Hello all, I have done many ferments with hot peppers and brine, I always make sure ph is low enough but also heat up to pasteurize. (I work in a brewery so take no chances! ha). My question is that I want to age in a small oak barrel, I have a small liter mash going and would like to add that to the barrel after rinsing barrel with Bourbon. Trying to get some of the oak/bourbon notes in my hot sauce. Has anyone ever attempted this? I was thinking of finishing the hot sauce and then adding to the barrel to age for a month or 2. That way it will come out of the barrel better also. Thoughts? TIA
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fermenting Oak Barrel Aging
- Thread starter ibrewuc
- Start date
Only used oak chips in the fermenting bucket, it did add a bit of depth 
I know this isn't as fun, but you can get good results with bourbon barrel smoked sea salt:
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I just ordered one of these today off of Amazon for doing barrel mash fermenting (on a smaller scale than Tabasco of course), and I plan to season the barrel with a few shots of Maker's Mark 46 or Wild Turkey 101 (ONLY A FEW). The barrel is charred white American oak, and although it will only hold 5L max of mash, I figure this could the start of a primo line of hot sauces, offered only on very limited runs of just twice a year.
Only problem I foresee is that I would only be able to season the barrel with whatever I seasoned it to begin with. Or order another barrel
Charred White Oak Barrel 5 L
Only problem I foresee is that I would only be able to season the barrel with whatever I seasoned it to begin with. Or order another barrel
Charred White Oak Barrel 5 L
How did this turn out?
I’m a huge fan of this style and have tried it before with mixed results… the little barrel works great, btw, DDD! Semper fi.
I got better results adding the booze post-ferment though. When I added it up-front I made it too subtle the first time… pickled it all in alcohol the second.
I tend to do a full barrel and then add maybe 1.5 shots when I puree it. I’m told it could go straight to bottle but I still cook mine at that point… Get a bourbon note but no real alcohol taste.
I’m a huge fan of this style and have tried it before with mixed results… the little barrel works great, btw, DDD! Semper fi.
I got better results adding the booze post-ferment though. When I added it up-front I made it too subtle the first time… pickled it all in alcohol the second.
I tend to do a full barrel and then add maybe 1.5 shots when I puree it. I’m told it could go straight to bottle but I still cook mine at that point… Get a bourbon note but no real alcohol taste.
First off, Semper FI BDP! As for how this turned out, I won't know that until late January at the earliest, since the barrel won't arrive until late September since it is shipping direct from the maker, and then I want to flavor the barrel first, probably with the Maker's Mark 46 as that is one heck of a fine bourbon drink. But no more than 4 shots in the barrel (and 12 shots into the sauce maker)
and let it get absorbed into the wood over a few days of rolling it around to season all the wood.I also realize I am going to probably have to make a bung hole into the top for an airlock to allow the CO2 to escape. Luckily, I have plenty of those from my homebrew making days. I will check the fit of the top that comes with it, but I may use sealing wax around the main lid to prevent oxygen from getting it. Or maybe just a plastic wrap seal around the lid and then push the lid firmly in place. This barrel is going to be for a long ferment (min. 3 months), so I will need to have a way to keep an eye on it. Once I uncork it, I'll puree 2 shots of MM 46 into the mash, and cook it after checking the pH level.
So I have all that figured out for the primo lines. Now if I could just locate black 5 ounce woozy bottle sleeves that will cover either from the very top all the way to the bottom, or at least from the bottom up to the shoulder of the bottom and then I could put a long black shrink capsule to cover the top down to the shoulder. I want the primo sauces dressed in all black like a black tie event.
I'll figure it out somehow.
DDD