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Author Topic: White oak tequila barrel  (Read 11217 times)

Offline edvinjonsson

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White oak tequila barrel
« on: March 02, 2012, 05:37:26 pm »
So I got a 5 gallon white oak barrel from a friend who's family owns a tequila distillery. Any ideas on what I can do with it? ::) It hasn't been used.

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2012, 05:39:52 pm »
Do you know if it is charred or toasted?  What kind of character are you looking to get out of it?  I think you can put any beer you want into it, just do it for a short period of time (taste it after a few days) or it will be WAY oaky.

Can you get Drew a used one? :)
Tom Schmidlin

Offline bluesman

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2012, 05:54:42 pm »
By law any bourbon must be made in new American white oak barrels which are charred befor use. If your barrel is charred it was probably intended for whiskey or fine wines. As far as beer goes it would depend on whether the barrel was charred. If charred you would want to consider flavoring dark beers like Portes or Stouts.
Ron Price

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2012, 06:03:01 pm »
Wine barrels are generally toasted, not charred.  Whiskey barrels are usually charred.  I don't know what they do for tequila.  I don't know that anyone sells barrels that are not at least lightly toasted.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline bluesman

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2012, 06:20:55 pm »
Wine barrels are generally toasted, not charred.  Whiskey barrels are usually charred.  I don't know what they do for tequila.  I don't know that anyone sells barrels that are not at least lightly toasted.

Perhaps the term for wine barrels is "lightly charred" or toasted.
Ron Price

Offline bluesman

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2012, 06:26:27 pm »
I think for tequila barrels all that is needed is to cure the barrel prior to filling with tequila, but I am not really up to speed on this craft.
Ron Price

Offline tschmidlin

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2012, 07:07:27 pm »
I've never heard toast referred to as light char, but maybe that's just me.  Light, Medium, Heavy toast, and some degrees in between.  If they are talking about light char, it is burnt black - the degree of char refers to the extent of the char in the wood, how far it penetrates, that kind of thing.  You can light different degrees of char just like with toast.
Tom Schmidlin

Offline bluesman

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2012, 07:16:06 pm »
I've never heard toast referred to as light char, but maybe that's just me.  Light, Medium, Heavy toast, and some degrees in between.  If they are talking about light char, it is burnt black - the degree of char refers to the extent of the char in the wood, how far it penetrates, that kind of thing.  You can light different degrees of char just like with toast.

I think some degree of char is used mostly for ports and sherries but wine barrels are considered toasted to varying degrees.
Ron Price

Offline edvinjonsson

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2012, 07:32:39 pm »
I think it is lightly toasted but i'm not quite sure, I'll ask him. Yeah I can probably get Drew a used one, but he'll have to come down to Mazatlan for it ;D

Offline erockrph

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #9 on: March 02, 2012, 08:32:08 pm »
Tequila is generally aged in barrels previously used for American Whiskey (I guess old Jack Daniels barrels are pretty common), but there is no standard. Some manufacturers (Milagro for example) use new french oak, but even these are lightly charred. This is generally what imparts the color to Anejo and Reposado tequilas.

Have these barrels been used for tequila yet? Frankly, I've always been curious about the combo of a citrusy APA or IPA combined with tequila (kind of going for the margarita flavor combo). If there's a good char on the barrels I'd probably do a fairly high gravity Black IPA that's hop bursted and dry hopped with Sorachi Ace as the main hop to get the big lemon thing going and maybe some smaller amounts of something like Chinook or Amarillo to add a little hop complexity.

If the barrel has never been used for tequila, I'd definitely be hunting down a good Arrogant Bastard clone recipe. I'm a huge fan of the oaked AB.
Eric B.

Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer

Offline edvinjonsson

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #10 on: March 02, 2012, 09:31:29 pm »
Thanks a lot!. No, it hasn't been used. They sell those to people that buy tequila in bulk, in a plastic container so they can store it and age it in there, but it's the same material as the barrels they use in the distillery and it has the same kind of toast. BTW do you know a good Arrogant Bastard clone? I love that beer, but everything about it in their website is CLASSIFIED. :o

Offline hoser

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #11 on: March 03, 2012, 12:20:04 pm »
This is the Arrogant Bastard clone I did based on a lot of research.  I think it tastes fairly close and is rediculously simple:

90% 2-row
10% C-150L

Mash 148F
90 min boil

66 IBUs of chinook @ 90min
2 oz. of chinook at 0 min for a 20 minute hot steep or whirlpool

WLP007 Dry English ale yeast ferment at 69F

Offline majorvices

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #12 on: March 03, 2012, 03:35:55 pm »
For a tequila bbl you don;t want an aggressive hoppy/malty beer like AB. You want something with subtle peppery and fruity nuances like a saison or belgian tripel. Any belgian would work well, but particularly the lighter SRM me thinks. That's my .02 anyway.

Offline cheshirecat

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #13 on: March 27, 2012, 04:44:40 pm »
I had a barrel aged Black Hole from Mikkeller a few weeks ago. He does the same beer three different ways, in a red wine, white wine, and tequila barrel. The one in the tequila barrel was amazing and for my pallet far the best! Actually think it is one of the best beers I have had this year (so far). Despite being a thick, malty imperial stout, the tequila barrel made it seem a little lighter in the mouthfeel, very refreshing vs pallet coating.  Here is a link, hopefully it will help give you some ideas.

http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/mikkeller-black-hole-barrel-aged-edition-tequila/144100/

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: White oak tequila barrel
« Reply #14 on: July 11, 2012, 10:08:47 pm »
Around Austin there's a brewery (twisted x) that makes an imperial schwarzbier aged in tequila barrels. It's incredible.
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