# I bought a used Bourbon Barrel..



## chogan (Nov 6, 2017)

My wife and I were at a brewery this weekend and I couldn't believe my eyes. They were selling recently used bourbon barrels at full size for ...wait for it... $50. I'm a home brewer and a barrel aged enthusiast. 

My plan is try and find some guys locally in a home brew club that's worked with barrels before and do a collaboration batch. Rehydrate the staves, fill it back up with booze, make a ton of batches and fill it up for aging.

After that, I wanted to turn this into a fun project. I don't really work with wood but I have sanded and stained some before. I don't really have a lot of tools but if I have to go out and buy a sander, no big deal. 

A couple questions.

Presuming I need to sand it all down first, I'd def take it outside. What temperature would be best to leave a wooden barrel out to not get damaged by weather? I don't think there's too much rust on the bands but might as well clean those of as well. I hear there's a rust cleaning gel?? 

I haven't decided what specifically I'd like to build but for now in the semi short term future if the home brewing idea doens't pan out, I at least want to treat it and protect it.


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## GuitarPhotographer (Jun 26, 2015)

do not sand it, and certainly do not finish the exterior. The "magic" of a barrel is that the wood breathes, sealing it will prevent it from breathing.

I've been involved in 2 barrel collaborations. One was successful, one was a failure. All the beers should be brewed to the same recipe, at about the same time. Before committing to the barrel, do wort stability tests on each brewer. If someone contributes contaminated beer to the barrel, it will ruin the batch. I have that tee shirt. So make sure everyone who contributes makes super clean wort!.

Remember that an infection that is under the perception limits after 6 weeks in a corny, might not be under the perception limit after 6 months in a barrel.

The successful barrel collab had 4 brewers making 15 gallon batches on the same day, after extensive testing to ensure the beer was clean. We all fermented in glass or stainless using huge yeast starters, and we racked directly from fermenters into the barrel. We aged it for 6 months before starting to remove beer. The beer was a strong scotch ale ~8% ABV.

Stronger beers will do better than weaker ones, stronger flavored beers will be better after aging.

Good luck and have fun. 50 gallons of beer is a lot of beer!


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

Perhaps fill it with moonshine?
johnep


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## Maylar (Sep 3, 2013)

What else would you use it for? Oak whiskey barrels are not treated or painted. There are a number of rust treatments out there - Boshield, even WD-40 with a scotch pad can clean up the bands.


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## chogan (Nov 6, 2017)

GuitarPhotographer said:


> do not sand it, and certainly do not finish the exterior. The "magic" of a barrel is that the wood breathes, sealing it will prevent it from breathing.
> 
> I've been involved in 2 barrel collaborations. One was successful, one was a failure. All the beers should be brewed to the same recipe, at about the same time. Before committing to the barrel, do wort stability tests on each brewer. If someone contributes contaminated beer to the barrel, it will ruin the batch. I have that tee shirt. So make sure everyone who contributes makes super clean wort!.
> 
> ...



whoops, I actually meant once I was done with the barrel, if I get to do a collab brew, it would need to be sanded for making it look 'pretty'. 

I'm going to give it till January, I'm contacting local home brew clubs to see if I can collect enough interest. If not, eff it. I'll just go straight to making something cool out of it. Is there an out door temperature that should be avoided to preserve the wood before stains and finishes are applied to it? Beats paying $300-400 for a barrel. My wife yesterday was like "...I can't believe we're actually doing this".


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## chogan (Nov 6, 2017)

Maylar said:


> What else would you use it for? Oak whiskey barrels are not treated or painted. There are a number of rust treatments out there - Boshield, even WD-40 with a scotch pad can clean up the bands.


Could make it into a coffee table... sky's the limits with creativity. I know a guy at work that has a wood shop. If the right concept comes to mind, we'll go halfsies on a project and make two of the same thing out of the barrel. He can sell his and I can keep mine for the man cave. 

I see a lot of stained whiskey and bourbon barrels on craft sites so I know I'm not the only one with the idea.


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

chogan said:


> Could make it into a coffee table... sky's the limits with creativity. I know a guy at work that has a wood shop. If the right concept comes to mind, we'll go halfsies on a project and make two of the same thing out of the barrel. He can sell his and I can keep mine for the man cave.
> 
> I see a lot of stained whiskey and bourbon barrels on craft sites so I know I'm not the only one with the idea.


One time a buddy of mine wanted me to make a liquor cabinet out of a used Jack Daniels barrel, it was rather a PITA but it did turn out good, I mounted it on three splayed legs I turned, about 16-18 inches tall cut a good sized door, about 1/3 of the circumference, and got some steel the same thickness of the barrel hoops and screwed them to the edges where I had cut it, I used the antique looking screws,then i poured a 2 part finish on the top and polyed the rest of the barrel inside and out, about 7=8 coats, everybody that saw it wanted me to build them one, told them it would be about $10,000 LOL

I built 3 shelves for it but he always bought booze in half gallons and some were too tall to fit so I took out the top shelf and made a ring to fit on the one shelf and used the bottom as the second shelf


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

I used to get empty barrels from a local whiskey distillery, would pour about a gallon of hot water into it and remember getting some pretty good whiskey before using them for projects. Mind you that was many years ago before I developed a taste for single malt scotch. 😄


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## chogan (Nov 6, 2017)

FrankC said:


> I used to get empty barrels from a local whiskey distillery, would pour about a gallon of hot water into it and remember getting some pretty good whiskey before using them for projects. Mind you that was many years ago before I developed a taste for single malt scotch. 😄


Hmm, this had a porter aging in it before it was sold off. Doubt I'd get much flavor out of it.


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## GuitarPhotographer (Jun 26, 2015)

chogan said:


> Hmm, this had a porter aging in it before it was sold off. Doubt I'd get much flavor out of it.


Porter is a perfect choice for barrel aging, as are barleywine and other strong ales.


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

I would back Barley Wine. Had many a happy evening with this tipple home brewed.
johnep


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