Homebrewing is a hobby that allows a great sense of satisfaction when you can pour a delicious pint and say to yourself, “Wow, I made that.” But why stop there? For the imaginative tinkerers, it is also an opportunity to utilize everyday household objects in unique ways to create your own brewing equipment.

For many, fermenting as a homebrewer starts with a bubbling bucket in the corner of the basement and, fingers crossed, you end up with something palatable. After they’ve tasted that first successful brew, the crafty ones start thinking; what can I use to make equipment at home to better mimic a brewery’s equipment and processes to make that next batch even better? Of course, there is always the option of buying stainless jacketed conicals and commercial glycol systems scaled down to homebrew sizes. The stainless is pretty, not going to deny that, but you can’t stand back, admire it, and say, “Wow, I made that.”

What are breweries able to do on the cold-side that elevates their product quality over the bubbling bucket in the corner? The top things that come to mind are full temperature control, the ability to drop yeast and hops, and pressurizable fermenters that minimize oxygen contact, facilitate closed transfers, and have the capability to cold condition.

If you’re one of those crafty brewers looking for project inspiration, meet Frankenfridge. Frankenfridge is a conglomerate of regular household items along with retail homebrewing equipment that accomplishes all those tasks, and then some. Its body consists of a 13 cu/ft (0.4 cu/m) upright freezer and an old dorm fridge with a wooden extension collar. Inside the freezer functioning as the main fermentation chamber is a spine made of PVC boards and laminated wood shelving rescued from a neighbor’s trash, and a set of locking drawer slides. Resting in and protected by the spine are two 7-gallon (27-L) Tri-Conical FermZilla tanks. Each tank is fitted with a temperature twister cooling coil, FermZilla thermowell, and stainless steel pressure kit as well as a FermZilla stainless tri-clamp reducing elbow and a lightweight 1.5-inch tri-clamp butterfly valve from BrewHardware. The accompanying chamber next to it is made from an old dorm fridge. It functions as a brite tank chamber and houses an 8-gallon (30-L) FermZilla All Rounder fitted with the same chiller coil, thermowell, and stainless pressure kits as the other tanks.

The heart is a 5,000-BTU window air conditioner (AC) unit with its blower fan removed and evaporator coil carefully re-oriented to fit into a 28-qt. (26.5-L) Igloo cooler. The heart is responsible for keeping the 65% distilled water/35% food-grade inhibited propylene glycol flowing through the system. Inside the cooler are three 550-GPH submersible pond pumps meant for outdoor fountains or fishponds, whose job is to recirculate the glycol solution to the stainless chiller coils for each of the three tanks and back to the cooler reservoir through insulated tubing.

The brain is a bank of six Inkbird temperature controllers, sending and receiving electrical impulses to maintain complete control of temperatures throughout Frankenfridge. There is one controller for each tank receiving temperature information from the probe in its thermowell.

When a tank’s temperature rises outside its programmed range, the temperature controller will send power to the pond pump associated with that tank and recirculate the glycol solution until the temperature comes back to the set range. Conversely, if a tank needs to be heated up, the Inkbird will send power to the seedling heat mat wrapped around the outside of the tank and heat it until it’s back within the set range. Both the dorm fridge and the upright freezer chambers have a temperature probe sending info back to their own Inkbird controller as well to maintain the temperature within the chamber itself. Each of these temperature probes is taped to the outside of a small soda bottle filled with water and wrapped in a small layer of pipe insulation. Without taking its reading from some sort of thermal mass, a temperature probe hanging in open air will see rapid and drastic temperature fluctuations causing excessive, frequent short run cycles that can cause premature failure of your chamber’s compressor unit. The last temperature controller has its probe submerged in the glycol tank, triggering the AC unit to run anytime that solution starts to warm, keeping that tank cold and ready.

My, how Frankenfridge has grown. Having started out many years ago as a single 2×6 wood collar on an old black dorm fridge proudly housing a bubbling brew bucket, it has gone through multiple modifications and reconstructions over its lifetime to become what it is today. Is it finally done? Time will tell. What hasn’t changed though, is that with every modification, every upgrade, every new aspect that makes it one step closer to successfully mimicking professional brewery processes, there is a satisfaction of standing back and being able to say, “Wow, I made that!”

Unlike most “Projects” columns in BYO, I’m purposefully going to skip giving exact measurements and a materials list, as this project was custom-built to fit my own equipment and needs. The hope in sharing it is that homebrewers who would like to build something similar can glean ideas from what I have done and then create their own design using the equipment available to them.

Step by Step

1: Interior Freezer Frame

The most dramatic change to Frankenfridge came with the addition of the upright freezer and conical tanks. The frame for the tank shelves uses PVC boards affixed to the inside of both side freezer walls. The boards and the freezer’s molded shelf supports were scuffed with a file where they would come into contact with each other; before being secured with epoxy and coarse screws. Take care not to use screws that will penetrate past the depth of the molded shelf supports to assure no vital components within the freezer wall are punctured by them.

2: Preparing Shelves

Using a circle jig and a router, smooth holes were cut into the laminated shelving to accept the conical tanks. Whatever your method to cut the holes, assure that they are smooth and perfectly round to not cause any areas of uneven pressure on the walls of the tank and risk damaging the tanks. Multiple coats of clear coat waterproof sealant were then applied before affixing the drawer slides to the shelves and attaching the shelf assembly to the PVC boards.

3: Drilling Line Holes in the Freezer

Now it’s time to really focus. Slow down. It’s time to drill holes through a perfectly good freezer and either continue making it a super cool fermentation chamber that will be the envy of all your brew friends, or destroy it. There’s no middle ground here. The walls of most new freezers are filled with some sort of foam and also have all their condenser coils running throughout the walls just under the metal exterior skin. Puncturing one of these coils spells death for the freezer. There’s no surefire way to know where the coils are exactly. With this particular freezer, I found that when I turned it on and it started to cool down, the sides all got warm, indicating there were condenser coils there. However the top never warmed up at all, suggesting it may not contain any coils there. To be safe, I’d suggest cutting through the plastic inside of the freezer first. SLOWLY dig through and remove the foam with a small wooden dowel until you’ve cleared all the way to the outer metal skin without encountering any coils. Then and only then, drill through the outer skin of the freezer to meet your hole inside.

4: Running Glycol Lines, Wires, & Tubes

Now it’s time to run all the wires and tubing through those holes. The hole in the rear is access for the two glycol lines, wrapped in pipe insulation, coming in from the pond pumps in the glycol reservoir to the chiller coil in each tank. The middle hole houses the return lines for the glycol returning to the reservoir. Temperature probe wires, power cords from the seedling heat mats and the auxiliary fan, and the blowoff tubes from each fermenter pass through the larger front hole. The two-vessel blowoff setup for each fermenter seen on top of the freezer is an extra layer of protection from oxygen and/or sanitizer suckback as fermentation slows, prior to pressurizing the fermenters to cold crash. The first bottle is empty and allowed to fill with CO₂. The second has tubing submerged in sanitizer creating the airlock. The “S” bubbler on top is unnecessary, but I just like to see the bubbling. On the note of necessity, notice the metal strapping that anchors the unit to the wall using the freezer door mounting holes. Extending the shelf with a full fermenter in it could be a catastrophic undertaking without it being adequately secured to the wall studs.

5: Fan & Temperature Probe

As the project comes to completion, you can see the 110V auxiliary computer fan mounted in the top right corner to keep air moving and maintain even temperature throughout the chamber. Down from it is the temperature probe for the chamber itself, with the water-filled soda bottle for some thermal mass as mentioned earlier. You’ll also notice the molded shelving brackets on the inside of the door have been cut flush and covered with a foil tape to increase the clearance inside for the tanks and drawers. 

Refractometers are widely used in the wine and beer industry to measure sugar, but they are less commonly used by homebrewers. However, if used properly a refractometer can be a great tool to measure specific gravity in place of, or to supplement, your hydrometer. It is used primarily in brewing beer to determine the specific gravity readings of wort. BYO’s Technical Editor Ashton Lewis walks through how to use one.

You’ve already made the big investment in your brewhouse and fermenters and you’re using this equipment to brew great beer. But you really need to regularly maintain your brewing equipment for the sake of beer quality and also the sake of your dollar investment. Learn what regular maintenance you need to be doing – and how often as well as the right techniques – to take care of your equipment with Owen Woods who advises breweries on equipment every day.

PDF of Presentation Slides: https://byo.com/wp-content/uploads/Owen_Woods_BrewingEquipmentTLC-1.pdf

I love walking into a tap room for the first time and immediately being hit with the recognizable aromas that so often fill my own brewing space.

Wort boiling, fermentations cranking along, and raw ingredient smells filling the air means that the beer I’m going to be served is fresh. But the smell of a brew day in the tap room also means the brewing space is nearby and there’s a good chance I’m going to be able to see where and how the beer is made. Nothing beats sipping on a brew while gazing at a brewery’s equipment — from nano-sized operations with one or two fermenters next to a kettle and mash tun, to those with rows of giant conical fermenters stretching high into the air like Corinthian columns. The fermenters are usually the first thing to catch my eye — they’re shiny and full of gadgets, gauges, sight glasses, and ports . . . they seem to blur the line between brewery equipment and art.  

Of course, you don’t need to visit a pro brewery to admire them. Homebrewers have access to the same type of unitank fermenters, and their popularity has grown tremendously over the past decade so the options available have a wide range of features, add-on components, and price points. 

Unitanks are the top tier fermenter option for homebrewers. They open the door of opportunity with the multi-functionality they offer. They hold pressure, which allows homebrewers to carbonate in the fermenter or do pressurized fermentations to suppress esters or create lager-like beers at ale fermentation temperature. Those with conical designs make trub and yeast management easy, and many include dump ports that allow homebrewers to remove the trub while conditioning and to harvest yeast for additional use. Closed transfers can be done easily, minimizing oxygen contact with your beer. And these are just the basics. 

