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pipapat · 06-06-2010, 04:59 PM

Today at a yard sale i got an unused oak barrel for dirt cheap.
I can tell its chard and has been unused. I plan on doing some wine and retiring it and doing sour beers in it.

My question is that it has a "PP" on the side.
Is this barrel waxed?
Any clue what the pp stands for?

Cheers
Pat

Suthrncomfrt1884 · 06-06-2010, 05:38 PM

PP means "plain paraffin". It has wax on the inside so it's probably meant to hold some sort of liquid. A lot of times people put it on barrels because it helps with leaks.

I don't think your barrel should be used to brew with, but I'm not positive.

**Revvy** · 06-06-2010, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suthrncomfrt1884

PP means "plain paraffin". It has wax on the inside so it's probably meant to hold some sort of liquid. A lot of times people put it on barrels because it helps with leaks.

I don't think your barrel should be used to brew with, but I'm not positive.

I don't know, everything I just found on google about barrels and brewing/winemaking is that they ARE supposed to have a layer of parrafin inside.

Quote:

Barrels were manufactured by coopers employed by breweries. When assembled, the barrel was tarred. This consisted in covering the inside of the barrel with a thin layer of the so-called Okocim mass (paraffin), which was to protect the beer from the contact with wood. Next, the barrel was legalized (i.e. its volume was defined). On the bottom of the barrel its volume, number and the brewery’s name were seared with a branding iron. Oak barrels had different volumes: 25 litres (quarters), 50 litres (halves), 100 litres (wholes) and 200 litres (doubles).

There's even barrel parrafin sold on homebrew websites. So I would assume it is OK to use, but I'm no expert.

pipapat · 06-06-2010, 06:11 PM

well ill do several reds with it and then retire it for lambic.
but for 40 bucks i cant go wrong along with 10 bucks for a 6.5 gallon carboy.

I must say i do love our forum here.
Almost always an answer.

JoMarky · 06-06-2010, 06:14 PM

Waxed barrels reduce oxygen transfer, eliminate wood flavor transfer, and keep the bugs from finding homes in the wood. Its probably fine for regular homebrew..but not the best option for sours. I haven't gotten to the chapter yet, but in wild brews Jeff Sparrow mentions he will at some point talk about how to fix a barrel that has been waxed.

pipapat · 06-06-2010, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoMarky

Waxed barrels reduce oxygen transfer, eliminate wood flavor transfer, and keep the bugs from finding homes in the wood. Its probably fine for regular homebrew..but not the best option for sours. I haven't gotten to the chapter yet, but in wild brews Jeff Sparrow mentions he will at some point talk about how to fix a barrel that has been waxed.

considering smaller barrels add lots of 02 that may not be such a bad thing.
I could always toss some spent oak chips in for a home for the bugs i guess.

for the price i guess i could figure out how to remove the wax.