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More beer has a great guide on taking care of oak barrels which covers cleaning, sanitizing, etc. The overview is: keep it filled so that it doesn't dry out and use a sulfur-dioxide mixture to sanitize. The oak will soak up some of the beer over time, so brew a little extra and keep it on hand to refill as the level goes down. You should also remember that ...

Found this over at http://winebarrels.com/carenew.html I'm pretty sure I have read similar things on homebrew forums in the past. STORING AN EMPTY BARREL The very best way to maintain a wine barrel is to ensure it is never empty of wine! However this is not always possible so something must be done to keep the barrel sweet. An untreated empty barrel will ...

Oxygen in and of itself is a staling agent, plain and simple. Some styles benefit from being a bit stale. For instance, here in the states, what we know as "British" beer is typically a bit stale simply because by the time it gets here long after being brewed and having crossed the sea in a hot ship, it's not exactly fresh. So if you want to clone your ...

I have done this many times with a counter-pressure filler. I have also used the Blichmann Beer Gun with success, although I think it does lose a bit more carbonation than the CP-filler. OTOH, the Beer Gun is much easier to use. The key to success is to make sure everything is very cold: Put the bottles in a freezer and take them out 6 at a time as you are ...

I'm assuming you are meaning that you've primed AND carbonated in the barrel. Correct me if wrong. You can bottle already carbonated beer from a keg using counter pressure to reduce foaming. Our very own @joefish made a great video about the process he uses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXhYmTlHH50. From a barrel may be more difficult being as you have ...

I think more important than whether a beer will benefit from oxidation is whether the flavor of the beer will benefit from being aged in an oak barrel. I think that the flavor of the oak is going to outweigh the flavor change of oxidation. In that case I would look at commercial examples that are oaked or aged in oak or bourbon barrels such as Founders KBS ...

Jordan's exactly right. I make some wine at a commercial winery, and that's exactly how we treat our used barrels at the winery. If you use any cleaning solutions like sodium percarbonate, you need to make sure to follow it up with a citric acid soaking. The citric will neutralize any remaining sanitizer and keep it out of your beer or wine. You can ...