For this compilation, we gathered information on the most popular pressurizable unitanks available to homebrewers in North America so readers can compare their advertised features. From the size and price point to included or available accessories, number of ports, valve sizes and more, there is a lot to consider when choosing a unitank that meets your needs. We hope this helps clarify what you get with each option.

Blichmann Cornical Unitank

The Cornical Unitank is a 7-gallon (26.5-L) pressurized tank with the unique design of a full-featured conical bottom clamped to a Cornelius-style keg top. Rated for 50-PSI pressure capability, the Cornical^TM Unitank retails for $467.99. Blichmann Engineering also offers the modular keg and the conical fermentation kit as separate products for added versatility. The keg system has a removable bottom to allow easy access when cleaning. The conical bottom clamps onto the keg to convert it to the pressure-fermenter, so if you have multiple kegs you can use one fermentation kit and switch the unitank bottom to a regular keg bottom after fermentation is complete for easy serving from a kegerator. It also features a rotating racking arm, 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) butterfly dump valve for yeast harvesting and trub dumping, and a traditional Corny-style keg lid. Available add-ons include a spunding valve and a keg wall hanger. 

Blichmann Fermenator G4

The Fermenator G4 is the latest iteration of the first pressure-capable conical to hit the homebrew market back in 2004. It comes in four sizes ranging from 7 gallon/26.5 L ($768.99) up to one barrel ($1,538.99). Each features welded 1.5-inch (38-mm) tri-clamp fittings, an aseptic racking valve that can be filled with sanitizer between uses so all wet surfaces remain sanitized, an external level gauge, and is rated for pressure up to 15 PSI. It has a brushed exterior that is easy to keep free of stains and fingerprints and a polished interior. It comes with the pressure relief valve, tri-clamp thermometer, and a lifetime warranty. Additional features sold separately include a tri-clamp blow-off tube, caster set, leg extensions, cooling coil, carb stone, and Clean-In-Place set. 

Bräu Supply Unitank

This professional-style, 304 stainless steel jacketed unitank comes in four sizes from an 8-gallon capacity up to 39 gallons (30- to 150-L) and ranges in price from $1,800–$2,500. It features a liquid-filled jacket for precise temperature control with a glycol unit that can be bought separately. It features adjustable legs, a rotating racking arm for beer transfers, a sample valve for easy testing during fermentation, an analog pressure gauge (0–30 PSI) for pressure monitoring and a 15-PSI pressure reducing valve for controlled fermentation. The smaller size features a 6-inch (15-cm) tri-clamp cap (larger models have an 8-inch/20-cm cap) as well as 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) tri-clamp racking port, and a 2-inch (5-cm) tri-clamp dump port, as well as numerous other ports to fit all of your needs. It also comes with a stainless blow-off assembly and drop-in ruler with volume markings. Sold separately is a compatible oxygen-free HopDrop for dry hopping, beer transfer kit, carbonation stone, and kits for Clean-In-Place and temperature control. 

BrewBuilt® X2 & X3 Uni Conical Fermenters

These fermenters made from 304 stainless steel feature mirror polish inside and out. The X2 is available in 7-gallons (26.5 L) for $770, while the X3 is available in four sizes from 7–38 gallons (26.5–144 L) with prices ranging from $1,210–$2,200. The X2 has a 2-inch (5-cm) bottom port and butterfly valve, and three horizontal ports on the cone for the racking arm, carb stone, and thermometer. It features a four-leg, reinforced base for maximum stability with adjustable feet, and has a 4-inch (10-cm) tri-clamp lid. Inside the tank are etched volume markings. 

The X3 has a larger 8-inch (20-cm) tri-clamp lid and scaled-up 3-inch (7.5-cm) bottom port and butterfly valve with a tri-clamp Clear Flex Chamber Bottom Dump that allows you to see fermentation and remove trub, or harvest yeast. The X3 also includes more features such as a built-in external cooling jacket with 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) tri-clamp ports and a neoprene jacket for insulation. It includes the Pressure Pack lid with floating dip tube (available as an accessory in the X2), draft-style quick-disconnect connections for sampling/serving, and an extra 1.5-tri-clamp port for dry hopping. Both the X2 and X3 have a built-in 15-PSI pressure relief valve (though an optional pressure fermentation kit is required for pressurized fermentations). 

BREWHA BIAC®

The BIAC^® (Brew In A Conical) is more than just a jacketed fermenter, it’s an entire brewing system as well. It is the only system of its kind that allows you to mash, boil, and ferment in a single portable unit. The polished stainless steel BIAC^® comes in 8-, 14-, and 20-gallon (30-, 54-, and 76-L) capacities ranging in price from $ 4,516.47–6,309.79. All are available in 240V electric, while the smallest size is also available in 120V. The system comes with a mash colander to hold the grain, pump, valves, fittings, and touchscreen temperature controller. The fermenter tank has a 14.9-PSI pressure rating (7 PSI in the jacket) to be used as a brite tank or serving vessel. It features three legs with casters, a pressure and vacuum safety relief valve, hop basket for dry hopping, and a water pressure regulator to limit the flow in the jacket when cooling. Sold separately is an accessory kit that includes Clean-In-Place assembly, flow meter, bottom valve upgrade, fermenter gas-in post, temperature control valve, mash mixer, and more. If preferred, the base unitank (minus the equipment to make it an all-in-one brewing system) can be bought separately in each size, ranging in price from $1,512.53–2,180.53.

Brewtools® F40 & F80 Unitanks

The Norwegian Brewtools^® F40 has a recommended volume of 5.2–10.5 gallons (20–40 L) and features a cooling jacket in the vertical walls and a neoprene insulation jacket. It is pressure-rated up to 30 PSI (15-PSI operating pressure) with an 8-inch (20-cm) tri-clamp port on top and 2-inch (5-cm) dump and racking valves. It has Brewtools’ patented PureBlast^TM 1.5-mm stainless steel surface inside and out that forgoes the need to passivate. It also has four adjustable legs, allowing it to stand from 33–41 inches (83–103 cm) in height. The unit includes a sample valve, pressure release valve, and numerous options for connecting accessories sold separately that include thermowells for sensors, carb stone kit, a sight glass, spunding valve, sample valve, HopDrop kit, and more. It retails for $1,999. 

The F80 is the larger model with a capacity up to 19.8 gallons (75 L) and an adjustable height from 43–51 inches (110–130 cm). It retails for $2,199. 

Brewtools also sells a “Light” version of each with the same tank body but slightly less equipment and some parts made from polyketone (POK). The F40 Light is $1,399 and the F80 Light is $1,599. Brewtools is distributed in North America by MoreBeer! 

Custom Fermentations JF8 Unitank

This fully customizable 8-gallon (30-L) unitank is made from 3-mm 304 stainless steel. Homebrewers may choose from popular pre-configured models or build a base tank from the ground up with the accessories that fit their needs and budget. It features a built-in cooling jacket and 100% sanitary tri-clamp connections. It advertises a 15-PSI working pressure (30-PSI max pressure) and includes a 5-mm neoprene insulation jacket. It has three legs and a 6-inch (15-cm) port at the top with an optional 6- to 3-inch (15- to 7.5-cm) reducer for large dry hop additions, Clean-In-Place system, or floating dip tube assembly. It features numerous 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) ports on the sides and cone for accessories and a 2-inch (5-cm) bottom dump port. The base tank (pictured on the left) is $899.99 or you can buy it with all of the accessories (on the right) for $1,619.99, or anywhere in between.

Delta Brewing Systems Fermtank Pro Series 

Available in three sizes with capacities of 8, 14, and 19 gallons (30, 53, and 72 L), the stainless steel Fermtank Pro series holds pressure up to 15 PSI. The lid contains two 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) tri-clamp ports and a 4-inch (10-cm) tri-clamp port. It has a 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) tri-clamp dump port and a 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) tri-clamp thermowell on the body with an included digital thermometer. Other 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) tri-clamp fittings are on the cone for accessories. Inside are etched volume markings. The unit comes with casters on its three legs for easy mobility and is brushed stainless steel to keep a clean look. Additional accessories sold separately include a 4-inch (10-cm) tri-clamp chilling coil, dry hopping kit, and more. Prices range in size from $590, $700, and $850. Note that only the Pro Series Fermtanks from Delta are pressure-rated. 

KegLand FermZilla All Rounder

This is the most basic and affordable pressurizable fermenter on our list. The egg-shaped PET body has a total volume of 7.9 gallons (30 L). The lid measures 4.75-inches (12-cm), allowing you to get your arm inside to easily clean it. It is pressure rated to 35 PSI, though you’ll have to buy the FermZilla Pressure Kit to unlock the All Rounder’s full potential and ferment under pressure (available in plastic or stainless, starting at $24.49). The plastic body is shatterproof and sits on a round stainless steel stand. It also comes with a stainless steel handle, adhesive thermometer, and graduation sticker for volume readings. The lid features molded drill locations if you choose to install addition accessories like a thermowell or cooling coil. The temperature rating is 131 °F (55 °C) when not under pressure, or a maximum temperature of 95 °F (35 °C) when holding pressure. Manufactured by Kegland in Australia and available from many North American homebrew suppliers for around $86.99. 

