RE-Barreling?

[T47]

I have a question about re-barreling of Bourbon. Some buddies of mine at work and I are thinking it might be a fun experiment. Where do you folks who have done this get your barrels? I have found this site but I was curious if you all had a recommendation? Just seems like another good excuse to get together and enjoy some good bourbon and BBQ.

[NorCalBoozer]

I have a question about re-barreling of Bourbon. Some buddies of mine at work and I are thinking it might be a fun experiment. Where do you folks who have done this get your barrels? I have found this site but I was curious if you all had a recommendation? Just seems like another good excuse to get together and enjoy some good bourbon and BBQ.

I received mine through DougDog. Those look fine, since they state that they are made to hold bourbon. You just need to make sure that they are not using glue, etc to put it together.

I would probably recommend going with a 2 gallon if you can find one. The 5 gallon is going to take a huge amount of whiskey to fill it. My 2 gallon took a shade over 10 bottles of WT Rye.

Also mine is a toasted barrel, as opposed to char.

Other than that, it's pretty straight forward and it seems to work quite well.

Things mature very fast in these small barrels so you need to sample often.

People sampled my Rye this weekend and it seemed to get quite a positive response.

Greg

[T47]

Thanks Greg. I have found some "toasted" barrels at a local wine supply shop but the guy working there recommended the "charred" barrels for Whisky and they do not carry them. They don't look as well made as the ones at the site I found either and even with mail order they are about the same price for a 5-gallon barrel.

I hope to fill it with something less expensive...but I am in no hurry, just thought it would be fun to try.

I will get more info. before I commit to it. If the guys at work are going to pitch in it might not hurt so bad anyway.

Thanks for the info.

[kbuzbee]

Hi Todd, I got mine from 100Oaks. They are okay. It seemed to take a long time for them to stop leaking. They recommended soaking them in water before filling and I did that for like 6 weeks! it still leaked a bit after that. Do taste them often.

I also recommend toasted over charred. Full sized barreld need to be charred but smaller barrels age so fast any way toasting them slows things down just a bit.

Ken

[T47]

Thanks Ken. I will check them out. I will try and find out how makes the "toasted" wine barrels available to me locally. I can get them smaller that way which would be nice.

[Gillman]

I've tasted a few rebarreled efforts now. Some were very good. Some had a scent of "pine sap" that seemed out of place. I wonder if the barrels were seasoned or dried well (or in the same way as ordered by the distilleries). Maybe it has something to do with the size of the barrel. I think these experiments are very interesting and it is no surprise that results aren't always perfect. I admire that some people have tried this, are interested to push the boundaries and this is one way to do it. I think my sense with the small barrels is you can get a good result with only a little time aging time, maybe even just a month or so. 6 may be too long.

Gary

[FlashPuppy]

I would be very interested to get some "white dog" out of a distillery in order to play with aging. Now THERE is an experiment....

[OscarV]

[QUOTE][/QUOTE]

Hi Todd, I got mine from 100Oaks. They are okay. It seemed to take a long time for them to stop leaking. They recommended soaking them in water before filling and I did that for like 6 weeks! it still leaked a bit after that. Do taste them often.

I also recommend toasted over charred. Full sized barreld need to be charred but smaller barrels age so fast any way toasting them slows things down just a bit.

Ken

Tell us more about the re-barrelling.

What kind of bourbon did you use?

How long did you leave it in there?

How much did you use?

How did it taste? etc,etc.

[Ubertaster]

I have not tried this with Bourbon but have some experience with Tequila. I have aged Tequila in the past and I am presently aging two separate batches in 2 1/2 gallon barrels from 1000 Oaks. With Tequila we have the opportunity to start with unaged Blancos. At the present time it has been in the barrel for 6 months. Each time I test the barrels [about every two weeks] the product is more oakey and complex. I like it better because I prefer aged Tequila. I don't know when I will take the Tequila out of the barrels. I will probably just keep tasting until they are empty.

I have noticed that the aging process is relatively quick. I have been told this is because the small barrels have more surface area per liter than the large barrels the distilleries use. I would suggest you use a Bourbon that you like but use the younger aged ones so you can develop it to the taste you like. You will want to keep the barrels topped off at least until you start tasting [about two months]. I top off about once per week. You will not save any money doing this because of what the Angels take as their share. This has been an enjoyable sideline for me to the tasting hobby. I say do it. They look so cool on your bar. http://bjmiller11.mystarband.net/images/PICT0012b.jpg

bj

http://www.1000oaksbarrel.com/contact.html

[kbuzbee]

Tell us more about the re-barrelling.

What kind of bourbon did you use?

How long did you leave it in there?

How much did you use?

How did it taste? etc,etc.

Hi Oscar,

two barrels going right now, 10L Wild Turkey 101 and a 5 Gal Maker's. They've been in 8 months now and are just about ready to dump. Initially changes were subtle (it was Feb in Ohio!) but through the summer they've moved quite a bit showing more wood characture than the initial products.

Ken

[OscarV]

Do you have the barrels in a shed that is like a rickhouse?

Did they get to warm up his summer?

[T47]

I was at a Christmas party talking to my wife’s cousin, who is a wine maker in eastern WA. The topic of re-barreling came up. He says that the barrels are such a large expense for them that they use them until they are falling apart, and that some makers to save money, will use steel vats lined with the barrel staves. He suggested that I try a variation of that. Get a glass jug, much cheaper than a barrel, and place part of a toasted or charred stave inside with the Bourbon to age and add some flavor. He then went further and wondered about just cutting a piece of the stave down further to put in the original bottle. A local wine shop here in Seattle sells a package of toasted stave pieces for $12.00.

It would not look as good as a barrel...but might be worth a try to see if it works...I shall report back.

[Rughi]

I was at a Christmas party talking to my wife’s cousin, who is a wine maker in eastern WA. The topic of re-barreling came up.... He suggested that I try a variation of that. Get a glass jug, much cheaper than a barrel, and place part of a toasted or charred stave inside with the Bourbon to age and add some flavor.

That is how I started in winemaking - adding wood chips to glass carboys. It imparts tannins and vanillins, but I found that the lack of interplay of oxygen is a big missing component. I talked about this in a different context here

Still, it could be fun to try, as bourbon has already breathed and evaporated for several years prior to sale, and one may just want more wood character. Best of all, it wouldn't require a major investment if you had access to a barrel or even just some raw American White Oak.

Try it out!

Roger