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Aging in a oak barrel

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Barrel Char Wood Products
J

jmbradbury

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 21, 2016
8
0
0
perth, western australia
Hi all.
I'm thinking of buying a 5 litre oak barrel to age a cyser in but what I'm unsure about is how long would you would leave it in for and if it is worth buying one. In Western Australia you pay between $200 and $300 for them which is a bit expensive , I've tried to get one second hand but it's like trying to find rocking horse poo. Any help would be greatly appreciated. James
 
Man is that expensive for such a small vessel. I buy used bourbon barrels 60L for $200.
I think you will find using oak cubes or spirals will do the exact thing for $10
Your 5L would probably finish doing it's thing in just a couple weeks.
Also you always need to keep then full unless your ok with a shit ton of maintenance
 
wow. way too expensive. I probably would have to pay that amount or even more for an oak barrel here. So if I ever want to age in barrels I think I prefer hunting for rocking horse poo..
 
A barrel always suffers from diminishing returns-- it becomes less and less effective with each batch you put in it. I've always been happy with cubes of varying toast levels. They're just as effective, cost far less, I get the full extraction rate each time, and unlike a barrel they don't require any maintenance beyond being kept clean/dry until you're ready to use them.

Plus, depleted cubes are great for smoking things on the BBQ. Try doing that with a barrel.
 
Last edited:
I got a 5 gallon oak barrel and if it stop working for me ill get a new one. Its a great tool!
 
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