KegLand FermZilla Tri-Conical

Similar to the All Rounder, the Gen 3.2 FermZilla Tri-Conical is made from PET with a pressure rating of 35 PSI. It holds a total volume of 7.1 gallons (27 L). Where it builds on the All Rounder is the 3-inch (7.5-cm) butterfly valve at the bottom of its cone and 22-oz. (660-mL) collection jar to remove hop matter and yeast. You will need to add the FermZilla Pressure Kit for pressure fermentation. Another accessory sold separately is a tri-clamp pressure lid that adds a 2-inch (5-cm) tri-clamp port for adding dry hops or other additions without needing to remove the entire lid. Similar to the All Rounder, the Tri-Conical comes with a stainless steel handle, adhesive thermometer, and graduation sticker for volume readings. The temperature rating is 131 °F (55 °C) when not under pressure, or a maximum temperature of 95 °F (35 °C) when holding pressure. Manufactured by Kegland in Australia and available from many North American homebrew suppliers for around $175.99. 

KegLand Kegmenter

Unlike many units on this list, the Kegmenter lacks the conical cone but the stainless steel fermenter makes up for it with its low price starting at around $274.99 for the 7.6-gallon (29-L) capacity option. Three additional sizes are also available, at 13.2, 15.3, and 31 gallons (50, 58, and 117 L) with the largest costing $499.99. The top of the keg is fitted with a 4-inch (10-cm) tri-clamp lid with ball-lock posts and a pressure relief valve. It features a floating dip tube and is rated up to 36 PSI with 1.8-mm stainless steel (the largest size is rated for 43.5 PSI). The posts are recessed to allow for stacking of up to four Kegmenters on top of each other. Because there is no drop valve to remove trub/yeast, it is recommended to have two Kegmenters so you can ferment in one and then transfer to another for carbonating and serving. Available accessories include a ball-lock jumper to easily transfer from one to another, as well as the Hop Bong Pressure Pack for oxygen-free dry hopping. Manufactured by Kegland in Australia and available from many North American homebrew suppliers.

Spike Brewing Conical Unitank

Spike offers four sizes for their homebrew unitanks with similar features: CF5 (7-gallon/26.5-L capacity), CF10 (14-gallon/53 L), CF15 (18-gallon/68-L), and CF30 (40-gallon/151-L). Each is made from 1.2-mm 304 stainless steel with a 15-PSI working pressure and polished finishes. The clamp and gasket lid includes a 4-inch (10-cm) tri-clamp modular top port as well as three 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) tri-clamp ports designed for a blow-off port, hop addition port, and a pressure relief valve. Spike’s unitanks include a 2-inch (5-cm) dump port with butterfly valves and three 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) tri-clamp ports on the body. Sold separately are more than 20 accessories including a temperature control bundle, pressure relief valve, and other amenities. Base prices range from $660 for the smallest unit up to $1,725 for brewing batches up to a barrel in size in the largest homebrew size. 

Ss Brewtech Unitank 2.0

The new and improved Unitank 2.0 comes in four sizes for homebrewers: 7-, 14-, 17-, and 31-gallons (26.5-, 53-, 64-, and 117-L), each made from 1.5-mm 304 stainless steel. Each size has similar features including a laser-welded cylinder glycol jacket (plus a neoprene insulation jacket) and 15-PSI operating pressure. They feature a 3-inch (7.5-cm) tri-clamp top port and pressure relief valve. They also have 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) tri-clamp butterfly valves, carb stone, blow-off arm, pressure gauge, sampling valve, and thermowell. Also standard is a keyed rotatable silicone racking arm and adjustable feet. Available add-on accessories include a touch temperature control unit, heating pad, and more. Prices start at $1,099 for the smallest unit and go up to $1,999 for the one-barrel size. 

Stout Tanks Unitank Fermenters

Stout Tanks offers a 7-gallon (26.5-L) jacketed fermenter with a pressure rating of 15 PSI as well as a 20-gallon (76-L) jacketed fermenter that can be converted to a unitank with their Unitank Parts Kit, which gives it a pressure-rating up to 30 PSI (with a 15-PSI operating pressure). Both are made from mirror polished 304 stainless steel. The glycol cooling jacket extends all the way down into the cone for consistent temperature control inside. The lid features a 3-inch (7.5-cm) Clean-In-Place port and 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) pressure relief port (pressure relief valve sold separately). A sanitary thermowell is attached to a 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) tri-clover port and features two additional 1.5-inch (3.8-cm) butterfly valves. The price starts at $2,315 for the smaller unit and $2,711 for the 20-gallon (76-L) fermenter. Larger conical unitanks are also available. 

WilliamsWarn BrewKeg 12.5 & 25

WilliamsWarn BrewKegs are stainless steel conical unitanks that come in two sizes ideal for homebrewers with maximum capacities of 3.3 gallons (12.5 L) and 6.6 gallons (25 L). The BrewKeg allows you to ferment and serve from the same vessel with gas-in and liquid-out ports at the top of the Corny-keg design. A large draining sediment bottle allows you to drain hop matter and yeast during the fermentation and clarification process without needing to remove the sediment bottle. The top features an adjustable pressure relief valve and the fermenter is rated at 40-PSI maximum pressure (25-PSI working pressure). The units do not include temperature control but will fit into standard-sized kegerators. WilliamsWarn is distributed in the U.S. through MoreBeer!, which sells the 12.5 for $494.99 and the 25 for $659.99. 

Q: By reading one of your explanations on “simplifying brewing” I understand that you use a Grainfather all-in-one brewing system. I have used the Grainfather G30 for about eight years. From the very beginning I was upset with the non-homogeneity of temperature during mashing. Because the temperature measurement position is located under the false bottom, I have concluded that the wort atop of the grains is much cooler (confirmed by measurements with an external thermometer). I saw that the grain tube in the new Grainfather model has perforations on its cylindrical surface, so I am updating my system with a new basket. Though I question whether part of the wort will not be flowing through the grain with this design and the efficiency will be severely reduced. What is your opinion on this?
— Luiz Rebouças • Via email

A: Luiz, thank you for the great question. I do brew using a Grainfather G30 and am familiar with how the original system is designed, as well as the new basket. For those of you who are not familiar with these systems, there are two main parts of the Grainfather and other systems based on the same basic all-in-one design (see diagrams shown in Figure 1).

The brew kettle is heated from the bottom using an electric heating element positioned on the bottom of the kettle from the exterior. When looking down into the kettle, the heater is not visible. When used for mashing, a smaller mash basket is inserted into the kettle to hold the mash. In the original basket shown on the left in Figure 1, wort flows down through the bottom screen, into the pump and is returned to the mash basket onto the top screen. Wort pooling above the top screen flows directly to the bottom of the vessel through an overflow pipe to prevent the pump from exerting too much pull on the mash and from starving after all wort outside of the basket has been pumped to the top.

In my experience, the original design works best when using coarsely milled malt or more finely milled malt in conjunction with rice hulls because the mash bed is more permeable. The issues I have experienced with the original design are variable yields, occasional long wort collection times, and difficulty with uniform mash temperature. This sounds like your experience.

One thing that works for me is to start my mash at about 140 °F (60 °C), periodically stir for about 15 minutes, then install the top screen, and start the recirculation pump and the mash profile. If I am using a single mash temperature, I start my mash at about 149 °F (65 °C), periodically stir for 15 minutes, install the top screen, and start the pump and simply set my mash temperature at 149 °F (65 °C) to maintain temperature. Mash stirring during the beginning of the mash really helps with thorough hydration of the malt while also moving things around to improve extraction. I spent my commercial brewing days using stirred mashes and really like the yield improvement and increased consistency between batches that stirring provides.

To answer your questions, I contacted Aaron Hyde with RahrBSG to get some information about the new basket design used in all new Grainfather systems. Aaron is currently RahrBSG’s Director of Product and Portfolio and the former General Manager of Portfolio and Strategy for Bevie, the New Zealand-based company that produces the Grainfather. The basket redesign was Aaron’s brainchild. 

“I suspected side perforations would improve temperature control because the perforations improve wort flow through the mash, even when thick and sticky, which is why the overflow pipework on the old system was needed.” Aaron also felt that adding side perforations would not decrease efficiency because liquid tends to flow down through the grain bed during draining. In practice, users of the new design report higher yields in comparison to the old design and find the new design to perform more consistently from brew-to-brew.

One thing to consider is sparging technique. Some brewers like to keep a small volume of water above the mash bed during sparging and time additions or the flow rate of continuous sparge additions to maintain a consistent level of water. With the new design, that method would indeed result in water flowing out of the side perforations. The best approach to sparging is to add sparge water in batches until it just begins to pool. After a couple of minutes of draining, add more sparge water.

The larger models are equipped with a sight tube showing wort volume in the kettle, while the G30 does not have this feature. I use a calibrated wooden stick (flat yard stick purchased at the hardware store) with my G30 to monitor how much wort I have collected and use this information to gauge when more sparge water is needed (to use this stick, I slip it between the kettle and grain basket wall and look for the top of the wetted portion). For example, if adding sparge water in 2-quart (2-L) increments, waiting for the kettle volume to increase by 2-quarts (2-L) indicates when the next addition can be made.

I do think that the questions posed make sense, but at the end of the day, the improved liquid flow through the bed during wort recirculation outweigh the small volume of wort flowing outward from the perforations. 

I monitor my fermentation with a Tilt hydrometer, but back it up with a standard hydrometer. The two are always a little off but are good checks. My final gravity (FG) is always high, no matter what style I am brewing. If the target is 1.018, I’m usually finishing at 1.022. Although I calibrated my Tilt, the hydrometer reads 2–4 gravity points higher for final gravity even when adjusted for temperature. What am I doing wrong to always have higher gravity at the end of fermentation?
— Barney Heller • North Wales, Pennsylvania 

A: Well, Barney, this question touches on two separate pain points in brewing — measurement challenges (calibration) and final gravity issues.

