55 gallon oak barrel big batch ?s

[mead]

I'll definitely take some pics and post up the results. I'm ordering a little honey this weekend to try it out since nobody around seems to stock it. The only downside is i can't do a small batch in the barrel to see exactly how it's going to go. Oh well, no risk no reward right?

 

[Midnight Sun]

Still looking for a 55 gallon fermenter? My LHBS sells their liquid malt extract drums when empty. $10/ea, pretty good deal and you know it's food safe. Might be worth checking to see if your LHBS does he same thing.

 

[mannye]

What you could do is shave a small "divot" off an inside stave (assuming you have some access to the inside) and use it like a cube for a half gallon batch. Just thinking out loud. Post a pic of that bad boy!

 

[mead]

That's a good idea midnight, I'll ask the next time I'm in.

The hole in the side is slightly smaller than 2 inches and that's the only access to the inside of it so I don't think getting a chunk out is going to be easy.

I'm going to install a spout in it but still, small hole. I like what your thinking though....hmmm...

 

[mead]

 

[mead]

Ooh. I know. When i holesaw the hole in it I'll have a nice little round chunk. I can throw that in a small batch.

 

[mannye]

That's the ticket! How much is that lot across the street? LOL

 

[mead]

It's actually a wildlife reserve lol. There's a wetland in there so they can't build anything. And behind us is a unused golf course that a college owns. We actually hate living in the city but that's the reason we bought this place cause we knew we would never have a ton of neighbors.

 

[mead]

If this project goes well I might be willing to send out a few bottles to you guys for helping. no need to buy my neighbors house......

 

[mead]

I don't know how long it's going to take to pull that oak flavor from the barrel though. At least a few months I bet.
I'm sure the mead will be good in a month, but whether it'll have that oak in it is doubtful.

 

[loveofrose]

If it's a new barrel, the extraction rate will be quite fast. I would taste once a week to make sure you don't over oak it too much. No worries if it happens. Age shakes everything out.


Better brewing through science!

 

[mead]

It's not new. It's been used for red wine at least. I don't know how many times it's been used or anything more specific than that but it smells incredible.

 

[mead]

I went to aesir meadery a little while back and he had a mead that was like 6 months in a 5 gallon whisky barrel. It had the oak flavor pretty strong. It was delicious. And the way i understand it is the bigger the barrel the slower the extraction rate due to less contact area with the liquid.

But we'll see.

 

[Chevette Girl]

It will certainly be an adventure!

 

[mead]

Ya it will. I've got everything i need to make the test batch except for the honey. The wyeast smack pack is Pretty cool. I like it.

I haven't found any ob honey in a small amount for a decent price. Shipping on the Dutch gold 5 lb bottle is as much as the honey itself. I was hoping to find some cheaper but no luck yet. Guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and order it.

 

[mead]

And it's ordered. In a few days I'll start the test batch and make sure my goofy taste buds like it

 

[mead]

Finally the honey showed up. I'll start two different gallons tonight and we'll see how it goes.

 

[WVMJack]

Newbie you seem to be all over the place with this. You need to come up with a solid plan dealing with this much money. The purpose of the barrel is to age it and get character from the wood and some micro oxygenation. A traditional is perfect for this. You can buy yeast in a 500 gram pack if you want to go extreme or make a big starter and primary in some Brute trash cans and then transfer over to your barrels to age. Have you thought about what you are going to do to rack this much mead off of the lees in the barrel? Do you know how many bottles 55 gallons requires? What kind of honey is going to be complimented by the residual red wine still in the barrel and now the whiskey you added that is soaking into the wood? If you put an orange blossum in there are you going to like it when it comes out full of oak which might overpower the orange blossum? We really really want this to be the most excellent batch of mead ever, you dont want to be stuck with 275 bottles of mead you dont like. Are you just razzed up to use a barrel to use a barrel? You could make 11 different 5 gallon batches and have some variety vs 275 bottles of something you have no idea how its going to turn out in a free barrel. If you do the barrel you probably want to build this mead to be able to age and last as drinking this much mead is usually done over years, the standard recipies might fade before you are near done drinking it. Yo are asking the wrong questions I think, you want to make a mead fit in a barrel instead of making a mead that benefits from being in a barrel, its a bit of a difference but one you need to consider. No I dont have a barrel, I could never commit to making a single big batch like that and being stuck with it for many years, variety seems more fun. WVMJ

 

[mead]

This wasn't supposed to be a thread where i laid out details for how i was going to do this. Believe it or not I've considered many things that i didn't list in this thread.... I've found a good site where i could buy bottles in bulk cheap so that's easy. I do want to do a traditional mead but i am not going to do one that takes years.

The bomm might not be the most traditional of traditional recipes but it is a simpler mead. One that i think would probably benefit from oak. I might be new to making mead but I'm not new to drinking it.

The purpose of this thread wasn't too detail the 55 gallon mead project. It was just to get some thoughts and ideas from people who I know have much more experience than me. So sorry if it seems all over the place but this was just a place to throw out some ideas...

I do have a plan of sorts. Currently I have six different meads going right now one of which is the standard bomm recipe that will get a piece of the barrel in it. Before I try to tackle the big batch I need to make a small one i think will go well with the red wine and oak. Then I'll do more testing.

And remember, not everyone is like you. If i could make one batch of mead i enjoy i would happily drink it for an extended period of time. if you knew what a picky eater I was you'd understand. (the list of things I eat i can literally count on my hands)

maybe I'm getting in over my head. Maybe not. Maybe it will be excellent, maybe not. Only one way to find out.

 

[mead]

Oh and the whiskey wasn't in there long at all. I just read that was the only way to store a barrel with water in it for more than a couple days. It was only in there 3 days. I already dried out the barrel, burned sulphur in it and sealed it.