Barrel Number 01: Process & Timeline

In January 2015, I ordered a 13.2-gallon barrel made of a new Hungarian Oak from MoreBeer. Barrel aging was something I had done a bit in the past with a 3-gallon whiskey barrel. That experience was fairly limited, however. I first filled the barrel with a stout to scrub a lot of the oak and whiskey character, and then subsequently added my first batch of Ruby (a Flanders Red-inspired beer). However, while the next beer was in the barrel (another batch of Ruby, I believe), I unfrotuantely discovered some mold growing on the bottom of the barrel due to excess moisture in the basement of the house we were living in at that time, and I ended up ditching the barrel as I didn't want to ruin another batch. (That barrel still serves as a nice decoration in our basement pub, however.)

For this barrel, I made sure to read all that I could about cleaning and maintenance. The post I leaned most-heavily on was Embrace the Funk's Barrel Cleaning and Storage post. I also followed the instructions from the barrel maker (Vadai), which indicated that a thorough rinse with hot water would be necessary to pull some of the "new oak" character out of the barrel. The instructions also call for swelling the heads of the barrel by putting boiling water on top of them, as well as a few other steps, so make sure to read the full instructions if you plan to use the methods discussed here and you're not relying on instructions from your barrel supplier or elsewhere on the web. I'm sure there are plenty of ways to properly hydrate a barrel and prep it for storage, but these methods worked for me so I'll be following them in the future.

With those thoughts in mind, I spent a few nights filling the barrel with boiling water, bunging it up, and rolling it around. Then I would rinse and repeat. I initially used the wooden bung/peg that came with the barrel as that swelled as water soaked into it, allowing it to form a better seal and stick inside the barrel as I rolled it back and forth. Then, in ordered to remove it, I gently tapped it back and forth with a rubber mallet. (Safety note: Make sure to very slowly pull the bung out and have it pointed away from you the whole time as the steam from the boiling water will create quite a bit of pressure.)

After the barrel was prepped using Vadai's methods, I added a "holding solution of citric acid and potassium metabisulfite (KMS) at a rate of 4g citric acid 8g KMS per gallon of barrel volume" based on instructions from Midwest Supplies since, at that point, I didn't have enough beer ready for the barrel. When using the KMS, but sure to be in a well-ventilated area and follow proper safety precautions, as the KMS has an extremely-strong odor that will certainly sting your lungs and make you cough quite a bit if you're not careful.

On May 30, 2015, I was finally ready to fill the barrel. At that point, the holding solution had been in the barrel for around four months. I drained out the holding solution, and then gave the barrel several rinses with hot water, followed by several rinses with cold water. I wanted to make sure I had rinsed all of the holding solution so as not to adversely affect the beer going into the barrel. 

The initial barrel fill was a mix of Citrine (spontaneous) and Farmhouse Mild (Batch 06). The ratio was approximately 10 gallons of Farmhouse Mild to a little over three gallons of Citrine. This was based mostly what I had on hand (as I was quite anxious to get the barrel filled at that point!), though of course I did a test blend in a small glass to confirm that I liked the ratio before filling the barrel. The combination of tropical fruit and light funk from the Farmhouse Mild paired really well with the earthy funk, lemon, and pineapple notes from the Citrine. Blending these two beers was nothing new to me, as earlier iterations of these beers had been used to blend the first beer in my Science & Art series. The tasting notes for Science & Art #1 can be found here. At this point I was just using a standard auto-siphon to get the beers into the barrel, though I've since moved on to a barrel-transfer tool that is quite useful (more on that below).

Original barrel fill (May 30, 2015)

Of course, I checked on the barrel the night after filling and there was either some residual fermentation going on or some trapped CO2 from the beers was released, as the bung popped out a bit (photo below).

Following other oak-aged beers that I had done in the past, the name for pulls of blonde saison from the barrel have been known as Dionysus #3.