One of my brewing touchstones is to always give instruments a serious side-eye. I don’t recall when I began questioning instruments, but know that mistrust is an asset. You have two instruments that are supposed to measure the same thing and have two different results. You have two options: Compare your Tilt and your hydrometer against standards (and when you say you calibrated the TIlt hydrometer, I’m guessing this is what you have already done) or add a third instrument to the party. Although the second option is not a terrible idea, unless the third instrument has been certified all you will do is add more confusion to things. So, what about bumping these up against a standard?

The gold standard for specific gravity is pure water with a density of 1.000 kg/L or a specific gravity of 1.000 (SG is unitless as it compares the density of one liquid to that of water). For many instruments, a single-point calibration is insufficient and a second or third calibration standard is required. Examples of multi-point calibrations include pH, temperature, and mass. This is also true of density, but once a hydrometer of a given length and weight is calibrated over a range using at least two calibration standards, the calibrated scale can be replicated. The takeaway is that you have completed the first step in sleuthing out the measurement by dropping your hydrometer and your Tilt into pure water and measuring the density. They both should read 1.000 at the water temperature your hydrometer is calibrated (your Tilt has a built-in correction).

My distrust of instruments is generally related to devices with “black boxes” that bring in some sort of input and return a value. Measurement errors often result from something awry with the black box input. This could be a dirty sensor, something touching a sensor, or interference with moving parts. The Tilt is a clever device where density is determined by the angle that the Tilt device floats in liquid. As density drops, so does the Tilt device. And as the Tilt hydrometer sinks, it becomes more vertical. Drop the same Tilt hydrometer into a high-gravity wort, and it will lean more horizontal.

Both of your devices have simple measuring principles, although the inner workings of the Tilt are nifty. And both devices will be affected by deposits on the surface that change the weight of the device; make sure they are both clean. My money is on the Tilt for being correct and your hydrometer for being off. I guess this is a good time to mention that you are probably not the problem.

Hydrometers rely on the proper placement of a slip of paper for proper calibration. Misplacement by a couple of millimeters in a short hydrometer can result in significant errors. This is why it is critical to always test hydrometers in standard solutions. For those of us using sets of tall hydrometers with relatively narrow ranges, for example 1.000–1.034 SG, 1.032–1.068 SG, and 1.065–1.101 SG (or 0–8.5 °P, 8–16.5 °P, and 16–24 °P), calibration is easier said than done. Suffice to say, don’t trust a hydrometer further than you can drop it before first checking it out.

Missing your FG is a deep topic that I will simply dip my toe into. For starters, the FG of a brew has a lot to do with malt, mashing, and yeast. Change any of these things and expect a change in FG. But then there is the published FG. What does this mean? Is it a value plucked from the performance of a single batch of beer or is it the average FG of many, many brews of the same recipe? Here is the thing with FG . . . it usually contributes less to body and flavor than brewers think. The one exception to this is when a beer finishes high because of unfermented sugars that are sweet.

Details aside, if you want a drier beer, there are a few easy things to try. The first is extending your mash temperature in the 149 °F (65 °C) range. Sixty minutes is long enough to produce highly fermentable wort. Another thing to consider is to back off specialty malt additions, like crystal and caramel malts, that boost FG. And then there is yeast strain; yeast strains that are either unable to ferment maltotriose or those that do so poorly will leave higher finish gravities compared to strains that do ferment maltotriose. For the latter, most lager strains and ale strains like Chico gobble up maltotriose like nobody’s business.

Your brewery equipment is an investment and should be treated that way. While stainless steel can withstand a lot, it is not indestructible. Like all equipment, it will experience wear and tear and needs to be properly taken care of to make sure it is working as efficiently as possible and can last as long as you need it to. 

Importance of Proper Care

Optimizing Efficiency

Efficient brewing operations rely on well-maintained equipment. When your equipment is in optimal working condition, it performs better and reduces the need for repairs and downtime. Poorly maintained equipment can result in slower production speeds, inconsistent product quality, and increased energy consumption. By keeping equipment clean and functioning properly, you ensure smooth, efficient operations that support both quality control and cost-effective brewing.

Enhancing Longevity

The lifespan of your brewery equipment can be significantly extended with proper care. Regular maintenance, such as cleaning, repassivation, and checking for leaks, ensures that the equipment can handle the wear it endures in daily use. When you address small issues early, they don’t evolve into larger problems that may require expensive repairs or replacements. Routine attention to your equipment’s needs prevents corrosion, rust, and damage from occurring, which can lead to premature failure. This proactive approach helps keep your equipment running for years, saving money in the long run.

Ensuring Consistent Beer Quality

Regular cleaning and sanitizing, as part of a broader care plan, are crucial for protecting the taste and safety of your product. Any residue, buildup, or contamination left unchecked can lead to off-flavors, fermentation issues, and poor beer quality. A well-maintained system helps to ensure that every batch is brewed under optimal conditions, supporting the consistency and integrity of your beer. 

Maintaining Safety Standards

Proper equipment maintenance is also a key component in ensuring the safety of your brewery operations. Faulty equipment can lead to dangerous situations, such as pressure buildup, leaks, or electrical malfunctions, which pose risks to your team and facility. Regular inspections and maintenance help identify potential hazards early, reducing the risk of accidents. Additionally, maintaining safety-related equipment like pressure relief valves (PRVs) and personal protective equipment (PPE) ensures that your brewery complies with safety regulations, protecting both employees and the business.

Setting Up New Equipment

Even with new equipment, there are tasks to complete to set yourself up for success and have your stainless steel last. If not properly treated, stainless steel can corrode or rust, so it needs to be passivated. Passivation is a metal cleaning process using nitric acid, phosphoric/nitric acid blends, or citric acid to remove free iron from the surface. The chemical treatment leads to a protective oxide layer that is less likely to chemically react with air and cause corrosion. Passivated stainless steel resists rust and helps extend its life.

When receiving new equipment, it is recommended to clean using a degreasing agent, passivate, and sanitize before use, even if the manufacturer says the equipment comes already passivated. You want to be in control of the process and know it has been done to your standards. Stainless steel should be repassivated every year as a preventative measure, or anytime you believe the protective oxide layer has been damaged (stubborn stains that required you to scrub excessively, any scratches, nicks, or dents to the stainless, exposure to regular steel, steel wool, or iron metals, exposure to bleach cleaners, and with unique water quality, i.e., hard water or reverse osmosis water).

Along with passivation, new equipment should also be checked for leaks by running a full test cycle with water. Tanks and equipment that hold pressure should also be tested to ensure they can hold and maintain pressure.

Ongoing Care

Ongoing cleaning practices ensure the quality of your final product and keep your equipment well-maintained. Set up a Clean-In-Place (CIP) process for cleaning and sanitizing your equipment. Your team should be consistent and follow the same process and protocols. There are numerous brands of CIP chemicals on the market and it’s important to understand the chemicals you are using and follow the guidelines from your supplier. Temperature, pH, dosage rate, dilution, cycle time, and interaction with other chemicals and CO₂ all play a part in how effectively your tanks will be cleaned.

Alkaline cleaners, both caustic and non-caustic, work to remove organic material, like wort, yeast, and hop residue. Acid cleaners work on non-organic materials, like water scale, beer stone, and other mineral buildups. Sanitizers prevent contaminants such as mold and bacteria from growing on equipment but only work on equipment that has been properly cleaned, rinsed, and dried. If sanitizing parts, put parts back on the equipment wet to create a sanitary seal.

In addition to cleaning and sanitizing your brewery vessels, it’s also important to clean and sanitize all small parts and the ports they are connected to. Carb stones, gaskets, manway gaskets, clamps, etc. should be removed and cleaned after each use. This allows you to deep clean those individual pieces, check them for wear and tear, and replace them if needed. This should also include secondary containers (buckets, pitchers, graduated cylinders, measuring cups) and hand tools (wrenches, pliers, brushes) after their use. These pieces move around the brewery and can potentially cross-contaminate other equipment. Rubber hoses are also prone to cracks, wear spots, and holding onto moisture that can breed bacteria and should also be cleaned, purged, and sanitized.

Use non-abrasive scrubbers and brushes while cleaning brewery equipment, both on the inside and outside of the vessels. Abrasive scrubbers can scratch the stainless steel, which puts the equipment at risk of being contaminated. Just like with a CIP process, schedule routine cleanings of exterior surfaces. This will prevent mineral buildup from CIP chemicals and biofilm, and keep your tanks looking shiny.

Stay Ahead with Preventative Maintenance

Wear and tear is normal on any piece of equipment. Regardless of brewery size, regular brewery maintenance ensures that your brewing operations run smoothly.

Being proactive with a preventative maintenance routine for your brewery saves a myriad of potential headaches: Permanent damage to equipment, spending more money to get equipment fixed immediately, frustrated brewery staff, missed deadlines for beer sales, quality control issues, and safety and liability issues. When your equipment is cared for correctly, it will do its job the same way each time, resulting in a more consistent and quality-controlled product. Plus, maintaining your equipment will always be cheaper than replacing it.

Like with a CIP process, create a clear maintenance plan for everyone to follow. Set up a calendar with routine maintenance checks, ongoing cleaning and organizational tasks, and larger projects to tackle. Log this information to track your maintenance history and share it openly with the team. Keep instructions and manuals all in one place for easy access. It’s also important to understand what tasks your team can do themselves and what tasks need to be outsourced to a professional. For outsourced tasks, have a go-to list of companies that you know and trust.

A clean and organized production space will make it easier to complete maintenance tasks. Create a spare parts management system to label and track parts and pieces and note quantities. Know when and how often certain equipment needs maintenance to keep parts on hand ahead of time. These parts can be classified based on importance. Critical spare parts should always have enough inventory in-house to replace directly when needed. General spare parts should be easy to get ahold of when needed (always in stock with your supplier, quick delivery time). Non-critical spare parts are acceptable to have a longer lead or delivery time.

