Indiana Homebrew Club Barrel Aged Beer Competition.

[Chris Norrick]

I'm "in" as well!

[Dwayne_Delaney]

I'm down for 5 gals.

[jefrey3]

I can supply grain & possibly hops at least for cost. Maybe for free.

[jefrey3]

Hi all.

Thanks for being prompt and responsive last week. A couple of club presidents immediately said "hell yes" but most discussed it with the club before committing.

Our status right now is:

- 11 clubs are participating (there were 12 at one point but MECA backed out - the cowards <gr>).
- Brown-Foreman was apprised as they needed by Jan 1.
- I haven't heard back from John Kruse, the B-F guy. Hopefully because of the Christmas season.

Participating clubs are:

Bloomington Hop Jockeys
Columbus Area Classic Alers
Duneland Homebrewers Association
Fermenters of Special Southern Indiana Libations Society
Foam Blowers of Indiana
Howard County Homebrew Club
Indiana Brewing and Drinking Society
Mad Anthony Serious Homebrewers
Michiana Extract & Grain Association
Ohio Valley Homebrewers Association
Tippecanoe Homebrewers Circle

One club, FOSSILS, has said probably no one will be available to pick up their barrel. We'll work out getting theirs to them. If NABC can't take it home we'll probably have Cavalier deliver it. THC may have the same problem. We can probably send it up with People's or Lafayette. Anybody else have a problem?

The barrels are nominally 36" high, 24" diameter, and weigh 125 pounds.

B-F's legal department has a couple of instructions for us to follow. The main one is the final product can't have the words Woodford Reserve in the name but can be described as "aged in a Woodford Reserve barrel". Keeps brewpubs from calling it "Woodford Reserve Pale Ale".

Ron Smith of the FBI points out some concerns the clubs should have.

brewing and fermenting 50 gal of beer, which is hard enough to do, isn’t the only major consideration. I’m far from an expert on barrel aging, but I know some, and some other things to consider are…
--- How to clean, sanitize, seal and prep the barrel (and without blowing it up, like Gordon Strong did, injuring his leg).
--- The need for a barrel stand (the barrel must lay on its side and without a proper stand, the barrel can be damaged, leak, etc.) - >From what I understand, the way the barrel is cradled and how the weight and pressure is distributed is Very Important.
--- Mounting the barrel stand high enough for siphoning out of it (or “more likely” deciding to use pumps or CO2 pressure – but again, without blowing it up like Upland did).
--- Where to house the barrel during use (these are big a@# barrels, so not too many people have room to keep it period, let alone somewhere at the proper temp).
These are important considerations that may not have easy answers. This is a much bigger endeavor than what it may seem to be on the surface.

Maybe somebody with the proper tools at their web host can set up a Discussion Group for this project (or tow swap other info). hint. hint.

Personally, I'd relish knowing all your plans by the end of February for an article in Ale Street News.


--
Cheers,
Bob Ostrander - bob@indianabeer.com - 317-856-6092

[BREWsmith]

Thanks Jack for keeping us in the loop. The sooner the OVHA leadership can come up with a date and a place (presumably somewhere near the fermentation vessel) the better so we can plan accordingly.

[john mills]

I stopped in Goose Island Brewery while in Chicago (man has that place grown since I used to call that a regular watering hole) and sampled 16 of the beers on tap. A couple were guest beers, but I believe my favorite of the lot was their Bourbon County Stout @ 13.5% ABV. They say they age this Russian Imperial Stout for 100 days in the bourbon barrel. When it's first served cold, the bourbon is overwhelming. It's pretty much like sipping straight bourbon. But I let it warm, and the bourbon nose, and flavor died down, and then I could taste the beer. Quite good.
Another good beer that they had, but not barrel aged was their smoked dunkelweizenbock.
I'd like to throw out there the consideration of using the club barrel for a good dunkelweizen! It should be an original, come competition time.

[Chris Alvey]

I put up a post on the Brewboard to get any tips... you can follow any replies here: http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=114135

[Dwayne_Delaney]

Another good beer that they had, but not barrel aged was their smoked dunkelweizenbock.
I'd like to throw out there the consideration of using the club barrel for a good dunkelweizen! It should be an original, come competition time.

