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Broke open the 2L barrel of Manhattan mix tonight. Final exams are graded and in the book, the boy is officially going to college on a good sized scholarship to play soccer and I decided it was time to treat myself. The mix had been in about 5 1/2 weeks. It's nice. Definitely darker than the original mix. It coats the glass well with good legs and the flavored have really come together.

I've got a poor mans pappy mix in the other barrel. It's waiting till the boy heads off to school in a couple of months.

I dumped my 3L barrel the other day of Four Roses YL. Put it in the barrel on 12-30-2014, stuck it in the garage, turned the barrel occasionally, then decided to dump it on 05-31 (I think, around there anyway). Very much improved flavor and color - a nice bourbon to sip neat.

I dumped my 2L barrel about a month before that that I had some Larceny in. Put it in the barrel the same day as the Four Roses, but dumped it around the beginning of May. Darkened it up and put a little more oak and spice into it. Not overwhelming or a massive improvement, but it did help it some.

Has anyone tried home aging in glass with charred wood in the container? Obviously not as cool as your own barrel, but way easier to make leak free and to clean.

e.g.
http://bourbonr.com/blog/how-to-age-whiskey-at-home/

Bump

What other formula's, like the Poor Man's Pappy, have other's tried? I saw the one with the Jim Beam and the mixed drink ones...

I bought a handle of Weller Special Reserve to try my first batch. Nothing else really caught my eye at the store so will give it a shot

I have one of these setups. Works better for cocktails than straight bourbon IMHO. I have a barrel as well that I age PMP in that is nails.

OK, here's what I decided to try:

Barrel 1
60% Bulleit
30% Bulleit 10 Year
10% Bulleit Rye

Mixed it in glass before hand to give it a whirl. It's actually a really nice blend!

Barrel 2
60% Old Weller Antique
40% WL Weller 12

I have a mix that I bottled a while back so I can compare.

Barrel 3
20% WL Weller 12
80% Buffalo Trace

Hope these all turn out well.

I decided to try Weller Special Reserve in mine

Hey plowboy, have you pulled your weller out yet? How long you going to let it sit?

I let it age for 5 weeks and this was the first batch in the barrel. It's has a lot of oak and probably should of pulled it a week or so earlier. It's still good but find myself putting a drop of water in sometimes. Have some PMP aging now

Anyone have problems opening the spigot once the liquid is in the barrel? I've aged some Weller for a few months and when I open the spigot - nothing...

Comes out super slow unless I pulled plug on top also.

So for those that plan to age their homebrew in their barrel, here are some lessons learned from my first experience. Do not fill the barrel to the brim or if you do, get a release valve at your homebrew store that will fit into the bung hole. I lost a quarter of my beer to secondary fermentation. Anticipating that possibility however, I put my barrel in a garbage bag (the barrel is now stained on the outside black by the overflow of stout past the now warped bung, makes the whole barrel look antiqued). The pressure from the secondary fermentation also warped some of the staves, so I think a release valve is absolutely mandatory next time. Fortunately after emptying, there appears to be no leaks in the barrel. The barrel has been cleaned and sanitized and another round of bourbon has been added, still no leaks after a couple of days. A sample of the beer prior to bottling tasted fantastic even without carbonation, on what was actually a mediocre stout that had some off flavors. Unfortunately I tried a new recipe for the stout (go with a proven recipe is another lesson). So only three bottles of beer yielded from the 2 liter barrel and they should be ready for consumption after Labor Day.

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Comes out super slow unless I pulled plug on top also.

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This, need to pull the bung to allow good flow.

Just bottled the blends I put in my 1L barrels back on 6/27:

Barrel 1 - Bulleit Blend
60% Bulleit
30% Bulleit 10 Year
10% Bulleit Rye

Mixed it in glass before hand to give it a whirl. It's actually a really nice blend!

