17% malted barley, 17% rye, and I have an identical mash bill where the rye is replaced with wheat. I barrel each of them separately, and will combine barrels of each recipe after aging.

You could try something similar. Fill each barrel with a different mash bill, and then you could bottle them separately as well as blends with differing percentages from each barrel.

That's the way I do my mash bills too, I just replace the rye with wheat. I happen to like the higher corn bill, but that's just my personal taste. Maybe that's what I'll do for the 1st fills. 1 in rye and 1 in wheat. The 9-10% / yr is about what I guessed, but we'll see what it will be like in my shed in N. California. I would think that it may not be all that much different.

Have you found a blend of rye and wheat barrels that you like? If so, what and why? Thanks, sounds like my initial guesses weren't too far off of the mark. Now I just have get off of my ass and start cranking out some bourbon.

Twisted Brick wrote:Well, I'm jealous! RHB, I'm just wondering what the recommended duration for first fill is for a 15 gallon Gibbs. Do you think it'll go 2-3years?

BTW, do you recall how much the 5 gallon barrels were? There is no pricing on their website.

TB

Sorry, I don't remember the exact price, but I seem to remember it was in the low to mid $200s delivered for a 5 gal. You can always give them a call or e-mail them. They can let you know the price and whether they have them in stock or not. I lucked out as mine were in stock.

RedwoodHillBilly wrote:

Twisted Brick wrote:Well, I'm jealous! RHB, I'm just wondering what the recommended duration for first fill is for a 15 gallon Gibbs. Do you think it'll go 2-3years?

BTW, do you recall how much the 5 gallon barrels were? There is no pricing on their website.

TB

Sorry, I don't remember the exact price, but I seem to remember it was in the low to mid $200s delivered for a 5 gal. You can always give them a call or e-mail them. They can let you know the price and whether they have them in stock or not. I lucked out as mine were in stock.

He's in the ball park . My 5 gallon is still in need of filling . My bad . Mebbie by spring .
Good quality barrels . Good folks to deal with .

i grabbed some from the barrel mill. a wee bit cheaper but with freight to Canada, about the same money landed here. He didn't have his 5 Gallon run coming for a while so i bought 15/30 to see what the difference in time is. only been a month though so i have not checked yet.
at this place they are machine made, the fit and finish is excellent. they make one size, then tool up for the next size, etc, etc, so if you want a particular size it's a case of hurry up and order...then wait. I think the same may be true at gibbs?

In my opinion Gibbs barrels are among the best out there. I use 10 gallon barrels, and age for 2 years, and loose about 2 gallons in 2 years, but the proof level goes up a bit.

Truckinbutch wrote: My 5 gallon is still in need of filling . My bad . Mebbie by spring .

sacrilege! That could have 6 month old whiskey in it by then!

SOH's prolly gettin' tired of you doting on her. you better git to the shed before she puts the run on you!

If a bullfrog had wings he wouldn't bump his ass so much , neither . I'll get to it when I do , or not . My drummer gives me a different beat to march to .

Thanks for the heads up on the pricing. I'll certainly be giving them a call once I get my routine down.

He didn't have his 5 Gallon run coming for a while so i bought 15/30 to see what the difference in time is. only been a month though so i have not checked yet.

I have used 5 and 10 gallon Barrel Mill barrels and they darkened up much faster than my 5 gallon Gibbs.

Well that is a bit surprising. What was the price on those?

Barrel Mill 5 Gallon are $145 and the 10 Gallon are $165. Shipping is between $35 and $50 for a single barrel depending where your at. They will custom char to order and the heads are charred as well.

I noticed tonight the Gibbs website is no longer working.
Might anyone have their phone number ?
I sure hope they are still up and running.

Oh no shit? They emailed me just a few weeks ago. Their site has always been garbage

Looks like their domain lapsed.
But there's still some info online...

Thank ye

Yep their site was never good for anything but the phone number, sure sucked to have to call them and talk to an actual person always got what I wanted and all the info I ever needed to Gibbs

OVZ

Gibbs has great products and are good people...



happy stillin,

FS

Yeah, the gibbs sight appears to be down for good. When i spoke to them by email a month or so ago they said they were working on it. I haven't heard a single person unhappy with a gibbs barrel. They are a little more pricy though. I just got 2 barrels from two sources, both 5 gal.

First was from this site..

https://www.oakbarrelsltd.com/black-hoo ... -s/126.htm

It looks solid, well built. Comes with a spigot, bung(wooden) and stand. 150 (on sale) plus 20 for shipping to the midwest. I've got it left in the plastic wrap til i'm ready to fill it with Booner's. It's going to take me around 450L wash total, with some spirit ready to go for topping up. 2 6gallon LW runs will be just shy of enough to fill, so i'll have to do a third spirit run which will easily be enough with extra. Not sure if i'll oak the extra or keep it white for topping up. I do know some of these barrels hold more than listed, so good to have enough to fill it.

2nd barrel i got was from Adventures in homebrewing

https://www.homebrewing.org/Fresh-5-Gal ... _8087.html

This one was on a great sale, it's a Balcones barrel, unused, brand new. The price is $85 plus around 20 for shipping. So, 105 all in, which is the cheapest price i've seen for a new 5G barrel. It seems a bit dry, as the middle top stave is loose, it actually slides around. I'll be filling this one with UJSM. It might take a little longer to have enough to fill this one, so i wrapped it well in lots of plastic wrap, and i'll hope for the best. I'll just have to soak it a few days n hope she seals up. Why wouldn't it though?
So, i'm curioius how you like your gibbs. I'll share my opinion of these barrels when i know something about them in 6 months minimum.

CC

I suspect those balcones might be from this thread:
http://adiforums.com/topic/9255-5-gallon-barrels/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

If so, they are new barrels, but not new wood. Each stave could be from a barrel used for tequila or bourbon, then reconstructed, roasted and recharred.

Not knocking them, I've read accounts that they make great bourbon.

YOu've absolutely right. I just knew there had to be some catch, somewhere. I even messaged the seller asking, why are these so cheap? There's always a catch. But. Doesn't sound like a serious catch at all. I'm more than happy with it for the price, it's a solid well made barrel, a bit dry but hopefully i can swell it up for as long as needed before use.

Nice detective work, Zapata, you have tracked my barrel down to the source. Without a doubt, that is the barrel i bought. Thanks for the info!

No worries man, I strive to help so much I tracked your barrel down before you knew it was yours
viewtopic.php?f=83&t=69929

I've used Gibbs barrels for about 10 years. Great barrels. I normally use 10 gallon barrels and age for 2 years. I had a problem with a leaky 15 gallon barrel last year, and they sent me a new one, at no charge. I've used barrel mill barrels before and had problems with the staves cracking and leaking, they just blew me off. I highly recommend Gibbs barrels.

And the Gibbs website has sucked for years. You need to call them!

5 gal Gibbs came in today took a week. This is my 3rd of theirs. They are still in buisness and well aware of the website situation. Just call them. Great customer service.... BUT they will try to talk you into a charred barrel for Rum even once you specifically say toasted. You just have to insist...

butterpants wrote:5 gal Gibbs came in today took a week. This is my 3rd of theirs. They are still in buisness and well aware of the website situation. Just call them. Great customer service.... BUT they will try to talk you into a charred barrel for Rum even once you specifically say toasted. You just have to insist...

How much did you pay incl. shipping if you don’t mind me asking?