Best US source for small aging barrels?

[J A]

Putting aside, for the moment, the barrel vs glass debate, if a person wanted to get a 5, 10 or 20 liter new barrel for aging spirits, which supplier in the US is more likely to deliver a quality product (good wood, decent char, good construction, not crazy angel's share losses).
And sure, which size have you had a good experience with?
And while we're at it, 5 gallon dumped barrels? They seem to go fast or be very expensive, or both.
Thanks!!
J A

[Powder Monkey]

Gibbs barrels would be the most common recommendation for someone that wanted a true oak barrel. I wouldn’t even bother smaller than 5 gallons though and angels share loss will be a concern.

If you want an extended aging time/replicate full size look at badmotivators. 1.8g and 5g options, but will age/oak closer to a full size barrel. Ten30 is another similar designed option I have not personally used.

[J A]

Gibbs barrels would be the most common recommendation for someone that wanted a true oak barrel. I wouldn’t even bother smaller than 5 gallons though and angels share loss will be a concern.

If you want an extended aging time/replicate full size look at badmotivators. 1.8g and 5g options, but will age/oak closer to a full size barrel. Ten30 is another similar designed option I have not personally used.

Yeah, Gibbs seems like a pretty serious cooperage. I do like the 5 and here and there I can find once used barrels. I'd be concerned about being able to fill one in a timely manner. If I bust though a couple of good-sized fermentations, I should be able to produce around 2.5 gallons of clean barrel-strength stuff. That's two full mash/fermentation cycles, a couple of days of back to back stripping runs and a long, slow spirit run...and I have to do that twice. Even if I didn't have anything to schedule around, it would be 2-3 weeks. If I get a fresh-dumped 5, I'd rather have stuff ready and waiting to fill it. Since a 10-liter would be a pretty fast turnaround to avoid over-oaking loss could be minimized a little.

I like the bad-mo idea and if I go that route, I'll make my own. I can get 6-liter bain-marie pots pretty cheap and a couple of oak barrel ends would yield enough wood to make up to a dozen. If I could score some ends from freshly-disassembled whiskey barrels, that would be great but the beauty of that style is that new charred wood can be "seasoned" with just a few ounces of good whiskey or whatever...just need enough to cover the wood when it's turned face-down.

[TwoSheds]

Sounds like you've done your research JA. I'd suggest finding some temporary storage to compliment a barrel. Carboys or Corney kegs are good options. I like Corneys.

I have a 5 gallon Gibbs that has been GREAT! But, the first bourbon was over-oaked in just a couple months. What you really need is 5 gallons ready to throw in and a plan to make another 10 in the next year! Sample often (that never seems to be a problem) and try to find the balance between age and oak.

My Gibbs has given up very little to the angels. Surprisingly little even with the 27 months the last round spent in there. Solidly more than 4 gallons came back out even with plenty of sampling. YMMV.

I've had intentions on making a badmo too but my time-to-budget ratio leans budget right now. The Gibbs folks also sent me some nice offcuts for a modest fee too, so why not do both?

Good luck!

TwoSheds

[J A]

Sounds like you've done your research JA. I'd suggest finding some temporary storage to compliment a barrel. Carboys or Corney kegs are good options. I like Corneys.

I have a 5 gallon Gibbs that has been GREAT! But, the first bourbon was over-oaked in just a couple months. What you really need is 5 gallons ready to throw in and a plan to make another 10 in the next year! Sample often (that never seems to be a problem) and try to find the balance between age and oak.

My Gibbs has given up very little to the angels. Surprisingly little even with the 27 months the last round spent in there. Solidly more than 4 gallons came back out even with plenty of sampling. YMMV.

I've had intentions on making a badmo too but my time-to-budget ratio leans budget right now. The Gibbs folks also sent me some nice offcuts for a modest fee too, so why not do both?

Good luck!

TwoSheds

I do have plenty of kegs. I have a few carboys and it's not particularly costly to get 1-gallon demis and even cheaper to get half-gallon canning jars.
I'm sure that I'll end up with a 5 eventually. I've been thinking of getting a couple of different sizes to experiment with.
I've been on the trail of emptied 5s and did find some at Evans Family Barrels - once used (bourbon, wheat or rye) and cheaper than a new Gibbs. I like the idea of a used barrel and these seem legit but I'm concerned that the place caters more to decorators and events than distillers.

[TDick]

I like the bad-mo idea and if I go that route, I'll make my own.
If I could score some ends from freshly-disassembled whiskey barrels, that would be great but the beauty of that style is that new charred wood can be "seasoned" with just a few ounces of good whiskey or whatever...just need enough to cover the wood when it's turned face-down.