I have a corney of smoked Dunkelwiezen that I made a couple of months ago. I used two pounds of the cherry-wood smoked malt. The smoke component was in-your-face at first, but has tamed somewhat. Now you can taste some of the characteristics of the hefe yeast through the smoke. I really didn't care for it at first, but it has kind of grown on me. I will bring some to the next meeting.

[Don]

Here is my Old Ale this is my base Old Ale, and the beer I brought to the January meeting.

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
OG: 1.078 SG
FG: 1.024 SG
ABV 7.6%
Color: 28.1 SRM
IBU: 26.5 IBU
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
13 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.5 SRM)
10.1 oz (.63#)Malted Oats
10.1 oz (.63#)Caramel/Crystal Malt - 70L (70.0 SRM)
1.50 oz Challenger [7.00 %] (60 min)
0.80 oz Fuggles [3.70%] (10 min)
0.80oz Fuggles [3.70%] (1 min)
0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)
1 lbs Dark Candi Sugar (60 min)
1 Pkgs WLP002 Cultured (2 qt. starter)

90 min Mash In at 1.25 QT/# Mash 154.0 F (lost 2 degs by end of mash)
10 min Mashout at 1.78 QT/# 168.0 F
Batch sparge until I had 6.75 gallons for 60 min boil.
Fermemtation
17 days at 68 degs then kegged and rested for 3 months.
Carbonated at 2.2 vol. 47 degs.
--------------------------------------


My Old Treacle of Mine (XI) #29
This a is the one I added oak to and it is a little higher ABV

Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.04 gal
OG: 1.095 SG
FG: 1.020
ABV 9.9%
Color: 26.8 SRM
IBU: 26.3 IBU
Boil Time: 75 Minutes

8.0 oz Rice Hulls
20 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L
6.4 oz Chocolate Malt
2.50 oz Fuggles [4.70 %] (60 min)
0.50 oz Fuggles [4.70 %] (5 min)
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)
1.00 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 3.0 weeks)
1.10 tbsp PH 5.2 Stabilizer (Mash 60.0 min)
8.0 oz Black Treacle (100.0 SRM)

60 min Mash In at 1.20 QT/# 154.0 F
10 min Mashout 168.0 F

Used yeast for last batch (Old Ale #28) Irish Ale Wyeast 1084

Fermentation
14 Days 68 degs.
Kegged and aged for 2 months (needed longer)

2.0 Vols.

[Chris Alvey]

Thanks Don.

Long story short, if there are no objections from the other brewers participating in this project, this was the recipe agreed upon at last night's Board Meeting.

For those who are participating and were not present, any objections ?

[BREWsmith]

Thanks Don.

Long story short, if there are no objections from the other brewers participating in this project, this was the recipe agreed upon at last night's Board Meeting.

For those who are participating and were not present, any objections ?

I assume you're referring to Don's Old Ale recipe. If so, will we be able to get enough Maris Otter? According to Jack's note, it won't be available until sometime in February. Also, will we be ordering candi sugar or pleading with Monsieur Pore to invert some sugar?

[john mills]

Do we also ant to create an extract version so that those members could participate if they wish? If no extract brewers want to participate then it's a moot point.

[Don]

I assume you're referring to Don's Old Ale recipe. If so, will we be able to get enough Maris Otter? According to Jack's note, it won't be available until sometime in February. Also, will we be ordering candi sugar or pleading with Monsieur Pore to invert some sugar?

I have @ 75# of Maris Otter I can lend, if we need some before Jacks order comes in.

I have all the Fuggles we need and I know someone in the club told me they know how to make the Belgian Dark Candi Sugar, can't remember who it was.

[Kenny Lucas]

At the board meeting, we discussed where we were going to perform this "mass brew".

I can offer the services of my barn which is plenty big for multiple setups. I can then store the fermentor and barrel in my basement which typically stays between 64-69 degrees.

I have two possible dates that we can do this, the first would be Sunday, Feb 7 and the other is Saturday Feb. 27.

I have a couple of space heaters we can use and hopefully the heat from the burners will keep us warm as well. If it is extremely cold, such as below 20 we may need some extra heat. We'll worry about that as it gets closer.

Post which date you prefer...

[Chris Alvey]

I would say 2/27 would give us a slightly better shot at weather, but it really shouldn't be that much different.