Gueuze in Buckets?

[GilesTH]

I've always been worried about accidentally kicking and cracking a spigot whenever anyone talks about using it as a vessel for storage...

I live in a condo, so my plan was to toss it in my crawlspace with a custom-built platform that would keep it up high enough for me to get a glass under the spigot. No foot traffic, and I really only go down there once a month to make sure the plumbing isn't leaking.

On another note, how good or bad would it be if I left a handful of oak chips in the fermentor for the length of my aging? Would that get too much oak flavor, or would it be roughly similar to aging it in casks?

[Ozwald]

I've always been worried about accidentally kicking and cracking a spigot whenever anyone talks about using it as a vessel for storage...

I used to ferment in them when I first started & learned better pretty quickly. They tend to leak (from between the two moving parts, not talking about the gasket), they're impossible to clean thoroughly & are just less than ideal. Even when you don't persuade one with your foot.

[brewinhard]

I would avoid the buckets for long terms aging which could and most likely will lead to acetic acid production and oxidation of your finished product. Your best bet would be to simply ferment each separate batch in a 5 gallon carboy and then leave the beer directly in your primary carboy w/o racking off the trub. You can take samples with a wine thief every 6 mos or so to determine its flavor/aroma characteristics.

Be careful with adding a lot of oak for a long period of time. It can get overly tannic and oaky which can be quite apparent in the final flavors if overdone. If you plan on adding some oak i would suggest cubes that have been boiled in several changes of water to reduce any harsh woody flavors adding to the beer. I would probably only leave them in for the last 6 mos or so at most (probably even less).

I recently just kegged my first gueuze comprising of a 1 yr old, 1.5 yr old, 3 year old, and 4 year old lambic. All fermented in glass. The blend came out amazing and I wish I had more than 5 gallons! Surprisingly I used about 70% of the 4 year old lambic to reach a proper acidity needed.

[spiderwrangler]

You can take samples with a wine thief every 6 mos or so to determine its flavor/aroma characteristics.

If you are just looking to taste, you can use something much thinner and less likely to disrupt as much to pull a small sample. A narrow gauge stainless tube would be perfect.

[Ozwald]

You can take samples with a wine thief every 6 mos or so to determine its flavor/aroma characteristics.

If you are just looking to taste, you can use something much thinner and less likely to disrupt as much to pull a small sample. A narrow gauge stainless tube would be perfect.

Like a stainless steel racking cane or even a shortened diptube using the straw trick we all did as kids (plug the end of the straw & pull it out of the drink).

[SouthHouseBrew]

Kegs kegs kegs for storing sours, especially over a long period of time.

Easy to keep O2 out
Easy to sample
Easy to weight out blend percentages.

If you're not kegging, this is as good excuse to start as any!

[brewinhard]

agreed. i keg all of my sour beers exactly for those reasons esp. blending purposes.

[sharkguy05]

I will say an easy and cheap way to age sours is in small 2gal better bottles. These are cheap and dont break. The oxygen permeability is little to none. You can you a regular stopper to get a lil o2 in there or they make a cap so nothing gets in. I use these for my sours and they have all turned out great. No worry about breaking, cheap and easily distinguish from your non sour gear. Cheers!