Keep your inventory simple and standardize the number of different brands/models used, when possible. This will help consolidate suppliers, save on shipping costs, and over time help understand the quality and lifespan of certain parts.

These are items I recommend always having on hand in your production space:

• Tri-clover gaskets in all sizes

• Manway gaskets

• Carb stones

• Pump seal and gasket replacement kits

• Butterfly valve seats

• Glycol and steam valve replacement parts

• PIDs for control panels

• Hose clamps/crimps

• Food-grade lubricant

Recommended Maintenance

Different equipment will require different maintenance plans. To follow are some tasks recommended to perform on common equipment nanobreweries often use, though it is not intended to be all-inclusive, nor will every piece of equipment be used in every brewery:

Brewhouses and Tanks

• CIP and sanitize vessels. Check all gaskets, clamps, and valves for wear. (After each use)

• Descale or acid-wash surfaces. (Monthly)

• Repassivate to help prevent corrosion. (Annually)

• Check motors (on rakes and other mechanisms) for rust, faulty wiring, worn threads, and loose bolts. (Annually)

Grain Mill and Auger

• Vacuum the inside to remove any dust and ensure the case keeps moisture out. (Weekly)

• Check wiring and components for signs of wear. (Annually)

• Run a milling test to ensure the grind size is correct. (Upon noticing changes in gravity)

Glycol, Pumps, and Heat Exchanger

• Check liquid levels in glycol chiller. Ensure fans and coils are clean. (Quarterly)

• Check glycol lines running to tanks for leaks or mildew, replace insulation if necessary. (Annually)

• Strip down pumps to ensure they are clean inside. Check gaskets. (Annually)

• Take apart heat exchanger to deep clean and inspect plates. (When quality issues are found)

Packaging

• Check that the canning line control panel is dry and free of any moisture. (After each use)

• Evaluate kegs for dents/damage. (During cleaning cycles)

• Apply food-grade grease to moving parts. (Monthly)

• Check keg coupler seals and spears. Ensure kegs can hold pressure. (Quarterly)

• Check hoses on canning line for damage or discoloration. (Quarterly)

• Repassivate kegs to deep clean and prevent corrosion. (Annually)

Small Parts and Brewhouse Accessories

• Clean and sanitize yeast brinks, keg lines and couplers, clamps, buckets, pitchers, pliers, etc. (After each use)

• Clean, purge, and sanitize hoses. Check clamp fittings and inside of hoses for damage. (After each use)

• Check gaskets for tears, holes, or discoloration. (Weekly)

• Recalibrate pH meters, CO₂ volume meters, thermometers, refractometers, and dissolved oxygen readers. (Weekly)

• Lubricate valves, clamps, hinges, fermenter doors, and sample ports. (Quarterly)

Safety Equipment

• Inspect PPE for damage and replace if needed. (Daily)

• Test eye wash and shower. (Weekly for basic functionality. Annual inspections)

• Break down and recalibrate PRVs. (Quarterly)

Other

• Ensure ingredients storage area is clean and dry. (Daily)

• Take apart and deep clean tap lines. (Weekly)

• Clean brewhouse floor, repair non-slip surfaces that may have worn down. (Weekly)

• Clean cooler floor, check door seals. (Monthly)

• Inspect water filters, replace as needed. (Quarterly)

If you don’t have a barrel but want to brew oak-aged beer, barrel alternatives are great options, as these two experts share.

Jamil Zainasheff is an award-winning brewer, author, beer judge, and podcaster.

I have used granules, chips, cubes, sticks, spirals, staves, as well as small and large barrels. There are even extracts that you can use to dose a beer. Generally, the smaller the format of the wood (e.g., granules versus cubes) means more surface area in contact with the beer and quicker extraction. While quicker extraction might be useful in some circumstances, more important is the quality of the wood and the quality of the process used to make it. My favorite is spirals from The Barrel Mill, which I have used extensively. This format is easy to use and much easier to remove from the beer when done. Spirals come in various lengths and they are easy to break into shorter pieces if needed.

In general, American oak has a bolder flavor with more vanilla notes. French oak has a more subtle oak flavor and an overall sweeter impression. Hungarian oak has what some consider to be smooth or more subtle vanilla notes. Regardless of the origin, those flavors of vanilla, caramel, and butter-
scotch depend on the toast or char level. Firing the wood creates melanoidins as heat from the fire breaks down carbohydrates into sugars. It is toast or char that creates flavors ranging from light vanilla to espresso and more. 

My go-to favorite is a blend of light-toast American and medium toast French oak, but I also really like using Spanish cedar, cypress, sugar maple, and amburana. The only problem with some of these wood species is that they are available in limited formats.

If you are new to wood aging beer, start with higher-alcohol beers (>9% ABV), as they will not sour as quickly should there be bacteria or wild yeast introduced with the wood. Imperial stouts are always great with wood aging. The residual sweetness is a nice counterbalance to the tannins from the wood, and any vanilla and caramel notes from the wood are nice with the chocolaty notes of the stout. 

I also like wood-aged Pilsner, golden ale, Kölsch, or hefeweizen with woods like Spanish cedar, cypress, sugar maple, and amburana. You can try wood with anything. Using chips or cubes, you could experiment with just a growler or Mason jar of beer to see how well a particular wood affects the flavor. If you like it, then you can age the rest of the beer. 

Longer extraction times create different flavors in the beer. The general consensus is that the beers can become more tannic with longer extraction times. Taste the beer each week to see how it is progressing. Once the flavor is right, get the beer off the wood. One trick to maximize extraction and reduce waiting time is to recirculate the beer across the wood. Commercially, they use a pump, but homebrewers can swirl the vessel or invert the keg every few days to accelerate and maximize extraction.

I don’t recommend soaking oak alternatives in a spirit in hopes of replicating the flavor from a spirit barrel. The oxidation and development of flavors over time in the wood is not something you can recreate in a sealed bottle over a short time. Instead, soaking the wood in the spirit leaches out the wood flavor you want to add to your beer. You might as well just pour the spirit into the beer instead. If you do soak the wood in a spirit, then consider pouring all of that spirit into the beer too, so you retain the wood flavor. Some folks soak their wood in a spirit hoping it will kill any organisms present, but that is not a good reason to do it either. Heat, in the oven or through canning, is the best option for ensuring sanitary wood products.

Desi Hall is a sales associate with The Barrel Mill in Avon, Minnesota.

When choosing barrel alternatives, the first thing I consider is availability: Can I get these again if I like them, and how consistent is the product? I also consider volume displacement for the vessel I am using (do I have enough room to add the amount of the alternative I need to achieve the contact rate for aging?). And clean-up: How much work is it to get the alternative out of the vessel? Toast level is another consideration. Lighter toast tends to give the perception of fruit while the darker toast lends more sweet notes (caramel, butterscotch, toffee).

When you’re looking for the added flavor and complexity of a spirit along with the oak you should remember to drink the premium spirits and use a good-quality budget brand for soaking your oak alternative. Use the smallest vessel possible to soak a spiral and use only enough liquid to saturate the spiral. The goal is to add spirits to the spiral without leaving anything behind in the soaking vessel, but if there is some left behind it can be added as a liquid oak extract or tossed out.

When considering contact time, depending on the species of wood, you can achieve the desired flavor in as little as 24 hours, but in most cases four weeks will give full extraction from a spiral. Something I tell everyone that wants to use any barrel alternative is to always taste it early and taste it often. Many times brewers get bad results because they wait too long to take the first sample and end up over-oaking.

You can get the oak and spirit flavors from alternatives, but the thing you don’t get compared to a barrel is oxygenation. Oxygen has a large effect on the final taste, aroma, and mouthfeel of the finished beverage. There has been a lot of experimentation around micro-oxygenation, and by forcing oxygen into the solution we can get much closer to resembling a barrel.

Of course, barrel alternatives go beyond oak. One of my favorite combinations currently is a pale ale aged on Spanish cedar. The Spanish cedar adds notes of citrus, grapefruit peel, and a light spice.  

Barrel-aged beers are some of the finest, most complex, and sought-after beers produced. Often imitated, though never truly replicated, oak barrels provide characteristics that are otherwise unobtainable. These come from a slow ingress of oxygen to the aging beer, flavors and tannins from toasted oak, as well as character from the spirit or other beverage that was previously aged in the barrel.

Often requiring a minimum of a year in the barrel — and sometimes much more — the resulting beers undergo a loss of water through evaporation and gain additional alcohol and flavor from the spirit previously aged in the barrel. They regularly push double-digit alcohol levels and are bursting in flavors; perfect for slow sipping and deep contemplation. 

With the required investment in time, it’s important to get barrel aging right. So, with the help of four professionals who regularly release some of the best wood-aged examples around, we explore the technique of barrel aging. Let’s meet the pros:

Corey Artanis: Co-Founder and Director of Brewing and Blending at 3 Sons Brewing Co. (Dania Beach, Florida)

Sean Buchan: Co-Founder and CEO at Cerebral Brewing (Denver, Colorado)

Paul Grenier: Co-Owner and CEO at Mortalis Brewing Co. (Avon, New York)

Jordan Ziegler: Vintage Barrel Master at Firestone Walker Brewing Co. (Paso Robles, California)

How big is your barrel program and what styles have you barrel-aged? 

Corey: We average an annual production of 150 barrels. We generally barrel-age stouts and barleywines, but have aged a Baltic porter, strong ale, imperial sour, and we currently have a wild ale in wine barrels.

Sean: We have 130 barrels in our clean program and 35 in our wild program, along with two 15-bbl mixed-culture foeders. The bulk of our barrel aging program is focused on barrel-aged imperial stouts, but we also dabble in barrel-aged barleywines as well as saison and other wild ales. Recently we’ve been enjoying working with barrel-aged lagers. In 2022, we took home a gold medal at the Festival of Barrel Aged Beers for a Chardonnay barrel-aged helles (check out a clone recipe for this beer below). As one of our favorite adjuncts, we’re always experimenting with new and unique barrel blends.

