Changes

Barrels and barrel products are generally available in toast levels of light, medium, medium+ and heavy as well as varying levels of char. in addition to different wood types, different toast levels each have their own characteristics and are chosen for different purposed. Barrels used for aging spirits such as whiskey generally have some degree of charring, or at least heavy toast, while red wine barrels may be more commonly in the medium or med+ range. While the homebrewer and professional brewer does not always have full control over the toast levels of the barrels that they are getting (as the barrels are frequently used by wine and spirit producers before being acquired by brewers), brewers will likely find that different toast levels are better suited different beers.

Barrels are also available in a number of different volumes. Typical volumes of wine barrels are around 228L (60 gal) and may vary slightly depending on region and cooper. Professional breweries generally use barrels of this volume and larger. For homebrewers, filling a barrel of such volume can be a bit more tricky and may require a group effort and/or many brews. Some smaller barrels are available for homebrewers via craft distillers (among other producers). These barrels which can be found in the 5-15 gallon range provide an attractive option for homebrewers though some special considerations may be needed.