Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

So I may be onto a winner or wasted my money, but hey, if I don’t spend my money, why keep it.

I just bought from Gumtree a 14l oak barrel that has had port in it for 5 years. The owner drank the port at a birthday party 2 weekends ago and no longer requires the barrel so is selling it. Apparently it was a pretty good night, but the hangover the next day was severe.

I got it for $90, which was thought was reasonable but is in Perth and I’m in Albany. The barrel has been empty now for 2 weeks and my old lady will bring it down the end of feb, in about 4 weeks.

Having the barrel empty for 6-7 weeks, is that going to be bad? Will the oak dry & shrink causing leaks?

Once my old lady picks it up, should I get her to drop a cask or 2 or cheap port in it until I can get some spirit in the barrel?

Cheers everyone.

Pity ya cant fill it with port in the interim. Dont fill it with water as it will need to be changed daily. I would think it should be ok and re seal after 7weeks. 6months to a year may be a different matter.

What are you planning on putting in it when you get it home? Port has a very strong flavour first fill.

I would almost send a few litres of decent sacrificial spirit with your missus to put in it to keep it wet giving it a few rotations every day. That way it might take the edge off the full on port flavour.

All depends on what you want to do with it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

To start with, I’ll fill with neutral, may even donate that spirit to the feints drum, but will give it a couple of months to cut the port taste back. Long term though the plan is to fill her up with rum. My immediate concern is making sure the barrel doesn’t start leaking. Would it be worthwhile getting my Mum to put a cask of port in it just to keep some moisture in there for now, or not bother.

It won't hurt and it will give you some peace of mind :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Port is fairly viscous and seems to seal barrels well so you might get away with it, maybe even get it wrapped up in glad wrap to hold some moisture in :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Great idea, thanks

Sam. wrote:maybe even get it wrapped up in glad wrap to hold some moisture in :handgestures-thumbupleft:

:text-+1: thats how my 10l barrel arrived :handgestures-thumbupleft: