So I'm acquiring a 5 gallon bourbon barrel. My plan is to initially use it for non-sours, then after several uses, move it over to the sour side. I have several questions before I make this acquisition:
1. I understand that I don't want these to dry out/shrink. Is there a general rule of thumb as to how long I can keep them empty? If I don't have a beer available to put in it, what can I do if I'm outside this amount of time to leave it empty?
2. I know that they tend to leak. Does anyone have a recommendation on how to handle this? I imagine, that I need to rinse off the exterior of the barrel with warm or hot water as it leaks. Do they tend to leak a ton? My initial thought was to have it sit above a plastic tub of some kind and then just change that out as time goes.
3. Would aging in a barrel determine the temp I'm resting at? Or is it still the beer? I imagine colder temps shrink the wood, no? I guess I'm asking if I'm still aging at the temp I would normally keep it at in a carboy?
4. Solid bung or airlock?
5. After aging, I imagine, I'm filling the barrel up with hot water before the next batch? And I imagine no star san, either? After I move this over to the sour side, should I even be concerned with washing it out?
6. FINAL QUESTION. I know that the spirits go away with each use. So I'll use it till most of the spirits are gone for non-sours. Once I go to the sour side, I probably don't need to be too concerned with the amount of uses, right?
1. I understand that I don't want these to dry out/shrink. Is there a general rule of thumb as to how long I can keep them empty? If I don't have a beer available to put in it, what can I do if I'm outside this amount of time to leave it empty?
2. I know that they tend to leak. Does anyone have a recommendation on how to handle this? I imagine, that I need to rinse off the exterior of the barrel with warm or hot water as it leaks. Do they tend to leak a ton? My initial thought was to have it sit above a plastic tub of some kind and then just change that out as time goes.
3. Would aging in a barrel determine the temp I'm resting at? Or is it still the beer? I imagine colder temps shrink the wood, no? I guess I'm asking if I'm still aging at the temp I would normally keep it at in a carboy?
4. Solid bung or airlock?
5. After aging, I imagine, I'm filling the barrel up with hot water before the next batch? And I imagine no star san, either? After I move this over to the sour side, should I even be concerned with washing it out?
6. FINAL QUESTION. I know that the spirits go away with each use. So I'll use it till most of the spirits are gone for non-sours. Once I go to the sour side, I probably don't need to be too concerned with the amount of uses, right?