9/6 Taste: Caramel and oak. Smooth. Nice bite of heat after the swallow - almost feels like a cool mint at the very end. Smooth and nice to drink. It's more robust than the straight Bulleit 10, if that makes sense, and longer heat. Added a splash of water to the blend and it made the oak come out more. It's better without the water.

Barrel 2 - "Poor Man's Pappy"
60% Old Weller Antique
40% WL Weller 12

I have a mix that I bottled a while back so I can compare.

9/6 Taste: Lots of oak, but not over-powering. Rich and smooth, alcohol heat (but very little bite) at the end. The blended, but not barreled, mixture is good too, just a little less robust; but it has more of the toffee/buttery taste. Both are tasty; but quite different. Poured some Van Winkle 12 Lot B for comparison sake (you know, science and all ). Neither blend measures up, but they are both nice.

Barrel 3
20% WL Weller 12
80% Buffalo Trace

9/6 Taste: Nothing special. Maybe a good mixer.

My favorite so far has been Heaven Hill Bottle and Bond 6yr - phenomenal

I received a 5 liter oak barrel for Christmas and am trying to make poor man's Pappy. I am having trouble finding enough Old Weller Antique. Currently only have 1.5 liters. Is it okay to mix that and the 2 liters of Weller 12 that I have and then mix the final 1.5 liters of Weller Antique once I find it? Any harm in mixing in the middle of aging?

It won't hurt anything. Just add some extra time in the barrel to let it mix in well and get some oak once you get it. That way it will be ready sooner than if you wait to barrel until you have everything.

Thanks. It all worked out. I was able to find two more liters of Old Weller Antique last night at my 10th liquor store to try.

Good luck with the Pappy. I have made two batches of spiced rum with molasses that have been pretty popular with the neighbors since my last update.

got a small one for Christmas as well

I just made a barrel of slime. Emptied a 2L barrel of Manhattan mix back in December and wasn't ready to refill it at the time so I just filled it with water to keep the staves from drying out. Today I emptied the water to refill it with a new batch of mix and I poured out a barrel full of slime mold. Guess I will have to sterilize it and rechar the inside.

If I were in your shoes, I'd probably suck it up and buy a new barrel. No reason to risk dealing with mold.

It's apparently common in the wine barreling groups. Is the sugars in the wine or in my case the sweet vermouth and the little agave nectar I added. Deep South and the other barrel sellers have sterilization kits. I shouldn't have put water in the dead period. Better to just let it air dry.

Just got my 2L barrel in. Any recommendations of what I should try first?

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It's apparently common in the wine barreling groups. Is the sugars in the wine or in my case the sweet vermouth and the little agave nectar I added. Deep South and the other barrel sellers have sterilization kits. I shouldn't have put water in the dead period. Better to just let it air dry.

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Nope, better to keep it filled with water - just change it out every week or so.

Letting a barrel dry out is bad ju-ju. You may develop a leak that never seals back up if you let the staves dry too much.

You can get the sterilization kit, or you can flush it out really good with near boiling water and citric acid. Pretty sure that's all those kits are anyway.

Slime. Its not just in the ice machine.

Called Deep South and they are sending me Campden tablets to clean it. They said if I use the heavy duty Barrel-Kleen and Citric Acid I would have to rechar it. The Campden will work fine and I wont have to rechar the barrel. Nice folks. I tried ordering stuff online and ended with a delivery charge of a couple of grand. So I called and they discovered a web bug. As a result they are sending it for free.

Great thread. Lots to think about.

I have an unused 10L oak barrel in Houston if anyone is interested.

Anyone have tips on recharring a 3L barrel?

Stopping in to Deep South Friday the 23rd, on our way to Madi Gra.

Looking forward to this quest with the barrel. Already have some tasting "volunteers " lining up.

Now I just have to figure out what to fill it with

I've been partial to Woodford as of late


Any suggestions?

Lower and id grade distills fare better than anything upper middle shelf or higher.

schmellba99 said:

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Lower and id grade distills fare better than anything upper middle shelf or higher.

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Excuse my ignorance but What does "id grade" mean?