No idea where you live but first thing is check out Facebook Marketplace. Does anyone still use Craig's List?
Just yesterday my Brother In Law - who does not know about my hobby - sent me a listing for full size used barrels for $65,00.
Especially as the planting season approaches, I'm betting there will be bourbon barrel planters listed.
If someone local has inventory, or if there's a distillery nearby, there's a chance they will have staves available.
Last year visiting Nashville, stopped in at Pennington for a tour and sampling.
Noticed a half barrel with stave pieces in the corner. Looked stupid and asked, "Gee, could I have one of those?"
"Sure".
Was able to cut it down to a nice supply of bourbon infused charred oak spears.

[Copperhead road]

Just yesterday my Brother In Law - who does not know about my hobby - sent me a listing for full size used barrels for $65,00.

It’s very common in Australia to see big barrels so much cheaper than the smaller ones.

[Windy City]

I have used both Gibbs and Barrel Mill barrels and will say hands down Barrel Mill barrels are much better

https://thebarrelmill.com/premium-barrels/

I just dumped/bottled three of them that had been aging between 4 and 5 years.
I still have another 8 aging that are between 3 and 5 years.
I have never had a leak and I can't say that for the Gibbs.
I use the 10 gallon and 15 gallon barrels but an interesting thing about their barrels is the 10 gallon actually holds 12 gallons and the 15 is a little over 17 gallons
As far as over oaking please read this thesis I had found about aging in small barrels.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=80899

At about a year and a half or even sooner it will taste over oaked and you may think your drop is ruined. I say leave it in the barrel and wait.
Give it more time and that over oaking turns into carmels, toffee, and other wonderful flavors. Lately I have been getting this orange flavor that doesn't hit your palate until about 20 seconds after your sip.
This over oak transformation has happened with all of my barrels regardless of manufacturer.

[Homebrewer11777]

I have been super happy with Badmo barrels. I have 6 of the 6.4 liter barrels and one of the 19 liter barrels. Product aging ranges from 19-9 months now and based on recent samples no concerns about over oaking. I have been tracking angels share by weight and have seen average of 0.2% per month in the 6.4L and 0.15% per month in the 19L. That would put total projected angels share at 7-10% at 4 years which seems very reasonable and what I might expect from a much larger all oak barrel.

[J A]

I have used both Gibbs and Barrel Mill barrels and will say hands down Barrel Mill barrels are much better

https://thebarrelmill.com/premium-barrels/

I just dumped/bottled three of them that had been aging between 4 and 5 years.
I still have another 8 aging that are between 3 and 5 years.
I have never had a leak and I can't say that for the Gibbs.
I use the 10 gallon and 15 gallon barrels but an interesting thing about their barrels is the 10 gallon actually holds 12 gallons and the 15 is a little over 17 gallons
As far as over oaking please read this thesis I had found about aging in small barrels.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=80899

At about a year and a half or even sooner it will taste over oaked and you may think your drop is ruined. I say leave it in the barrel and wait.
Give it more time and that over oaking turns into carmels, toffee, and other wonderful flavors. Lately I have been getting this orange flavor that doesn't hit your palate until about 20 seconds after your sip.
This over oak transformation has happened with all of my barrels regardless of manufacturer.

This is great info! The Barrel Mill is the other "serious" cooperage that I looked into. While I agree that 10 or 15 gallons is really a better size to age in, even the 5 gallon is a pretty massive amount of whiskey for me to have on hand.
Not to mention becoming a little costly on a hobby level...I just picked up my share of a grain buy through a local homebrew club and I have 3 bags that I'll dedicate to making wash. It should give me around 60 gallons of low wines that will translate to a solid gallons for aging after cuts and blending. Doubling that outlay to fill 10 gallons on top of the cost of the barrel starts to get noticeable.
When it comes to aging, I've only been playing around with quick infusion and short rests for now. It's really just novelty factor at this point but the spirit is smooth and flavorful even if it lacks complexity. It'll be interesting to play to see what longer aging can accomplish. I know it'll be compromised a little with the smaller barrel size but if distilleries can use 5 gallon barrels, it seems like a legitimate place to start.

[Copperhead road]

J A did you order a barrel from Evans Family Barrels?

[RBL]

I have several 1000 Oaks barrels and have been happy with them. on the plus side for me is they are "local" and allow me to pick them up saving the shipping costs.

