615
edits
Changes
m
some general work in toast level and volume
==Toast level and Volume==
In progress 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 dodifferent 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. -----flavor description table to come (see also the flavor descriptions for different wood types above)---- 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. First, smaller volumes mean a greater surface area to volume ratio. This means that both flavor extraction from the barrel will be faster and O2 pickup will be greater (as oxygen penetration is tied to the barrel's surface area). Both of these factors make these small barrels attractive to craft distillers as they can shorten the aging time for certain flavor developments, but for the homebrewer looking to produce long-ages mixed-fermentation beers with no barrel flavor impact to supportive barrel character rather than strong barrel character this is not ideal. The barrel character can be partially stripped by repeated use and soaking with water. Because many of the small barrels available to homebrewers are derived from distileries and therefore may be more likely a heavier toast level, it may take longer to remove the character of the wood. Continuing---- Second, the staves of smaller barrels are generally thinner allows greater oxygen permeability. So smaller barrels, both by surface area to volume ratio and by generally thinner staves, allow greater O2 transfer to the beer than larger barrels. Homebrewers may wish to counteract this O2 transfer by waxing smaller barrels <ref> [http://www.funkfactorygeuzeria.com/2012/02/paraffin-waxing-barrel.html Funk Factory Barrel Waxing] </ref>.
==Misc Info==