Paul: We have around 50 barrels right now and we are aging everything from imperial stouts to barleywines and even some fruited sours.

Jordan: We currently have a little over 1,000 casks filled in our program, which is roughly about 1,650 barrels in liquid. Over the years the styles that we have aged in barrels range from imperial stouts, milk stouts, imperial brown ale, smoked porter, blonde barleywine, imperial extra special bitter, browniewine, Munichwine, wheatwine, Baltic porter, Belgian quadrupel, and even Oktoberfest that is aged in wine barrels (BYO ran a clone recipe for Oaktoberfest in the March-April 2023 issue, online at: www.byo.com/recipe/firestone-walker-brewing-co-s-oaktoberfest-clone).

What attributes does barrel-aging add to a beer? 

Corey: So many! Each depending on what previously aged in the barrel and for how long, the type of wood the barrels are made of, barrel size, char level, and how long you rest the beer in the barrel. All of these variables will enhance the flavor profile, aroma, and texture of the beer in
different ways. 

Sean: When we choose to age a beer in a barrel we’re typically looking for three things — spirit character (assuming it’s a freshly dumped barrel), oak, and micro-oxidation. All three of these elements take time to develop, so it’s important to taste along the way in order to track them. Barrel age statements will have significant impacts on both spirit and oak, so it’s important to know what was aging in the barrel beforehand and for how long. Micro-oxidation is our tool to round out the sharp edges on our beer and develop deep, complex flavors, but if left for too long this can become a detriment.

Paul: That really depends on the barrel. You can get everything from cherry, oak, extreme tannins, vanilla, and so on. I think the better question is what attributes you are looking for, because I bet you could find a barrel to add those flavors!

Jordan: Oh, man. Where to start, ha! The beers that we design for barrel aging come out of the fermenter a bit blocky and rough around the edges but end up rounded out and balanced after resting in barrels for 12 months or longer. The char from the barrel offers carbon filtration of the beer as it rests over time. After 2–4 months you can notice a significant ABV increase from the booze inside the barrel, usually around 2–5% by volume depending on how freshly dumped the barrel was by the distillery. Around the 6–12 month mark you start to see the compounds from the oak start to shine: Vanillin provides notes of natural vanilla, lactones (trans and cis) give us notes of coconut. Furfurals (5-methyl and 5-hydroxymethyl) give off notes of toasted bread, butterscotch, and caramel. Finally, eugenols (trans and cis) give off hints of spice and clove. 

What checks and preparation do you put barrels through prior to filling them with beer? 

Corey: We buy our barrels from reputable brokers who put the barrels through a series of tests and fortunately we don’t have many issues with them. When we receive our barrels, we make sure the bungs haven’t been knocked out and there’s no serious physical damage. If the barrels have to sit for several weeks, we will rehydrate them by standing them up on their head, soak with hot water for 10–15 minutes, flip over and repeat to the other end. The biggest issue we’ve had with barrels are the ones with head bungs (rum and brandy barrels). It’s always good to add some barrel wax around a head bung before you fill them as a precaution. 

Sean: We typically receive freshly dumped barrels and aim to fill them as quickly as possible. Before filling, we give each barrel a once-over to ensure there is no structural damage that could cause problems for us later and a quick sensory evaluation after we take the bung out. After that we’re good to purge them with CO₂ and fill with beer.

Paul: Getting them fresh is super important. After you work with a trusted broker for some time you can eliminate some variables like if the broker does pressure testing, but we always test the barrel heads for a while to make sure they can hold liquid on top of the barrel and it’s not soaking into the barrel.

Jordan: I usually start with a visual inspection on the outside of the barrel for cracks in the staves or gaps in the heads where the chime and croze meet. If I find anything that I suspect will leak liquid I can use wax or putty to seal it up. A hot rinse goes a long way to not only swell the barrel staves, but to get rid of any mold and grime that’s on the outside of the barrel during aging at the distillery. After the hot rinse I take a pitcher mixed with iodine and water and scrub the area surrounding the wooden bung, followed by a few heavy sprays of 70% isopropyl. This allows me to sanitarily remove the wooden bung to inspect the inside of the barrel and insert a new rubber bung before filling with beer. 

What’s the typical lifespan of a barrel that arrives at your brewery look like?

Corey: We only use them once here. Not to say you can’t use them more than once, but that’s our practice. 

Sean: Most barrels are only used once in our clean barrel program. American oak whiskey/Bourbon barrels are much more porous and thus, allow more oxygen ingress than French oak wine barrels. That extra oxygen can lead to off-flavors like acetic acid in mixed-culture beers, so we typically don’t move them to our wild program after they’ve finished aging a barrel-aged stout or barleywine. Wine barrels in our wild program, on the other hand, will get used until we’re not happy with the character of the culture within it — often seeing 4–6 uses before they’re retired. We could easily go beyond that in many cases, but we’re constrained on space, so we’ll often retire barrels to allow us to bring in fresh barrels with more
wine character.

Paul: The vast majority of our barrels are single use and don’t get reused in the aging process. However, if we find something special or are looking for a special flavor, we have been known to double barrel a beer or swap barrels in the process.

Jordan: Spirit barrels are only filled once with beer. We usually sell our spent spirit barrels to a cooperage or a broker once emptied, or we give them away to fellow employees for miscellaneous projects. We also use medium-toast American oak barrels to ferment our Unfiltered Double Barrel Ale in the Firestone Walker Union system, and each barrel can be filled up to 32x times before being retired and considered “neutral.” Once the Union barrels are considered neutral, we ship them down to our sour facility (Firestone Walker Barrelworks) for sour beer production. 

When in the process do you add the beer to barrel? 

Corey: We transfer our stouts and barleywines to the barrels after the beer has reached terminal gravity and post centrifuge.

Sean: On our clean side, we go through primary fermentation then transfer to a brite tank for conditioning for an additional week or so. At that point we begin to check cell counts and when we’re below 5–10 million cells/mL we’re ready to fill.

The process is quite different for our wild beers. We have some that are barrel-fermented and others that see a primary fermentation in stainless with Saccharomyces, then see the addition of one of our mixed-cultures at the point of filling. It’s one of the reasons we love our wild program so much — there are so many individual variables you can change to achieve different results.

Paul: After we have checked the barrel and it meets our standards, the beer can be added. This happens after final fermentation is completed. We typically do not ferment in barrels.

Jordan: Cold side. I like to crash cool/condition the beer for at least five days before sending it to barrel. Crashing the beer will allow yeast and trub to settle out, and I like to dump that stuff out of the tank the day before filling barrels to avoid developing off-flavors or autolysis during the aging process. 

What is the range of time you’ve aged beer in barrel, and what factors impact that time?

Corey: We typically age our stouts and barleywines 18–28 months. The biggest factor is flavor pickup. The beer is ready when it tastes ready. 

Sean: We currently have one Bourbon barrel that’s been home to an imperial stout for nearly 60 months. While it’s certainly an outlier, we do tend to target longer aged barrels for our imperial stout program. Our average age is around 24–28 months for most releases while our Endeavor bottle members are likely to see 30+ month age statements fairly frequently.

We live in a very dry climate so aging beer this long often leads to pretty significant loss. When we empty a 53-gallon (200-L) barrel after 2–3 years of aging we’re typically losing about 25% of the product that we put in.

Paul: We have learned so much over the years in this process. Especially when you consider so many variables like climate control, temperature change, age of the barrel, what’s going inside, what flavors are you looking for, who your barrel broker is, how fresh the barrel was. I could talk for hours on this because of the significant impact of these variables. For an imperial stout, we start looking at it after 14–18 months and see how it evolved over time and then try to plan a course after that.

Jordan: 12-24 months is our sweet spot for most of our barrel-aged beers, although we have gone longer. Since the Bourbon barrels allow micro-oxygenation into the beer, the more time in the barrel means more dissolved oxygen getting into the beer. At some point the compounds from the oak become saturated. In our experience, we seem to achieve our desired extraction from the barrel sometime in that second year in barrel. 

Is your barrel room temperature-controlled? What temperature range/humidity/etc. should a homebrewer try to achieve for barrel-aged beers?

Corey: Our barrel room temperature fluctuates between 75-85 °F (24–29 °C). No humidity control. When I used to barrel age my homebrew I really didn’t worry about temperature range/humidity/etc., mostly because the barrels I used were 5- to 15-gallons (19- to 57-L), so the time in barrel was quite short and those things didn’t affect the beer as much. I would definitely suggest aging at warmer temperatures vs. colder, if it’s an option. Also, if there’s somewhere you can age that has big swings in temperature from night-to-day, this will help expand and contract the beer inside the barrel, thus giving you more flavor pickup. 

Sean: Our barrel rooms are temperature controlled between 65–75 °F (18–24 °C), but that’s mostly due to the fact that they’re located in the same buildings as our taprooms. The temperature and humidity levels you target should be dictated by your goals for the beer. Larger temperature and humidity swings will cause the beer to pull into and out of the oak and often speeds up the development of barrel character. Smaller swings in those variables are going to keep the beer on a more consistent, but possibly slower, path to developing the flavor profiles you’re after.

Paul: Our barrel aging facility is not really temperature controlled. We really love it when the warmer months expand the oak staves to absorb more beer and when the colder months contract to push that beer back into the barrel carrying with it some of those amazing flavors in that oak.

Jordan: We keep our barrel room at 50 °F (10 °C) all year round. Keeping our barrel room at a constant temperature eliminates temperature fluctuations and contracts the barrel, allowing the beer to penetrate deeper into the staves for a cleaner extraction. As a homebrewer I would just try to keep it in a cool, dark place that has the least amount of temperature fluctuations. 

