ageing in kegs

[bear74]

I have several kegs for ageing and this is how I will be ageing/oaking.
american white oak plug i am anticipateing this will allow a small amount of product to evaporate as per normal barrel ageing.
american white oak stave @ 500mm x 25mm x 25mm cut into 250mm lengths which will allow for 10mm (around a teaspoon) of stave per litre. the teaspoon per litre seems to be standard consesus in my research for oak per litre.
by cutting in half will allow the staves to bend so it will fit into the keg.
all alligator charred.
once the keg is full and the plug is in place will wax in the gaps wilth candle wax and put in the corner of the shed to age away.
what do you think?

[Andy]

Sounds like a good plan to me.
Do u have taps on the keg?

[bear74]

no taps but will put taps on them in the future :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bt1]

Not enough air for mine...

But hey I air new spirit for upto 4 weeks which is not the norm...

then loose coffee filters for months.. depends on what it tastes like. I have no regard for what the angels take...they are welcome to it.

bt1

[Camikaze]

Mate, I like your thinking. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Love the way you've incorporated the staves into the plug.

Where are you sourcing your oak mate? Feel like taking a drive down to Katherine with a ute-load? :laughing-rolling:

[SBB]

Im thinking not enough oak for that quantity of Booze.

[Cane Toad]

:text-+1: I'm with you SBB,I put 16-18 sticks,300mm long x10mm x10mm in 35l of booze and leave for at least 8 months,just tapped a keg the other day done this way,it was some of the best UJ I've made :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft: been aging for 15 months,take the cap off for a day every 3-4 weeks to let it breathe 8-}

[crow]

Someone had a cool idea threading oak sticks on stainless cable and hanging them from the cap, its here but I can't find it

[bt1]

Howdy,

Bear appreciate it's a long termer but would sincerely appreciate it if you could sample every 6 months or so and let us know...might dispel a few ideas or add some weight to closed container ageing...would be keen to here.

bt1

[bear74]

I got the oak sticks and plugs from roll out the barrel, got 10 staves 25mm x 25mm x 1000mm and 5 plugs.
the first run on these staves will be UJSM take-off. no doubt it will get raided from time to time so will let you know how it goes.

[BackyardBrewer]

And photos please. I'd like to see the drawing off and the colour.

[Cane Toad]

I drill a 3mm hole in one end and then thread some multi strand SS wire through them,makes it easy to get the oak sticks out when the booze reaches the desired level of oaking :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bear74]

i will be mindful of the oak issue thanks fellas but will add some later if needed rather than over oak such a large amount. i will keep you all up to date on how it turns out.
I worked the amount needed roughly on what the french oak spirals can age which is 1 8" stick per 3 gallons.
I have 4 of them ageing my rum and they have already mellowed the rum and giving it a nice dark gold colour.
I will try the what I have set up first and will add more if needed as I dont want to over oak.
here's a picture of my rum that has been on the french oak spirals for about 4 weeks :handgestures-thumbupleft:
the stainless cable is what i wanted to do but didnt have any handy might go to the tip a strip some copper wire from the heavy cable and use that :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bt1]

Bear,

Love your excess good karma mate...It's flowed down to Adelaide well...mystically, a new and I do mean new 50lt keg arrived yesterday thanks to a mate who likes a drop of my bourbon style. 1 Guess what I'm doing with it today?

bt1

[bear74]

nice one bt1, I just got this good feeling about aging in these kegs :handgestures-thumbupleft: found some single strand copper wire down the tip yesterday so grabbed enough to string together a heap of oak pieces then lower into the keg. it just a waiting game now until its aged enough for me to bottle maybe 6 months then the next lot to go into the keg will age for a few years I suspect!

[Linny]

I wanna jump in and do the same ,,,, but i feel that if I go to this extreme . ill never get to run the bubbler as often as i would like ;( tell me im crazy

[BackyardBrewer]

Volume Linny, just start adding more fermenters and more racking cubes to store washes and run double batches?

[Kimbo]

Volume Linny, just start adding more fermenters and more racking cubes to store washes and run double batches?

Or keep going the way you are now till you have enough to fill a barrel from your Demijohns. This can be stored on the Mantle for the next couple of years while you are filling your Demis again for your short term drinking stock. ;-)