I am fermenting a batch of refined sugar and molasses. Current volume is around 30L but I had to divide it into a second vessel because it was overflowing into the airlock and I am planning to top it off with more of the same medium.
My current plan is to distill it and age it in glass jars with chips of oak wood, but if I can find a small-ish barrel (5L or less is what I’m expecting for the final product at 40-50%) to age it in, I think the flavor would be much less intensely oaky. If anyone has one, is selling one, or has advice for this project I would love to get in touch.
I researched small barrels for small batches of beer a while ago and came to the conclusion that the low ratio of beer to wood would make an overly oaky product. Perhaps it’s different with spirits, and it sounds like you’re looking for a used one, but here’s a company I found that sells small, new, oak barrles 5 Litre New Oak Barrel – The County Cooperage. Cheers, Marc.
You’re correct about the low ratio of beer to wood. There was a company in Canada several years ago who used to sell whiskey in those small barrels. The thinking behind it was that you could get a 12- or 15-year-old result in only 3 to 4 years. I don’t think it worked out to well.
Hi, with my 5L oak barrel, a beer sitting for about 4weeks does not get over-oaky, but for sure with that big of a difference in low ratio of liquid-to-wood, you get the oak taste needed in a much faster time. With my small barrels, I taste every week for a 5L barrel, and every month for a 5 gallon barrel, and decide when I have to take the beer out and replace it with a new brew. For whisky, I think it could be left for a longer time than beer. For me, it’s all a question of tasting and sensory that decides how long an alcoholic beverage stays in the barrel. You can find small 5L barrels on Amazon, for a 5 gallon, I got mine from canadianoak.com (Canadian white oak, new barrels).