Have you used oak spirals/cubes/other barrel alternatives to amplify the oak character when barrels go neutral (or for other reasons)? 

Corey: Negative. I have used some spent Black Swan honeycomb barrels for aging and they were quite nice. Black Swan mills a honeycomb-like pattern in the barrel staves to increase the internal surface area, thus speeding up the aging process. 

Sean: We’ve used amburana (a Brazilian hardwood) spirals with great success several times. These were added to the brite tank after barrel aging to add additional character. While we could source amburana barrels, they’re extremely expensive and it’s much easier to dial in the desired flavor profile on an intense wood type like amburana using something like spirals.

Paul: Our current process really doesn’t utilize cubes or spirals. We have found the best results come with time and fresh barrel selection.

Jordan: We use a lot of different oak spirals, staves, and barrel bung inserts to amplify our beers. I just made a beer called ParAmburana that I infused with amburana oak from Brazil, which gave off a lot of confectionary notes like gingerbread, snickerdoodle cookies, and autumn spices to the beer. I am also working on a triple-oaked barleywine that has been aged in rye whiskey barrels with single-forest French oak barrel bung inserts added, and then finished in red wine French oak barrels. The possibilities are endless with wood products. 

What should homebrewers keep in mind when working with smaller (5-15 gallon/19–57 L) barrels?

Corey: On 5-gallon (19-L) barrels I would taste a sample two weeks in and continue to taste every 4–5 days thereafter until you’re happy. With 10- to 15-gallon (38- to 57-L) barrels I would usually taste a month in and every week thereafter. Lastly, source local/fresh barrels whenever possible!

Sean: The most important thing to consider with barrel sizes is that the smaller you go, the larger the surface area-to-beer ratio. This means you’ll have a much more significant flavor impact on a beer aged in smaller barrels than you will one aged in a larger one. Sometimes this can give you your desired flavor profile faster, but it can also lead to over-extraction and ruin the balance of your beer if you
aren’t careful.

Paul: We still use some smaller format barrel today! Those 5- to 15-gallon (19- to 57-L) barrels are awesome; the best advice I could give is that they take less time and to taste them often. Usually, you get a lot of spirit flavors from them depending on the previous occupant, so it’s important to understand that when crafting those liquids going inside.

Jordan: Unfortunately, I do not have any experience aging beer in 5-15 gallon barrels. I, personally, would use oak staves to infuse my homebrew at that scale. You can get some decent oak character after aging on staves for 6–8 weeks. 

Other than stouts in Bourbon barrels, are there other beer style/barrel combinations that you’re particularly fond of?

Corey: Barleywine in Bourbon barrels!

Sean: We love playing with specialty barrels for our imperial stouts — some of our favorites include rum, apple brandy, BLiS Maple Syrup Bourbon, and XO Cognac. On the mixed-culture side, we’ve really enjoyed the interplay of saison with the herbal elements of spirits like Rhum Agricole and Tomcat Gin.

Paul: We love our rum barrels at Mortalis. Nothing gets me going quite like designing a new Tiki cocktail in beer format with a Hydra base. We have also been known to dabble with pear brandy from time to time as well.

Jordan: Barleywines aged in rye whiskey barrels have really caught my attention lately. I like to work with barleywines because they tend to have varying levels of sweetness and malt depth, which makes them a great candidate for blending. You can blend in a sweeter beer to amplify another beer that seems too dry or lacking definition on the finish. 

What qualities in a beer make it a good candidate for barrel aging?

Corey: I like a lower roast stout with higher final gravity (FG). I feel the lower level of roast is more approachable/palatable and the higher FG will help balance the alcohol pickup from the barrel. So, use debittered roasted malts as a substitute for black malt and roasted barley. You also want to keep your IBUs on the lower side for balance; 40–45, sometimes lower. Play around with it.

Sean: The key to designing beers for successful barrel aging is planning for the future. Our barrel-aged stouts, for example, are designed with more hop bitterness and roasted black or chocolate malts knowing that the bitterness will fade over time and the roasted flavors will mellow out and become more complex. We purposefully design our clean barrel-aged beers to have harder edges at first, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t love how your beer tastes going into barrel. Off-flavors do not, however, diminish with age — so make sure your fermentation is healthy and complete.

Paul: Gravity is super important in this process. Understand that barrel aging can thin a beer out and that it might not have quite the viscosity it had going into the barrel as coming out of the barrel so plan accordingly and brew a thick beer to help it survive the long slumber.

Jordan: I aim to have the finishing gravity on my barrel beers to stall out significantly higher than a normal beer, usually around the 8–14 degrees Plato (1.032-1.056 specific gravity). I feel it’s important to have some sweetness and malt depth to balance out the flavors imparted from the barrel. You also want to have a higher ABV going into the barrel compared to most normal homebrews. Alcohol is one of the main drivers behind the extraction of the compounds from the oak, the more ABV going in means more extraction. 

When do you make adjunct additions (whether it’s coffee, fruit, or a full-on pastry stout) in barrel-aged beers?

Corey: For adjunct beers we add everything post barrel aging. I feel tasting a beer after aging gives me a clearer picture of what adjuncts will pair best with the final blend, or unblended flavor profile of the beer. Viscosity, oak, roast, alcohol, and sweetness all play big rolls when deciding adjuncts.

Sean: Nearly all of our adjunct additions are post barrel aging, with the exception of vanilla. Vanilla beans are hand-processed and dosed in the barrel, typically at a rate of 0.5–1 lb. (220–450 g) per oak barrel. This allows for greater exposure time and, ultimately, a more nuanced and complex vanilla character. Adjuncts like coconut, cacao nibs, nuts (almond, macadamia, pecans, etc.) are all added post barrel aging in our adjunct dosing vessel. This tank is essentially a mobile brite tank with a false bottom that allows us to steep or recirculate on ingredients without clogging our pump. Coffee gets the same treatment but we get the beer as cold as we can in order to limit oxidation-derived off-flavors (think green pepper/jalapeño). 

Adding ingredients post barrel aging allows us to maximize their impact and achieve a much fresher flavor profile of your targeted adjuncts.

Paul: 95% of those additions are done after the barrel aging process is complete for us. This really allows you more control of flavors you want to bring to the beer without going too far in one direction and not being able to come back.

Jordan: We add our adjuncts post barrel aging. A lot of the aromas from the adjuncts are very volatile and are usually the first to fade over time. I want to add them on the back end so I can allow them as much opportunity to be bright and aromatic. I feel like if you were to add adjuncts prior to aging they can become over extracted or even muted. Our preferred method is steeping/recirculating the adjuncts, which allows us to monitor the progress and taste each addition along the way.

On to the Recipes

We’ve soaked up a lot of advice from our pros, and now it’s time to put it to use. Following are clone recipes graciously provided to us by each of these brewers. While each is aged in barrel at the commercial level, and intended as such even for smaller batches, homebrewers have the option of going the easier route of using oak alternatives. 

Do you seek a more complex character in the sours you brew? The solera process might be a path to that goal. The term solera, a noun, is defined as “a system for aging Sherry and other fortified wines, in which younger wines in upper rows of casks are used to top up casks of older wines stored below in order to produce a consistently aged blend.” The literal translation is “on the ground” and is traditionally the lowest of three stacked barrels. The upper barrels, or criaderas (lit. “nursery,” but also variously referred to as scales or clases), contain increasingly younger liquids the higher they are in the stack. 

The concept, which likely originated within the Iberian Peninsula for consistency in vinegar, Sherry, and Madeira production, is that a portion of the solera will be emptied and packaged, often on an annual basis, then topped up with an equal portion of liquid via gravity transfer from the criadera above, and so on until the top-most criadera is topped off with freshly fermented liquid. This ensures a blend of fermented beverage with the youngest in the top criadera and the oldest in the solera at the bottom. Therefore, no container is ever drained completely and so portions of the original fill will always be present, though in diminishing volumes. 

The solera process of aging and blending liquids in wood can also be applied successfully to beer making, but on a larger and small home scale.

Traditional Solera Blending

When considering the technique, the first question may be: Why barrel age beer? The reasons are numerous. The wood character derived from the barrel can beautifully complement the beer being stored in it — some styles even require this character. The barrel also acts as a great storage vessel that soon becomes host to plentiful yeasts like Brettanomyces and bacteria that create complex characteristics that otherwise are not found in beer fermented with Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast alone. 

Applying the solera process adds additional complexity to the finished beer, as it is a great way to age beer for long periods of time and be able to mitigate the sourness and/or acetic characteristics of the oldest beer with the fresher, younger beer from the criaderas above.

The solera method of barrel blending is distinct from traditional barrel blending as the solera method blends various vintages of the same barrel, resulting in a mixed-vintage blend that is continuously being added to. Combining multiple vintages of a single beer can result in a complex and nuanced blend. To assist in calculating the combined age of your solera blend, Michael Tonsmeire, author of American Sour Beers, developed a spreadsheet that calculates the age of a solera that is available here.

Beer added to the uppermost barrel can be fully fermented or can be added as wort with primary fermentation occurring in the barrel, depending on the character of the beer one is seeking. Barrel aging beer allows fermenting agents other than standard brewer’s yeast to affect the beers character. Adding beer that has already undergone primary fermentation plays differently with Brettanomyces and other alternative fermenters and, in my experience, creates a more complex final product than a 100% Brett fermentation. In addition, adding unfermented wort to a barrel can create a messy fermentation. 

