Tuesday 23 February 2016
Friday 19 February 2016
Aging Cider in Oak Barrels
As we
know aging any kind of alcohol in an oak barrel is a common thing for every
brewer.
- Vodka, whiskey, wine, beer…they are improving their taste and quality after being aged in an oak barrel.
What
about cider? Can
we age cider in oak barrel?
The answer is - Yes!!!
- We can age, store and even fermenting cider in oak barrels .It has been a common practice before advent of stainless still tanks.
Aging
cider in oak barrels can add a sweetness and warm to the cider. The influence
of oak on cider establishes a stronger and deeper flavour.
- Fermenting in the barrel
After
fermentation we can just top off with fresh cider .Then we leave it on the lees
in the barrel until bottling time. It usually takes at least 6 months. The cork
hall at the top of the barrel is 30 mm so a bubbler airlock can be fitted if
the fermentation is going to take place in the barrel.
There
are few more important questions about aging cider in oak barrel. As we know,
oak barrels must be toasted from the inside in order to improve the flavour of
the aging alcohol.
- What kind of level toasting do we require for aging cider?
Our long
years’ experience of producing wooden barrels and brewing alcohol proves that Medium and Medium plus levels of
toasting are the most suitable for cider.
- Do we make the cider-aging barrels differently than the wine and whiskey barrels?
Yes we do.
We use slightly ticker staves and stronger
(thicker) metal rings. We recommend a barrels to be made without spigot hole.
The spigot (wooden tap) can be a week point when under pressure. It is very important after purchasing a
barrel from our Barrel Shop to let us know what kind of alcohol you are going
to age so we can make the proper barrel for you.
- Can the oak barrels be reused?The answer is - Yes!!!
The
barrels can be reused many times through a very long period of time if they are
maintained and taking care of properly. It is very important to soak in the
barrel with water for couple of days and fill it with the cider immediately
after draining water. Basically the barrel does not like to be kept empty!
World-famous
ciders has been aged in an Oak Barrels: Bad
Seed Cider, Good Intend Cider, Long Meadow Cider, and Citizen Cider, the
Mitten…
I would
like to challenge you to ask yourselves the following question:
Why don’t we use the
experience of the well-known technology to become a better home-brewers and
improve our own cider as professionals do?
You can
easily purchase Oak barrels in our Barrel Shop.
Please
do not hesitate to Contact us .
Friday 12 February 2016
Lets make Beer Cocktails!!!
Ace of Spades
Ingredients:
-
½ pint Beer – Stout beer or Guinness
-
10ml Kahlua Liqueur(coffee –flavoured sugar based
liqueur )
-
20ml Dubonet (sweet, aromatised wine based aperitif –
15% alcohol)
-
Ice
Preparation:
You can use any tall cocktail glass or even pint glass.
Fill the glass with ice. Pour 10ml Kahlua and 20ml Dubonet.
Top up gradually dark beer very carefully to avoid foaming.
Black Velvet
Ingredients:
-
Sparkling wine or champagne
-
Stout beer or Guinness
Preparation:
You can use tall champagne glass.
Fill tall champagne glass halfway with chilled sparkling-
wine (or champagne) and float stout beer on the top of the wine.
Black and Tan
Ingredients:
-
Pale ale or lager
-
Stout beer or Guinness or porter
Preparation:
You can use a pint glass.
Fill a glass halfway with pale ale or lager and then add the
stout beer or porter.
Pour very slowly the top layer to avoid splashing and mixing
the layers.
(Tip: Use upside-down tablespoon placed over the glass )
Boilermaker
Ingredients:
-
1 shot whiskey
-
1 pint lager
Preparation:
Fill the pint glass with lager. Drop the whiskey shot into
the beer.Engoy!!!
Flaming Doctor Pepper
Ingredients:
-
¾ shot Amaretto(sweet ,almond flavoured Italian liqueur)
-
1/1 shot Vodka
-
½ Pint lager
Preparation:
Preparation:
Use a shot glass and a pint glass.
Fill the glass about ¾ full with Amaretto. Top it off with high-proof
vodka to be able to burn. Light the shot and allow it to burn. Drop the shot
glass into a beer glass.
Irish Car Bomb
Ingredients:
-
0.10ml Irish Whiskey
-
½ pint Irish
stout
-
0.20ml Baileys (Irish whiskey and cream based liqueur)
Preparation:
Use a shot glass and a pint glass.
Pour 20ml Baileys into a shot glass. Top up with Irish whiskey.
Pour ½ pint glass with Guinness (Irish stout). Drop the shot glass into a beer
glass.
Hangman’s Blood
Hangman’s Blood
Ingredients:
-
½ shot gin
-
½ shot rum
-
½ shot whiskey
-
½ shot brandy
-
½ shot port
-
½ pint Stout beer or Guinness
-
½ glass champagne
Preparation:
You can use pint glass.
Add all five shots into a pint glass. Top to desired level
with stout beer.
Fill to top of the pint glass with champagne.Enjoy your cocktails and visit our
Barrels Shop
Tuesday 9 February 2016
Aging beer in Oak Barrels
Oak Barrels are also suitable for storing and aging beer-lager,
stout, real ale.
Aging beer in barrels can add new depths of aroma and flavor to your final beer.
Beers with higher alcohol contents and stronger flavors are best suited for barrel-aging.
How long should you age your beer depends on what flavour and aroma you are trying to achieve.
Aging for 2 to 3 months is enough time to add bourbon and wood notes to the beer.
But if you are looking for floral and deep vanilla notes of the barrels then you must age the beer for longer period of time – 6-12 months. The beer will fully soak into the barrel staves and will bring out those delicate flavors you are looking for.
The barrels must be toasted (charred) from inside as
follows:
Low toast, Medium toast, Medium toast +, High toast.( LT , MT , MT+ , HT )
Heavy Toast brings pronounced caramelized,
carbonized and toast flavours very quickly - it doesn't need much time.
Medium Plus Toast is between Medium and Heavy Toast.
It has aromas of honey, roasted nuts and a hint of coffee
and spices.
Medium Toast has less tannins but more bouquet, so will impart more aroma than flavor.
It has a warm, sweet character with strong vanilla
overtones.
Wednesday 3 February 2016
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