Diabeetus Juice barrel aged imperial stout recipe

Does the world need more barrel aged imperial stout? I suppose it does if I need to pull out the whiskey character out of this whiskey barrel I bought. This barrel is a mere two gallon barrel from a young distillery near Dallas that produces a wheat whiskey and vodka. It's a solid barrel; not one of the thin barrels retailed to bars and consumers to age cocktails and spirits countertop. The long term plan is to use the barrel for aging sour beer but it needs at least a couple runs of clean beer to strip out most of the liquor and more assertive oak character. Imperial stout is a good first run because it's heavy flavors hold up.

My goal with this imperial stout is to balance the extreme attributes of the beer. I quickly tire drinking the super sweet, diabetes juice BA imperial stouts that are all the rage right now. I like the more bitter chocolate and coffee flavors over fudge and Starbucks mocha found in the sweeter variants that goes overboard in sweetness with the oak and whiskey draped assertively on top. I want the oak and whiskey present but just as I like the sweetness under control I don't want the stout to taste like a cocktail. So this recipe is lots of roasted malts and sits on the lower end of the ABV for the style so it further attenuates. 

But first, the barrel needs preparation.

Preparing the whiskey barrel

Soaking the barrel in water

Due to the size of the barrel and my plan to put to use for sour beer I needed to prepare it appropriately. That means prepare it initially for any kind of beer and second to restrict oxygen ingress. 

The distiller told me he emptied the barrel about two months prior and it probably didn't need to be soaked to swell the staves but I didn't want to take a chance. I gave it a quick soak to the heads for four hours on each side. The result, a nicely soaked barrel. I let it dry out on the exterior for a few days so I can wax it.

Once the barrel was dry on the outside I set out to wax it. Like many homebrewers I opted for the cheap route of parrafin wax. The wax melts down easily on the stove and I painted it on with a paintbrush after using masking tape to block off the portion I wanted unwaxed.

Given the small size of the barrel I knew I needed to wax most of the barrel to properly regulate air ingress. I don't find a compelling reason to allow even more airflow into the beer just because it's in a barrel. The barrel wax calculator here affirmed my idea. I ended up waxing the entire barrel minus a square around the bung hole.

I thought I had some pictures after waxing but I guess I didn't take any. It's sort of a messy look because I didn't flame the wax to melt in down. I might do that after the barrel is full. Putting a flame to a sealed cask full of alcohol vapors seems like a really dangerous thing.

The picture to the left is the barrel after waxing and wrapped in saran wrap. I wrapped it in saran wrap for a couple reasons. First, if it managed to leak after swelling and waxing the saran wrap would help keep a leak from turning into a mess too quickly. Second, the wax is crumbly and the saran wrap would help keep that from making a mess while moving the barrel around. I don't expect it to add any oxygen barrier nor do I think it is necessary beyond the wax.

I don't have a stand for the barrel but it sits comfortably on a folded bath towel. I added a rolled towel on each side on the counter to keep it from rolling over. It's janky and looks janky but I'll worry about finding a nicer support after I move it to a permanent location. 

Barrel aged imperial stout recipe

Details
Batch Size: 2.25 gallons
Est. ABV: 9%
Est. IBU: 56
Est. OG: 1.089
Est. FG: 1.021
Est. SRM: 55
Expected Efficiency: 62%
Grain Bill	Pounds		Ounces		SRM		Pct. Grist
Pale malt	6		4		2		68.00%
Munich malt	1		2		9		12.20%
Roasted barley			9		300		6.10%
Flaked barley			5		1		3.40%
Crystal 120			4		120		2.70%
Chocolate malt			6		350		4.10%
Black malt			3		500		2.10%
Aromatic malt			2		26		1.40%
Water Profile	ppm
Bru'n Water Black Malty Profile
PH: 5.5
Calcium	59
Magnesium	5
Sodium	21
Sulfate	29
Chloride	41
Bicarbonate	156
Water Additions					Mash		Sparge
Gypsum					0.2g		0.1g
Epsom Salt					0.6g	0	0.2g
Canning Salt					0.6g		0.2g
Baking Soda
Calcium Chloride					0.2g		0.1g
Chalk					1.5g
Pickling Lime
Lactic Acid
Mash Schedule	Step Temp.				Step Time
Single infusion mash
Mash volume: 3.1225 gal
Sparge volume: 1.01 gal
Infuse 3.1225 gallons at 166F	152F				75
Sparge 1.01 gal at 190F
Boil Schedule	Volume		Unit		Time		IBU
120 minute boil
Belma [12%]	0.6		oz		60		56.7
Irish moss	0.5		tsp		15		0
Fermentation Schedule	# Days		Temp.
Yeast: WY1318
Pitch 1 smack pack
Pitch at 70F	20		70F
Age in barrel until flavor is right
Bottle to 2.3 vol CO2 with 1.3 oz table sugar

Brewday & Fermentation Notes

Brewed 1/28/17.

First runnings: 1.083

Preboil volume: 3.1 gal

Preboil gravity: 1.072

Mash efficiency: 69%

Post boil volume: 2.2 gal

Post boil gravity: 1.087

Efficiency: 59%

Racked to barrel 2.9.17. Flavor is great. Nice mix of sweet malt, caramel, coffee, chocolate, roast. Strikes right balance. Sweetness and roastiness balanced as hoped. Picture below of my fancy AF racking.

Bottled 2.24.17. Tasted two days ago and it was lightly barrel-y with a strong vanilla flavor. Let it ride and tasted today. Firm whisky/barrel flavor without being overwhelming. Another day and it's probably undrinkable. Tastes firmly of whisky, coffee and chocolate. Very happy with this. After racking out sent an adambier into the barrel.

Bottled with 2oz table sugar and added KV-1116 to bottles to ensure timely carbonation.