A Homebrew Solera (Fauxlera)

Homebrewers, who likely do not have the space or need the volumes that would result from a multiple-large barrel system, can create a solera program using a single barrel (or other vessel), a process I like to call “fauxlera.” In this system, the vessel is filled with the original brew. After some amount of time aging, a volume of aged beer is removed and topped off with a fresh portion, thereby leaving percentages, albeit ever diminishing, of each addition, in perpetuity. How often you draw off/replace an amount is up to you, and should be driven by taste, but once or twice a year seems like a reasonable goal.

Most homebrewers would likely find the volume of a standard wine barrel (59 gallons/225 L) too large — not only is it difficult to fill with most common homebrew equipment, but also difficult to consume! If you are part of a homebrew club; however, a group barrel could be a fantastic investment, as they are relatively common, generally affordable for a group-buy, and due to their size, have slow overall evaporation rates. The same cannot be said for smaller barrels, which are generally more difficult to come by (though you can buy them online, if you are willing to pay the shipping on top of the cost). Additionally, the rapid evaporation rate is a real concern, as a small barrel will lose a much higher percentage of its volume than a standard wine barrel. For me, this is a loss of about 13% of my volume per year, though the amount will depend in part on other factors like storage conditions.

It Starts with a Barrel

The type of oak and toasting and what, if anything, was previously aged in it can make a big difference to the character a barrel will impart to your beer. While the brewer can be very creative with pairing a particular barrel to a beer, some styles work better with specific barrels than others. For example, I find saison ales to  pair wonderfully with French oak barrels that once contained red or white wine. Bourbon barrels, on the other hand, are made of American oak with the Bourbon imparting a distinctly different character than a wine barrel and are much better suited to imperial stouts and other big, malty styles. Additionally, the wood character that is imparted diminishes relatively quickly each time it is used. Be creative and work with what you can source.

Once you find a barrel, it will need to be inspected and conditioned. Remove the bung and take a whiff before you buy a barrel. If it does not smell good, it likely won’t make good tasting beer — certain types of molds and bacteria are very difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate. Also, the staves will have likely contracted and may not hold liquid if a barrel has sat empty for any appreciable amount of time. Some leakage usually isn’t a concern. If they have not sat dry for too long, it is easy to rehydrate the staves by filling the barrel with chlorine-free water and topping up until it is watertight. Do this outside or in a large sink/tub, as a freshly filled dry barrel will leak like something out of a cartoon! If you find an empty barrel and need to store it for a period of time before you are ready to fill it, you can stabilize and store it by adding a solution of 1 tsp. citric acid and 1.5 tsp. potassium metabisulfite per gallon (3.8 L) of hot water added to the empty barrel. Rotate the barrel occasionally and it can be stored this way indefinitely. But note that it will strip the wood character, so it is best to limit the amount of time it sits.

Once you have sourced and conditioned a barrel, long-term storage is the next consideration. This involves sourcing or constructing a cradle for your barrel to allow stable storage, ease of access, and potential mobility. Even smaller barrels are heavy when filled, so it will require a sturdy cradle. Casters are an option on cradles as long as they are adequately weight-rated. If you are going to be using more than one barrel, commercially available barrel stacking racks in metal or plastic are available. You may also need to utilize a pump to transfer pulls from the barrel. 

Barrels of all sizes can be purchased online from brokers like Midwest Barrel Co., Northeast Barrel Co., and others that will come up in an Internet search. The other option is looking at local wineries, distilleries, or breweries who may have barrels they are willing to sell. I am fortunate to live in the “wine country” of Oregon’s Willamette Valley. But even here, it took me a couple years of focused searching to find a smaller oak wine barrel, with a generous dash of wheeling and dealing with a winery to sell it to me. I was fortunate to end up sourcing a 15-gallon (57-L) French oak barrel from a local winery that had been used for a test batch of Cabernet Sauvignon for $100. I love my little barrel! However, as mentioned earlier, contents in smaller barrels do evaporate more quickly and I lose approximately 2 gallons (8 L) per year. I built a cradle out of pressure-treated stock and installed casters to allow the barrel to be moved as needed over short distances, as it weighs nearly 150 pounds (68 kg) when filled. Also, consider barrel placement as well for racking out of the barrel — as mine is on the floor, I needed to purchase a self-priming, anti-gravity transfer pump as a standard racking cane will not suffice.  

A Homebrew Fauxlera Example

My dear friend and brewing buddy Tom Francque and I started our homebrewing adventures together in 2017. We have slowly built our experience and our brewing system together and share a passion for quality, consistency, and innovation. Together, we decided that our locally sourced French oak barrel would nicely complement a French saison. We started engineering our recipe and decided that we did not want to rely only upon wild fermentation agents to inoculate the initial barrel fill to limit unregulated variables with some yeast laboratory-grown critters. In an effort to create the most complex beer, we also decided not to limit any potential Lactobacillus production, which contributes a rounded sourness to the beer, so we limited IBUs in the brewed saison to around 10 (that said, if you want to limit lactic tartness in your beer, you can hop your beer more heavily). Other than limiting the IBU level, we brewed a standard saison recipe (details on page 39). We decided to conduct primary fermentation in our regular fermenters rather than the barrel as we didn’t want to deal with the mess and loss from high kraüsen in the barrel.

Since we did not yet have our current 15-gallon (57-L) brew system, we ended up brewing two initial batches to fill the barrel; one of 6 gallons (23 L) in the fermenter, the other of 11 gallons (42 L). This way we could stockpile a portion in a container like a growler or Corny keg to top off the barrel and offset the evaporation. I brewed the first 6-gallon (23-L) batch of French Saison in September 2020, and then Tom and I brewed the second batch on our larger shared system in October 2020 and pitched Imperial B64 (Napoleon) yeast for primary fermentation on both batches (we hit around 1.002 final gravity on both after primary fermentation, so keep this in mind when estimating gravity and ABV). We then reserved 64 ounces (1.9 L) from each brew session in growlers equipped with airlocks to use as top-off portions. After setting aside the two growlers, we transferred the remaining saison to the barrel and added a pitch of Omega Brettanomyces claussenii and another of Imperial W15 (Suburban Brett) to dose and funkify our new barrel.

We let the barrel sit for nine months with two 64-oz./1.9-L barrel top-offs in between — yeah, a small barrel really evaporates! — by which time our occasional tastings led us to conclude that it was time to pull our first 5 gallons (19 L) to bottle. Queue fantasy sequence! That batch, and we only have a couple of bottles left, is to this day one of the best beverages I have ever had a hand in creating. The oak character, coupled with the Brett and bugs we added, was amazing. And this was from a single barrel! As homebrewers, consistency matters less, so take advantage. Your first barrel pull is going to be the goods and you don’t need a formal solera to accomplish it. 

But have fun with subsequent barrel pulls! In addition to multiple straight pulls, we have now racked 5-gallon (19-L) batches into fermenters with Concord grapes (outstanding), local Mt. Hood strawberries (yum, yum, yum, yum!) and are aiming to dry hop our next pull onto New Zealand Wakatu^TM hops. We like to rack these 5-gallon (19-L) “special project” fills to wide-mouthed fermenters to make adding fruit (and subsequently removing fruit after racking the finished beer) easier. The bit of oxygen in the headspace is not as big an issue as it would be for a delicate, hazy IPA. And it is very cool to be able to watch the pellicle develop in a clear fermenter. Don’t fear the pellicle — it is nature’s oxygen blocker. 

But what to do after that? The beer in the barrel will collectively continue to become older, which will lead to increasing sourness and acidity. In our experience, it seems that one might have to start pulling portions in ever decreasing intervals. Certainly, our barrel became progressively more sour, with vinegary, acetic acid notes, so that in last year we drained and packaged the entire barrel and topped off with 15 gallons (57-L) of fresh saison. Since the barrel was now effectively inoculated with wild yeasts and bacteria, we did not add any additional yeast as we did when we started the barrel. The “fresh” saison has aged well and is tasting amazing, and we will be pulling five gallons (19 L) onto the aforementioned Wakatu^TM hops soon. 

Let’s chat about packaging. When you add a beer like a saison to a barrel at an already very low terminal gravity, and then age on Brett and other bugs, you will end up with a beer at or below 1.000 — as dry as can be and void of most yeast that would consume bottle-priming sugar. Re-yeasting is key. It is best to condition with a strain known to tolerate higher alcohol and low pH, which makes Champagne yeast a good choice with a neutral profile. I have found that the commonly recommended LalBrew CBC-1 cask ale yeast does not stay in suspension and, at least for us, has resulted in a few batches of under-carbonated beer. Saison-style beers, especially if fermented on fruit, really take well to a Champagne-style yeast or even a wine yeast like Red Star Premier Cuvée, with a corresponding level of effervescence. For saisons, I like to target around 3.3 volumes CO₂, which should create an effervescent body with a rocky head. Use heavy Champagne-style or Belgian bottles if you are going to go this route! You could keg and force carbonate this type of beer, but bottle conditioning will allow the batches to age gracefully and be able to be tailored to the appropriate carbonation level. 

The last point I want to touch on is specific to saison and other farmhouse-style beers. Be open to using the grains you have, but, as Gordon Strong so rightfully recommends, keep the original gravity low. These beers, with their diastatic-positive yeasts, create incredibly dry, low final gravity beers, and this is before they go into a barrel for aging. A 1.060 original gravity (OG) saison can turn into an 8%+ monster without batting a French eyelash. If you want to go the “super saison” route, by all means do, but know that you might be sacrificing the dry, subtle, nuanced beer that a barrel can produce. 

The following recipe has been scaled to 6 gallons (23 L) into the fermenter to allow for setting aside a top-off portion to account for barrel evaporation. Adjust your recipe as needed based on your equipment profile and preferred ABV. Also, don’t be hesitant to use other ingredients (rye, oats, etc.) as this is a farmhouse style ale and takes well to ingredient swapping. Have fun, be creative, and enjoy your own fauxlera-process beer!