Cask maturing suggestions

[minesa1664]

Hello guys

I have seen brew UK have some virgin wooden casks for sale.

Anyone used them before?

Was thinking of brewing an imperial Stout and putting it in one for 3 months or so.

Cheers

Will

 

[clibit]

Seems not. Why not give one a go?

 

[Fil]

got a link to the casks all i can find on the site is the SS pins.. tia

 

[rodabod]

Other (quicker) option is to age on barrel chips. I. Going to try this with Jack Daniels chips.

 

[Halfacrem]

Looks interesting. Here's the link http://www.brewuk.co.uk/oak-barrel.html

I don't think these would be classed as virgin casks, as it says they are reconditioned from port or cider barrels, which is for the better as virgin oak would probably have too much of an influence on a beer.

I would imagine the staves get bought in and are 're fitted' to make new barrels. I would also imagine it might be best to fill them with water at first to make sure they don't leak your precious beer over your garage floor :smile:

I was going to suggest you fill them with some new make spirit to age some whisky first, but that might be expensive and hold up the barrel for a few years :grin:

 

[McMullan]

Other (quicker) option is to age on barrel chips. I. Going to try this with Jack Daniels chips.

Where would you source the oak chips, rodabod? I'm thinking about next year's christmas ale...

 

[Halfacrem]

Where would you source the oak chips, rodabod? I'm thinking about next year's christmas ale...

Not used this site before, but I've come across oak chips here..

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Oak-Chips.html

Bung them in a muslin bag and 'dry chip' them for a few days for effect, I guess. Would have to be careful about over doing it, but it would certainly be cheaper than diving in head on with a big barrel.

 

[Halfacrem]

As an addition, for anyone interested in Whisky, the very informative and entertaining Ralfy Mitchell has some ideas here for improving Whiskys, that might be transferable to the adventurous brewer! This includes toasting fresh oak..

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zRkoT6nFu0"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zRkoT6nFu0[/ame]

 

[rodabod]

Where would you source the oak chips, rodabod? I'm thinking about next year's christmas ale...

You can get the chips in the link posted above, but I was planning on using the Jack Daniels chips you get for smoking in BBQs. Get them for £6 a bag when in stock in B&Q. I think they have cleared most BBQ stocks now though.

 

[Fil]

Looks interesting. Here's the link http://www.brewuk.co.uk/oak-barrel.html

I don't think these would be classed as virgin casks, as it says they are reconditioned from port or cider barrels, which is for the better as virgin oak would probably have too much of an influence on a beer.

I would imagine the staves get bought in and are 're fitted' to make new barrels. I would also imagine it might be best to fill them with water at first to make sure they don't leak your precious beer over your garage floor :smile:

I was going to suggest you fill them with some new make spirit to age some whisky first, but that might be expensive and hold up the barrel for a few years :grin:

thanks for the link.. no mention of the level of internal charring ? if any? might email them with that Q..