Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Styles for wine barrel  (Read 4505 times)

Offline kramerog

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2262
    • My LinkedIn page
Styles for wine barrel
« on: December 06, 2013, 09:27:35 am »
I can get a used 25-gal wine barrel from a wine maker.  The barrel will probably not contribute much oak flavor due to the amount of wine that has already passed through the barrel.  I'm not sure if I'll get a red or a white wine.  Any recommendations for beer styles for the first batch?

Offline HoosierBrew

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 13031
  • Indianapolis,IN
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2013, 09:36:04 am »
A white wine barrel could work well with a saison. Would further enhance the tart, winey character, obviously.
Jon H.

Offline Stevie

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 6858
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2013, 04:33:17 pm »
6 step process

1 - Fill it as fast as you can, might need others to help you
2 - Add bugs
3 - Let sit
4 - Pull 5 or 10 gallons off and package
5 - Top off with new stuff
6 - Enjoy

When I get a sour barrel, I plan on keeping it full with Saison or Belgian Blonde.

Offline 1vertical

  • I spend way too much time on the AHA forum
  • ********
  • Posts: 2702
  • Ozone Layer. Actual location
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2013, 10:02:31 pm »
Bourbon barrel Porter comes to mind...you can get the oak from the cask
and add bourbon to your liking.

Strong Dark Belgian for the red wine bbl

A flemmish thing  like the Dutchess but beware it gets close to the vinegar zone.

Or any beer of choice that you can think would be enhanced with the old remnants
of the wood's previous occupant....You can always sour with new bugs, brett, pedio,Lacto etc.
Every decision you make will change the contents.  Think of this as a work in progress
rather than a one time brew. Imagine putting an imperial stout together in a cask to set
it sailing upon the long voyage to the russian courtisans......
« Last Edit: December 07, 2013, 10:05:12 pm by 1vertical »
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

Offline majorvices

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 11326
  • Polka. If its too loud you're too young.
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2013, 07:26:19 am »
I have some experience with wine barrel aging. One of the best most well received beers I ever brewed was a saison in freshly dumped chardonnay barrels. I've also experimented with darker belgians in red wine barrels and currently have a reddish belgian strong aging in cab bbls.

For wine I like definitely think belgian style beers marry better with the wine notes as opposed to whiskey bbls, which tend to marry better with cleaner profile American or English ale yeasts.

Offline hopfenundmalz

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 10678
  • Milford, MI
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2013, 08:17:08 am »
The cub did a Saison in a Cab. barrel that was tasty.

I would stick with a yeast driven beer, as barrels strip some of the hop character. A big malty beer might work, but I have no experience.
Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Offline kylekohlmorgen

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1363
  • Saint Louis, MO
    • The South House Pilot Brewery
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #6 on: December 11, 2013, 11:10:07 am »
Tripel is really nice w/ red wine barrels (ala Allagash Curieux).
Twitter/Instagram: @southhousebrew

Recipes, Brett/Bacteria Experiments: http://SouthHouseBeer.com/

Offline dbarber

  • Brewer
  • ****
  • Posts: 353
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #7 on: December 13, 2013, 08:23:50 am »
Tripel is really nice w/ red wine barrels (ala Allagash Curieux).

That does sound tasty, but Cureiex is aged in Jim Beam barrels.  Our club filled our red wine barrel with a wheat wine.
Dave Barber
Orwigsburg, PA
AHA Member, BJCP National

Offline kramerog

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2262
    • My LinkedIn page
Saison for wine barrel
« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2014, 12:07:45 pm »
The wine barrel has had 4 batches of red in it including most recently a concord wine.  I want to do a saison in it.   I would prefer to not sour the saison this one time although modest sourness is OK.  I think that I'll try to control the sourness primarily by getting the saison really dry.  Any thoughts or tips on prepping the barrel or brewing the beer?  How much aging is likely to be beneficial?

Offline denny

  • Administrator
  • Retired with too much time on my hands
  • *****
  • Posts: 27090
  • Noti OR [1991.4, 287.6deg] AR
    • Dennybrew
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2014, 12:32:31 pm »
My experience is that it's almost impossible to avoid sour using a wine barrel.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline HoosierBrew

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 13031
  • Indianapolis,IN
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2014, 12:43:07 pm »
+1.  I think you'll definitely pick up some tartness/sourness from the barrel. Sounds pretty complementary to saison to me. As for getting it nice and dry, I mash saisons  @ 147F for 90 minutes. I think that'll get what you're looking for. Sounds like a great beer !
Jon H.

Offline hopfenundmalz

  • Global Moderator
  • I must live here
  • *****
  • Posts: 10678
  • Milford, MI
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #11 on: April 22, 2014, 12:59:20 pm »
Our club did a Saisin in a wine barrel, and it came off great with a little sour and funk.
Jeff Rankert
AHA Lifetime Member
BJCP National
Ann Arbor Brewers Guild
Home-brewing, not just a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

Offline jeffy

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 4222
  • Tampa, Fl
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #12 on: April 22, 2014, 04:53:54 pm »
One of the best dogfish head beers I had was a witbier aged in a red wine barrel.  Red and White, they called it.
Jeff Gladish, Tampa (989.3, 175.1 Apparent Rennarian)
Homebrewing since 1990
AHA member since 1991, now a lifetime member
BJCP judge since 1995

Offline reverseapachemaster

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
  • *********
  • Posts: 3777
    • Brain Sparging on Brewing
Re: Styles for wine barrel
« Reply #13 on: April 23, 2014, 07:07:49 am »
You may want to hit that thing with a sulfur stick before filling unless you're after making sour beer.

I've had all sorts of beers using wine barrels to good effect. After you strip out most of the wine/oak character it will be a good candidate for sour beer but you should be able to get a few clean beers through it with some barrel character. Belgian beer styles easily lend themselves to wine barrels but you can get adventurous. There are excellent red wine barrel aged porters and stouts out there. One of the most interesting and delicious chardonnay barrel aged beers I've had was an alt. Seems weird but it was quite excellent.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing