Keg (Oak barrel) uses

[Zak Griffin]

Hi
I am just wondering if you can re use kegs? If you can how many times you can re use the keg? Or do I have to re char be for next use? Cheers :smile:

[SBB]

That would depend on a lot of things Chook, How big the Barrel is , is it charred or toasted, what spirit is being aged in it, what do you hope to achieve with the end result? How thick are the staves are they still thick enough to be scraped and re charred or toasted?
There is a whole lot to take into consideration.

[BushChookBourbon]

The keg is 10lt and is charred, it's got bourbon in it at the moment, are just hopping to achieve a nicely coloured/favoured drink and for the cost of the keg i would like to get the maximum out of my dollar. The staves are about 12mm i would be guessing.
Cheers :-D

[Sam.]

You can re use it as is but the spirit will be more mellow and take longer to colour.

Shaving and recharring or toasting will be like a brand new barrel :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[res]

it's got bourbon in it at the moment

Many if not most UK distillerys reuse American Bourbon barrels for scotch, with little to no barrel modification prior. If it were me that's what I'd be thinking next, can always revamp it after that. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[OzKev]

I got told the rough rule of thumb is if you don't re toast/char the barrel then for every new batch you double the time. The smaller the barrel the higher the surface area to volume is, so a small barrel oaks the product faster.
Volume (liters), Barrel surface area in cm2/liter
20, 195
200, 90
2000, 42
10,000, 24
100,000, 11
The downside is the product may oak faster, but it does not get enough time to mature. By maturing we are talking about things such as converting tannins to acetals, and acetic acid to fruity esters.

So in the case of smaller barrels taking longer to oak from successive batches can be a good thing.

[BushChookBourbon]

Cheers people that has help a lot, many things to play with now :-D