Additional fermentation (or release of trapped CO2) (May 31, 2015)

The remainder of this post is a timeline devoted to the barrel.  I had incorporated notes on the barrel's path to date, and will continue to update the post as beers move into and out of the barrel, posting links to recipes for the beers that spend time in the barrel, as well as tasting notes for each beer that comes out of the barrel.  

Timeline

07.05.2015:  I pulled my first "true" barrel sample.  (I had previously used a small pipette to take tiny tastes to check on progress, as I really wasn't sure how long it would take to get the character I was looking for.)  The beer smelled and tasted of pineapple and lemon with a light acidity.  There was a bit of background funk and citrus pith.  Delicate, with some oak notes emerging. Aside from the oak, the beer has a delicate white-wine character.  Hint of white grape and green gooseberry underneath the more-prominent pineapple and lemon.

09.07.2015: I transferred 5 gallons from the barrel to a keg and then topped off the barrel with Demeter Auran (Batch 101) and a little bit of the Yeast Bay Wallonian portion from Batch 100.   

Transferring from the barrel (09.07.2015)

09.12.2015: After the initial pull was carbonated, I was eager to start drinking it.  Unfortunately, I thought that the beer was a bit too oaky, especially when poured from the tap at a cooler temperature, so I mostly used this first batch as a blending component, filling glasses with a few ounces of this before filling the rest with other saisons that I had on tap at the time.

11.10.2015: Barrel gravity of 1.002 and pH of 3.59.  Still a bit too oaky for my tastes.  Transferred  three gallons to 14oz passion fruit pulp and three gallons to 2 lb of mango chunks.

Topped off the barrel with Namur 3724 (+dregs) (Batch #102) at 1.004 and pH 4.41. All of one carboy and a bit of another.

02.06.2016: Pulled the entirety of the barrel and then filled with a batch of Demeter Auran   This pull had less oak, mild acidity, lemon, hay, touch of vanilla, and tropical fruit.    Really, really pleased with it all around.  It might be the best beer I've brewed to date.

03.23.2016: Emptied the barrel of the Demeter Auran.  I didn't have anything at the time to re-fill the barrel and I wasn't brewing again for a bit after that, so I rinsed the barrel with warm water and filled it with the same holding solution I used after first cleaning it after the original acquisition, as described above.

I emptied the barrel with a very handy stainless transfer tool, pictured below.  Here are the plans I used to build it.

07.06.2016: I rinsed the barrel with several rounds of hot water followed by a spray-out with the hose, then several rounds of cool water. I then purged the barrel with CO2 and started adding beer:

• 4.5 gallons of Blank Space (carboy-fermented). SG of 1.006. Light lemon and green grape with definite backing flaked grain body and feel.
• 5.5 gallons of Blank Space (bucket-fermented). SG of 1.004. Flavor is similar to the carboy version but with a little bit of sulfur in the nose at first, though that quickly dissipated. 
• 3 gallons of Wallonian-fermented wort from the 04.29.2016 WPA batch (Batch #104).  SG is 1.004.

12.17.2016: Filled barrel with Vert, Rustic with Saaz and Basil, and base Rustic.

12.29.2016: Added dregs of 10.27.2015 3F OG to the barrel.

Science & Art #3: Tasting Notes

Now that my keg for this blend kicked yesterday, I figured it was about time to put up some tasting notes.  First, a bit of background on the beer, which is the third "Science & Art" installation, a series of blended saisons.  The first was a blend of approximately 85% Farmhouse Mild and 15% Citrine, and the second was a similar blend of Dionysus #2 and Citrine.  The series has really inspired me to make sure to keep plenty of extra beer on hand in kegs for future blending, though I may also look at putting portions of batches that are promising for future blends into 1-gallon jugs.  I've already started to ensure that I'll have plenty of Citrine on hand at all times for future blending, and -- of course -- enough for blending multiple batches of Citrine and aging some on fruit.  (Michigan tart cherry version coming soon.)

