Emergency Barrel Help Needed
Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2021 11:36 am
Today I was gifted 2 barrels!
A 5 gallon (~20 liter) and a 15 gallon (~75liter). Both filled only once and dumped this week by a local small distillery.
I make bourbon / whiskey and have only ~4 gallons (~16liters) of UJSSM at 65% ready for a barrel.
My fermenter is a 30 gallon (~120 liter) poly drum and I currently have an 18 gallon (~72 liter) Angel yeast yellow batch fermenting....10 days now.
I have another 800 grams of Angel and all the grains to go with it and fully stocked feed stores within a few miles.
I have other fermenters and yeasts to use as well.
So you say 'that's not so bad'....but there's a problem which I hope I can overcome. Possibly a BIG problem!
The 5 gallon barrel is a barrel of unknown brand and it WAS FILLED WITH AGAVE.
The 15 gallon barrel is a Barrel Mill brand barrel and it WAS FILLED WITH BITTERS.
How can I "rinse" or clean or "condition" these barrels for whiskey? ......can I?
The agave barrel may not be so bad but the bitters barrel is pretty powerful.
Could I rinse-rinse-rinse-rinse then bung them and put in the 16l of UJSSM then roll them around them for a while?
How about a hot backset soak?
How about some trub from a whiskey ferment from my Angel yeast yellow? ... What would the koji / rhizopus / oryzae do to the barrel?
Any Ideas guys?
-Hormesis-
A 5 gallon (~20 liter) and a 15 gallon (~75liter). Both filled only once and dumped this week by a local small distillery.
I make bourbon / whiskey and have only ~4 gallons (~16liters) of UJSSM at 65% ready for a barrel.
My fermenter is a 30 gallon (~120 liter) poly drum and I currently have an 18 gallon (~72 liter) Angel yeast yellow batch fermenting....10 days now.
I have another 800 grams of Angel and all the grains to go with it and fully stocked feed stores within a few miles.
I have other fermenters and yeasts to use as well.
So you say 'that's not so bad'....but there's a problem which I hope I can overcome. Possibly a BIG problem!
The 5 gallon barrel is a barrel of unknown brand and it WAS FILLED WITH AGAVE.
The 15 gallon barrel is a Barrel Mill brand barrel and it WAS FILLED WITH BITTERS.
How can I "rinse" or clean or "condition" these barrels for whiskey? ......can I?
The agave barrel may not be so bad but the bitters barrel is pretty powerful.
Could I rinse-rinse-rinse-rinse then bung them and put in the 16l of UJSSM then roll them around them for a while?
How about a hot backset soak?
How about some trub from a whiskey ferment from my Angel yeast yellow? ... What would the koji / rhizopus / oryzae do to the barrel?
Any Ideas guys?
-Hormesis-