[Deplorable]

I have 2 Barrel Mill Barrels, and both have been filled and emptied multiple times. Both purchased as freshly emptied single use barrels from a local distillery. One I re-coopered last year to address a leak between 2 staves that had developed. It currently holds an all molasses rum that's been in it for a little over a year. The other just got filled with wheated bourbon, and some supplemental AWO fingers I use for aging in glass. When the wheated bourbon comes out, I'll have to break this one down, scrape it, re-char it and see if it's still worth using for anything but the last stage of a solera aging program. They're old enough now that they really cant over-oak anything I put in them.

If you're concerned about the time investment of filling a 5 gallon barrel, then go with a BadMo, but just know that to see really good results from them, you need to plan on at least a couple of years before you get into it.

[J A]

J A did you order a barrel from Evans Family Barrels?

Not yet...I'm still debating. I don't have anything to put in it yet but I don't want to miss out since decent used barrels seem to come and go pretty quickly. I will say that I'm liking the idea of experimenting with a smaller size new barrel for my "sugar-shine" poitin batches.

[OldBlastard]

I've used a couple of 2-liter Redhead barrels and they've held up well in the garage, with temperatures from 98F in summer to -2F last month. We had a run of way low hudityband cold that led to the angels being thirsty, but that kicked up the ABV. Added a little product and will empty/refill in June.

[J A]

I have several 1000 Oaks barrels and have been happy with them. on the plus side for me is they are "local" and allow me to pick them up saving the shipping costs.

I've looked at the Thousand Oaks. Do you have the Heritage series? Distillery series? Other?

[RBL]

I have both. i like the Heritage since they do not have a spigot. less places to leak from. It really sucks to bump into the spigot and knock it loose ( ask me how i know ! )

[Secale]

Those barrels look nice. The 5 gallon one is probably the one I'd get.

[J A]

I have both. i like the Heritage since they do not have a spigot. less places to leak from. It really sucks to bump into the spigot and knock it loose ( ask me how i know ! )

Good to know. I like the simplicity of the Heritage, as well. That little wooden spigot is just asking for trouble. It's really more at home on a wedding display/bar decoration barrel. For holding spirits securely, the single bung makes more sense.
I ran across their stuff on Amazon and the prices are a little cheaper than on their website (at least for some of them) and shipping is free for Prime members. I decided to try a 10 liter to get things started. It'll hold me over until I can get enough all-malt barrel-proof to fill a 5.

[J A]

Update:
I received the Thousand Oaks barrel yesterday and it looks great in term of build quality and wood selection. I don't have anything to put in it yet but I hope to knock out a couple of fermentations in the next couple of weeks and strip out enough for a spirit run to fill it.
My plan is to run a malt fermentation and go behind that with a sugar head to quickly make up a proper volume to sit in it for a month or two while I'm building up enough all-malt low wines for a spirit run. Some of the new oak will be washed out of it by then so maybe the good stuff can sit it it for a little longer.

[Stump Lake]

I have a couple of Gibbs Brothers 3 gallon barrels that I have had very good luck with.

[Bolverk]

I have a couple of Gibbs Brothers 3 gallon barrels that I have had very good luck with.

How long are you "aging" in 3 gal barrels? First use, second, etc..

[Stump Lake]

How long are you "aging" in 3 gal barrels? First use, second, etc..

20260104_092213.jpg

I had HBB & CROW all grain in the them for about a year. First use #2 toast. I left them in a unheated/cooled shed for about 6 months before moving them into my home bar. After about a year it tasted over-oaked. I had some white HBB-AG that I topped it off with. That smoothed out the over-oaking.

They did oak a lot faster than my Badmo barrel. I like Gibbs Brothers Barrels. When I buy more barrels they will be Gibbs. Nothing wrong with Badmo barrels.

I have them in my home bar and like to pull off a draw stright from the barrel.

I plan to drain and bottle the whiskey and refill with some new CROW that I'm making now. I think the second filling will be just right on the oaking.

[nzbourbonguy]

I would highly recommend both Badmotivator and Ten30 Barrels. I have a few of each size badmo and ten30 that are collectively between 3 and 6 years old. I couldn't recommend either enough

[J A]

I just ordered a bunch of bain marie pots and some fresh bourbon barrel heads to make some hybrid barrels. I got the 6 quart and 8.25 quart sizes which should be about the same as the BadMo 1.8 gallon size. The Ten30 barrels are much smaller. When I cut lids from the barrel heads, I may have enough wood leftover for a few smaller pots and I'll get some 1.25 quart and 2 quart pots to experiment with.