For this one, all of the components of the first two were involved in different ratios, and I also added in Demeter Passion, which is a portion of a recent Demeter Auran batch aged on passion fruit puree.  I started with a keg of Farmhouse Mild, and it made up approximately 50% of the blend.  From there, Citrine made up about 20%, with Dionysus #2 (aged version of this batch of Namur) and Demeter Passion each filling out 15% each for the remainder.  I blended this directly into the keg of Farmhouse Mild that I had around, as I was looking for something unique to submit to a TalkBeer saison homebrew competition.  The results of that should be coming in soon enough, and I'll make sure to post some outside feedback once I have that.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of this one, so the best I've got is a photo from a friend's Untappd checkin:

Appearance: Mostly clear with a bit of haze.  Pale golden color with an orange tint.  High level of saison carbonation leads to great retention with plenty of lacing on the way down.  (Unfortunately the above doesn't capture the usual form with a pour out of a growler that I had filled straight from the tap.)

Nose: Passion fruit and orange zest up front with a light acidic bite.  Very mild hints of oak with a bit of grain in the background.  Brett-related notes of mango and pineapple as well.  Pretty balanced with nothing standing out too much, though it's surprising how much passion fruit came through given that (1) Demeter Passion wasn't too heavy on the passion fruit and (2) that it comprised only about 15% of the blend.

Flavor: Quite similar to the nose, with the Brett-derived tropical fruit taking a more prominent role, though passion fruit is close behind.  A bit of citrus zest along with a mild funk, which appears here quite a bit more than in the nose.  Reminiscent of some of the character I often get from Crooked Stave beers, which makes sense as those dregs were used in a few components of this blend.  Just a bit of oak in the background as well.  Very light acidity, coming through more in the finish than as a substantial flavor component (just where I like it).

Mouthfeel: Light and crisp, though a decent enough amount of body coming from all the adjuncts used in many of the underlying beers, as well as the oak component coming from Dionysus #2.  Quite easy drinking, and was perfect for the first half of summer.  Light funk and acidity made this complex enough without being overpowering.  This probably explains why I went through the keg so quickly.

Overall: I was extremely pleased with this beer, and plan to blend something similar in the future.  I'd like maybe just a touch more oak in a future blend.  My only knock on this was that as it warmed, I could get just a hint of malt oxidation, which is likely because the Demeter Passion that I used came from bottles that I very gently poured into the keg to top off the blend after flushing the headspace with CO2.  While I was careful, I'm sure there was some oxygen pickup.

As mentioned above, in the future I'm hopefully going to keep around extra portions of miscellaneous beers in kegs or carboys so that I can blend easier.  Also, next time I'll definitely have to finish blending in a bottling bucket so that I can more accurately measure components and anything from bottles can be poured with the neck fully-submersed in the liquid.  Since this one was a bit on the fly and in a bit of a rush, that didn't happen here.

Finally, Science & Art #4 should be coming up soon, using Demeter Vert as the base.

UPDATE: This beer won the above-mentioned TalkBeer Homebrew Saison Competition.  Here is a link to the scoresheets that I received.

Namur (Batch 04): Recipe

This is a short post, as the recipe is just a bit different than the recipe for Namur (Batch 03) that I posted last week with different hops and yeast. Here went with a more lemon and lime character, using Sorachi Ace and and Wakatu. I pitched Wyeast's 3726 Farmhouse Ale, as well as Sanctification dregs to one of the buckets. However, the "clean" bucket ended up getting Brett as well.  I've been fermenting in buckets with the lids loosely set, and didn't think about that this time.  Not surprisingly, some Brett got into each the portion that only received 3726.  At around 4 weeks, each portion looked and tasted basically the same.

 The biggest difference here is that this one is going to secondary with soaked oak cubes. One with white wine-soaked oak cubes, and the other with gin-soaked cubes. The latter may also then get some lime juice and zest at the end.

Here are the full details on the new batch:

Batch Number: 83

Brew Date: April 6, 2014.

