Imperial stout for barrel aging

[weldedsord]

hey dudes I got a rye whiskey barrel and I immediately thought of my favorite recipe
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/841816/chocolate-rye-stout
but it is too low abv and would probably sour so I I tried to upscale it to a imperial stout
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1070035/imperial-rye-chocolate-stout
there are small changes due to my brew kettle i'm already stretching it with this recipe when it comes to space in the mash that is why there is dme in the recipe just asking for basic thoughts on the upscale and things that would work in barrel aging things that wont work in barrel aging also how long you would age it thank you for your feedback

 

[AGbrewer]

for dme to grain substitution ratio, you might want to look at this. i didn't do the math on your recipe, but it wouldn't hurt to double check.

https://www.homebrewersassociation....t=If using dry malt extract,0.60 = 6.0 lb DME).

When it comes to big beers, I've come to accept that i need to do smaller batches (2.5 gallon batch rather than 5 gallon batch) or simply do a double brew day (both being a 2.5 gallon batch that get blended together at the end of the brewday). DME will work too, i just don't do it out of stubborness or some idiotic homebrew lore/belief that it is somehow subpar compared to "real" grain...even though DME is actually made from "real" grain and probably at a better conversion rate that i can achieve. In a beer like this, i would seriously doubt if anyone would be able to tell that you used DME. There is alot going on with the specialty grains.

Another option to DME is to have someone else brew the other half of the beer with your recipe. then you could put both their beer and your beer into the barrel once they are done fermenting.

3 packets of S-04 should make it ferment easily. Just make sure to use some oxygen or pond pump before you pitch to help the yeast long.

As for the barrel, take what i say with a huge grain of salt as i've never used an acutal barrel. i've only done research online about it.

Having said that disclaimer..........you should probably check for leaks prior to using it. I've heard that folks fill it up with hot water and let it sit a bit to make it seal up again. I've also heard of people adding a liter of bourbon to the barrel and rolling it around to have it soak up those flavors. I'm sure that there is someone else on this forum that has experience with this.

Lastly, you might want to try to search on this forum for the word barrel to see if there are any other posts about barrel preparation.

Hope everything works out well for you.

 

[erock56k]

Weldedsord,
Did you ever use that barrel? How did it work out? Any tips? I'm thinking of doing something very similar.

 

[AGbrewer]

Weldedsord,
Did you ever use that barrel? How did it work out? Any tips? I'm thinking of doing something very similar.

Never got a barrel, but did the "barrel" aging process with spirals. Came out good, but not great.