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  • Primary in barrels

    So I know a lot of brewers do primary in SS then move over to barrels for secondary aging but what are your experiences doing primary directly in the barrel. I've done so with American sour beers but I curious more on clean beers and/or ciders. Is there any huge drawbacks to it?

  • #2
    Temp control would be the biggest draw back. Even in a cooler it would take a lot longer for ambient temp to bring a barrel full of brew down to temp. Depending on how long you are aging in the barrel the beer will start to pick up autolysis flavors from the yeast. Then you have to rack off of a huge slug of yeast. Also many of the distilleries are rinsing their barrels with water that is not exactly super clean. A barrel can host wild yeast from when it was emptied at the distillery as well. Good Luck.
    Joel Halbleib
    Partner / Zymurgist
    Hive and Barrel Meadery
    6302 Old La Grange Rd
    Crestwood, KY
    www.hiveandbarrel.com

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    • #3
      Originally posted by BrewinLou View Post
      Temp control would be the biggest draw back. Even in a cooler it would take a lot longer for ambient temp to bring a barrel full of brew down to temp. Depending on how long you are aging in the barrel the beer will start to pick up autolysis flavors from the yeast. Then you have to rack off of a huge slug of yeast. Also many of the distilleries are rinsing their barrels with water that is not exactly super clean. A barrel can host wild yeast from when it was emptied at the distillery as well. Good Luck.
      The plan would be to move the barrels over to our sour program once it starts to pick up any wild yeast or bacteria in higher counts. We would probably re-use the same yeast in each barrel until so given the viability and vitality of the yeast is still high at the end of fermentation. Cooling temps were my biggest thought as well, but I'll try to control it with a fridge to the best of my ability. I've also been tinkering with a chiller that'll go directly into the barrel but who knows if it'll work.

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      • #4
        Install some copper cooling coils that can be removed for cleaning. A simple loop or two should fit through the bung hole along with a thermometer probe. Or take out the ends and fit a separate cover.

        Just don't use detergents for "cleaning" / sterilisation - hot water only unfortunately. I think steam would be too aggressive and soften the wood - which is why British brewers only ever used hot water for the traditional wooden casks (or Burton Union systems).
        dick

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        • #5
          I don't think he's on Probrewer, and I'm not sure if he'll help. But you may want to contact the owner of Mad Fritz brewing. He's based in Napa and does all his primary fermentation in old wine barrels.
          Manuel

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          • #6
            I've done this many times. Choose the right kind of yeast and you'll be fine and dandy. Give the barrels a good hot water rinse first, of course. I've only ever used Belgian/French yeasts: Trappist, saison, bière de garde, etc. These yeasts work really well with free-rise temperature fermentations. Use some drilled bungs and I recommend using some tubing from the drilled bung into a bucket of sani/water. At least until the fermentation slows down a bit. Then you can switch to those little home brewer airlocks jammed into the drilled bungs. Give the beer plenty of time to rest before racking or bottling. Bottle conditioning directly from the barrels works beautifully, too.
            Mike Hiller, Head Brewer
            Strangeways Brewing
            2277-A Dabney Road
            Richmond, VA 23230
            804-303-4336
            www.strangewaysbrewing.com

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