Bottle Date:

Batch Size: 10 Gallon

OG: 1.049

FG:

Fermentation Temperature: 70-72* F

IBU: 28.4

ABV: 6.2%

SRM: 3.6

Mash: Single infusion for 60 minutes at 150* F

Boil: 60 minute

Fermentables

10.0 lb Dingeman's Belgian Pilsner

3.0 lb Wheat, Flaked

2.0 lb Spelt, Raw

1.0 lb Oats, Flaked

1.0 lb Rye, Flaked

1.0 lb Acid Malt

Salts & Water

5.0g Sodium Chloride (all into the kettle)

3.0g Calcium Chloride (all into the kettle)

1.0g Gypsum (all into the kettle)

Resulting water profile is as follows:

Mash pH (est.): 5.44

Calcium: 51

Magnesium: 11

Sodium: 39

Chloride: 88

Sulfate: 36

5mL lactic acid added to the sparge water to get it to a pH around 5.5.

Hops

5mL HopShot at 60 minutes

4.0 oz. Wakatu (8.0 AAU) at flameout

2.0 oz. Sorachi Ace (12.0 AAU) at flameout

Other

2.0 tsp. Wyeast Yeast Nutrient at 10 minutes (double the normal amount to provide extra FAN, per the suggestion in Phil Markowski's Farmhouse Ales)

Yeast

Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale

Russian River Sanctification dregs (both eventually, per the notes below)

Notes

04.06.2014: Brewday.  2L starter of Wyeast 3726 has been on stir plate for 24 hours.  Was previously stepped up twice from an old vial, previously having done a 2L starter of 1.020 wort on 02.18.2014.  Should have about 350 billion cells per yeastcalculator.com.  Split the starter evenly between buckets, not decanting.  Added the dregs from a bottle of Russian River Sanctification (Batch 007) to one of the buckets.  Each received 30 seconds of pure oxygen prior to pitching.

Had a big problem with the mash.  The tube between the spigot and the false bottom nipple somehow came off during sparging.  Will find out if hot side aeration is an issue, as eventually had to dump the mash into a pot to find out what the issue was after trying to reach in with Blichmann gloves to no avail.

04.07.2014: At 12 hours, good krausen and sitting at 70* F, with temperature controller at 72* F with +/- 2* differential.  I bumped it up to 74* F on the controller, which should likely set things at 72* F.  At 36 hours, bumped it up another two degrees on the controller, hoping to get fermentation to 74* F.  At 48 and 60 hours, bumped controller setting to 78* F and 80*F, respectively.

04.12.2014: Turned temperature down to 70* F to prepare water bath for Batch 084.

04.13.2014: Removed both portions from water bath and will continue at room temperature.  Portion with straight WY3726 is at 1.008.  Flavor profile is pretty bland with mild melon and a touch of spice.  Portion with Sanctification dregs is at 1.006 and is similar, but has a slightly-stronger profile.

04.30.2014: The straight 3726 portions appears to have a Brett infection, likely because I hadn't sealed the lids and there's quite a bit of Brett floating around that area with other open fermenters.  Today, transferred that straight portion (about 4 gallons) to a keg with 28g of oak cubes that have been soaking in gin since 02.16.2013.  The Sanctification portions was also about 4 gallons, and was transferred to a keg with 28g of oak cubes that have been soaking in Verdejo wine since 03.03.2013.

08.12.2014: At around 3.5 months, I checked in on these batches, which have been sitting in pressurized kegs since the end of April (I had checked a few times before as well).  I think that the gin version needs a bit more time (and I'll likely add some lime zest as well), but the white-wine version was doing quite well.  The last time I did something with these Verdejo cubes -- Dionysus #2 -- it ended up a bit too oak for my tastes, and that was at 5-6 months, so I think this may be the sweet spot.  It also just so happens that I'm nearly out of draft beer, so it was time for this one to transition over.  Tasting notes should be up within the next few weeks.