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Oak barrels
In my opinion there are a number of problems with using brand new oak barrels (especially small ones) to ferment or age beer in. The first is that oak is extremely full of tannins and other chemicals that can easily overwhelm a beer to the point of undrinkability. This is why bourbon distilleries and such char the insides of the barrels to help mellow the oakiness the barrels impart over the aging process. If you get a unused, uncharred barrel then you will likely need to soak it multiple times in water or brew a throw away batch or two of beer to try to extract most of that oak flavor. Secondly, in the small barrels especially, the surface to volume ratio is way out of wack and as a result the beer can become oxidized very quickly. These barrels are water tight but that doesn't mean that oxygen doesn't permeate through. Used bourbon, rum, or wine barrels are a great vessle to ferment a lambic in for 3 years because they do allow so much oxidation. Barrels can also easily become contaminated with lactic bacteria or wild yeast that will just make vinegar and this is basically impossible to get rid of unless you have a huge autoclave to sterilize the barrel. So the barrel will only have a limited lifetime and for that price is it really worth it? 
1n1m3g wrote:
In my opinion there are a number of problems with using brand new oak barrels (especially small ones) to ferment or age beer in. The first is that oak is extremely full of tannins and other chemicals that can easily overwhelm a beer to the point of undrinkability. This is why bourbon distilleries and such char the insides of the barrels to help mellow the oakiness the barrels impart over the aging process. If you get a unused, uncharred barrel then you will likely need to soak it multiple times in water or brew a throw away batch or two of beer to try to extract most of that oak flavor. Secondly, in the small barrels especially, the surface to volume ratio is way out of wack and as a result the beer can become oxidized very quickly. These barrels are water tight but that doesn't mean that oxygen doesn't permeate through. Used bourbon, rum, or wine barrels are a great vessle to ferment a lambic in for 3 years because they do allow so much oxidation. Barrels can also easily become contaminated with lactic bacteria or wild yeast that will just make vinegar and this is basically impossible to get rid of unless you have a huge autoclave to sterilize the barrel. So the barrel will only have a limited lifetime and for that price is it really worth it?
Thanks for killing a dream man. 
Actually thanks for saving me a bad investment and a ruined batch. How much does one of those autoclaves run? 
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