Oak Barrels for Home Brew

[Brian Finn]

Mr Johnston,

I found your eBay page through a Google search for 5 gallon oak barrels, and after reading about you, your process, and the feedback you have received, I am very intrigued.  A friend of mine and I are currently home brewers, with aspirations to one day go pro, and we hope to specialize in Barrel Aged, Belgian, Sour, and experimental beer styles.  I'm looking for someone with whom to develop a relationship as a source of barrels, and from what I've read, I think you could be a good fit for us.  I only hope we might be a good fit for you as well.  Our main goal with the barrels is to have a number of "solera" projects going, where you have the same beer recipe aged for different amounts of time, and blend multiple vintages to create the final product.  We also have plans for other barrel aged beer, but the solera projects are the ones I'm most excited about.

I doubt we would order more than a few barrels in a year, at least in the beginning, and it will take us a while to get things ramped up.  One question would be whether is't possible to purchase barrels without the spigot.  We won't have any use for the spigots, and I think they would only be a source of potential sanitation and leakage issues.  I think we would order our first barrel later this year, with a medium to medium-light char, and no lacquer finish.  Also, I would be interested if you had any barrels you've used to age spirits or wine that you'd be looking to retire.  I think older barrels would work best for the solera projects, but new ones can work as well.

Thanks!

BF

[Clay Johnston]

Hi Brian, I’ve been furnishing barrels to people like you since 2002 and because of the repeat business and referrals from satisfied customers my business has done well.

You can special order your barrel without spigot; we make special orders as they come in so it takes a little longer to ship. 

My default barrels are heavy char, they are easier to make because the heat helps to shape the staves but you may order the char of your choice, at this time it does not cost any more for a light or medium char.

All except the 6 gallon barrel come default with a finish coat of lacquer but any barrel can be special ordered without lacquer. I apply a finish coat because completed barrels are tested with water, they leak a little until the wood swells against the metal hoops, leaking water with charring from inside stains the outside of the barrels; to prevent the staining we apply a coat of lacquer. Just before the barrels are shipped the water is poured out, when received they need to be filled with water to be sure they are still watertight, they may leak a little until the wood is re-hydrated and swells against the metal hoops and will stain the barrel if not coated. We have a deep flowing well with water we can drink from the tap which we use to hydrate the barrels. It is true that wine or liquor stored for several years in un-coated barrels which have been used a lot and don’t impart much color and flavor anymore and is stored in the proper temperature and humidity that evaporation can take place through the pores of the wood and the ingredients may come out denser and have a more intense flavor but the new mini barrels impart so much color and flavor so quickly that the ingredients cannot be left inside long enough for evaporation to take place, there would be so much flavor from the oak that it would ruin the taste, at least not until the barrel has been used several times, perhaps five years, and there isn't much color and flavor left, usually by that time the coat of lacquer has worn off. The lacquer will not harm the ingredients; neither will it come off in the liquor.   

I don’t have any used barrels at this time. At your service Clay Johnston