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Barreling Question


Georgeous

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A local brewery had 550 gallons of a milk stout sour in the barrel aging process. They were going to dump it out but as the owner is a friend of mine I asked if I could have it to distil. Long story short after a stripping then a spirit run I ended up with 30 gallons of some of the finest tasting unaged malt whiskey.
Here is my question, I want to barrel age it. So if I want to fill a 53g barrel I would need to proof it down to from 159.4 to 92, so first question is that too low to barrel age? I really did not want to barrel at less than 100 proof? Well what is if there is a minimum proof for barrel aging? if I proof at 100 proof in to the barrel I would have about 48.5 gallons in a 53 gallon barrel, is that too much head space?

 

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We have played with many experiments of less than full barrels with no downside.  Some folks recommend short-filling barrels for various reasons.  Unlike beer and wine that may still be fermenting, your spirit is complete, so set it to whatever proof you want and put it in the barrel!

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19 hours ago, Georgeous said:

A local brewery had 550 gallons of a milk stout sour in the barrel aging process. They were going to dump it out but as the owner is a friend of mine I asked if I could have it to distil. Long story short after a stripping then a spirit run I ended up with 30 gallons of some of the finest tasting unaged malt whiskey.
Here is my question, I want to barrel age it. So if I want to fill a 53g barrel I would need to proof it down to from 159.4 to 92, so first question is that too low to barrel age? I really did not want to barrel at less than 100 proof? Well what is if there is a minimum proof for barrel aging? if I proof at 100 proof in to the barrel I would have about 48.5 gallons in a 53 gallon barrel, is that too much head space?

 

We've barreled some as low as 88 proof....some of the best stuff we've dumped.

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If you're looking for a really clean lighter malt continue rectifying to that hight of proof but if you want a grainier more full bodied visceral substantial whiskey, which I would've wanted off that mash feed, I'd recommend pulling it off at lower proof for a more robust whiskey. This way too you wouldn't have to adjust as much with water pre barreling, Having the water come through the still grainside will give you much more congeners than adding in water later......

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21 hours ago, Huffy2k said:

I would love to have the barrel budget to try aging at 92 proof, I'd definitely try that - less dilution when (if) you proof for bottling!  Your final 30 gallons of unaged malt whiskey is 159.2 proof?  

Huffy2k, I am not clear if you are saying yes barrel at 92 proof or not? and my final proof is 159.4 at 60°

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On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 8:18 AM, Northern Waters said:

We have played with many experiments of less than full barrels with no downside.  Some folks recommend short-filling barrels for various reasons.  Unlike beer and wine that may still be fermenting, your spirit is complete, so set it to whatever proof you want and put it in the barrel!

I would have 4.5 gallons of headspace if I barrel at 100 proof, have you dealt with that much headspace before

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1 hour ago, Georgeous said:

I would have 4.5 gallons of headspace if I barrel at 100 proof, have you dealt with that much headspace before

I wouldn't sweat it. 4.5 gallons isn't all that much head space, we see that liquid level in the barrel about a year after filling. We also have some half-filled barrels, in my experience the extra head space helps move the spirit along but also increases the angel share a bit. All the half-full ones are where I can see them in case they develop leaks as I've heard that can happen but haven't seen much evidence of it.  

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