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Queation about B Nektar bourbon barrel cyser

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R

Robusto

Worker Bee
Registered Member
Jun 12, 2011
234
1
18
NJ
Hey guys,
My favorite commercial cyser is B Nektar's Bourbon barrel cyser. I love the sweet, vanilla undertones and the thick, viscus mouth feel. I would love to try to replicate it at home, and I have found a supplier of both new and used barrels. My exact questions are one; does B Nektar use new "bourbon" barrels- aka a new, charred, American oak barrel, or an actual used bourbon barrel- aka a barrel that was used to make bourbon first and then they fill it with cyser to age. Second, how long is the cyser aged in said barrel? I have heard that over a year is needed from some folks, and others say that aover a month will make your mead so smoky that you can't taste anything else... so how long in the barrel is best? Oh, I should say it would be a 5 gal/10 liter barrel.

thanks
 
Hum? Well in my quest for locating barrels, I'd have guessed that it would be something like a used JD barrel.

I understand that there is something in the Federal reg's about it having to be stored/aged in newly coopered barrels and once it's bottled they sell them off - though the nearest I could find was a broker who would supply them by the 40ft container load, which is rather out of my league......

Oh and they do seem to be mainly supplied in the industry standard size i.e. 225 litres (or thereabouts). So even if I found one on it's own, it'd still take some filling.......

Which is less likely to be a problem for Brad........
 
All you need to do is email Brad and ask him. He is one of the most helpful successful mead makers out there. Loves that kind of feedback too.
 
fatbloke said:
Oh and they do seem to be mainly supplied in the industry standard size i.e. 225 litres (or thereabouts). So even if I found one on it's own, it'd still take some filling.......

Which is less likely to be a problem for Brad........
Click to expand...

I believe the standard size for Bourbon barrels is different that Bordeaux or Burgundy barrels. 53 gallons IIRC.

Also, I found this place online that sells used barrels individually. I've never ordered from them, but maybe someday... If I ever get equipment big enough to brew a batch to fill it.
 
The easy answer is, start a batch, leave oak cubes in burbon for a month while your batch ferments, rack onto the cubes, taste every month until you get the desired taste.

Problem is you may not have the oak type, cyser recipe, burbon type, oak toast or many other factors exactly right, but I bet you get one hell of a good mead out of trying.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. My goal was not necessarily make an exact clone, just something similar along those lines. I know that I could use oak cubes to impart the oak flavor, but I want to barrel age (as an experiment) due to the other things that go on in a barrel like the “micro-oxygenation”, etc. I actually am about 25 miles from a micro distillery in New York (not NYC) that uses and then sells some 5 gal (or maybe they are 20L) barrels that they use in their bourbon making. So they would be a once used bourbon barrel.
 
Be careful when aging in smaller barrels. As the barrel gets smaller, the surface area to volume ratio goes up, meaning more liquid is exposed to the microoxidation effects of barrels. So, you will need (or want) much less aging time in that used 5 gallon barrel than if you used a 55 gallon barrel, or whatever the industry standard is.
 
OK, so I figure I should probably chime-in here. ;)

I'm flattered that you enjoy our meads. Thank you! If it weren't for sites like this, we wouldn't be where we are today.

We use used bourbon barrels. They are so fresh, that when we open them up the entire meadery smells of bourbon. There's even a little bit sloshing around in there. We empty out what's left (remember to filter it), and drink it.

The mead is about 3 months old when it goes into the barrel. We just want to make sure everything is going well before we put it away in the barrel. Bad mead in, bad mead out.

The type of whiskey that was aged in the barrel makes a HUGE difference in the finished mead. We used Elijah Craig 12 year barrels for the Backwoods Cyser. The mead aged in there for about a year and a half.

That particular mead is backsweetened with star thistle and buckwheat honey after barrel aging. We used Michigan wildflower to do the fermentation with the cider. NO water is used to dilute the honey for fermentation. It's all cider.

If I were to do a small barrel at home, I'd probably check it after a month in the barrel to see how things were going. You probably will only need a couple months in a 5 gallon barrel, or else you risk over oxidizing. Age the rest of the way in stainless or glass. In fact, I'd probably just age it in glass first, then put it in the bourbon barrel for the last few months.

If you REALLY want to cheat, just throw some oak cubes (heavy toast) in during aging and dump a few shots of high quality bourbon in just before bottling.

Robusto said:
Hey guys,
My favorite commercial cyser is B Nektar's Bourbon barrel cyser. I love the sweet, vanilla undertones and the thick, viscus mouth feel. I would love to try to replicate it at home, and I have found a supplier of both new and used barrels. My exact questions are one; does B Nektar use new "bourbon" barrels- aka a new, charred, American oak barrel, or an actual used bourbon barrel- aka a barrel that was used to make bourbon first and then they fill it with cyser to age. Second, how long is the cyser aged in said barrel? I have heard that over a year is needed from some folks, and others say that aover a month will make your mead so smoky that you can't taste anything else... so how long in the barrel is best? Oh, I should say it would be a 5 gal/10 liter barrel.

thanks
Click to expand...
 
Brad, are there any Barrel Aged Meads and Cysers in the line-up right now. I just checked my B. Nektar box and I'm down to my last bottle of both the "Bourbon Barrel Mead" (Dec 08 batch 13) and the "Barrel Aged Dry Cyser" (Oct 09 batch 50). Need to make a trip down there as I'm down to my last 6 bottles (if you don't count the case of Zombie Killer), anything new coming out that I should plan the trip around?
 
Brad,
Thank you for the great info!

You keep making it and I'll keep drinking it... and trying to clone it ;D

Oh, yeah- and P.S. last weekend I cleaned out my local Liquor store of their supply of Zombie Killer. You really need to rename that stuff crack- ‘cuz one taste and your hooked.
 
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