Used whiskey barrel questions

I am very excited to have obtained this bad boy earlier today…





This 5-gallon oak barrel was previously used to age whiskey at Palm Ridge Distillery here in Florida. I have a few concerns about this barrel and was hoping those of you with more barrel experience might be able to help me out.

I was hoping to pick this up and hear some residual whiskey sloshing inside, however the inside is unfortunately bone dry. There are also a bunch of wood-chips inside that I can only imagine were added to help speed the oaking/aging process. I have emailed the distillery to see if they have any records that might be able to tell me when this barrel was used/emptied. I guess it's possible that chips could also just be char that broke off, but it looks like there are pieces that aren't charred at all, which leads me to believe they were added intentionally.

Here is a photo of the inside of the barrel:



So I have a few questions:

1) Am I likely to get any whiskey character from this barrel now that it is completely dried out?
2) Would it be helpful to add some whiskey to the barrel now to rewet the wood and perhaps add some character to the wood?
3) Do I need to be worried about the barrel no longer being sealed properly? If so, should I float it in a tub of water to swell the wood and hopefully reseal?

Any other tips or suggestions on how to save/revive this barrel would be much appreciated!

UPDATE: I heard back from the distillery, they said that this barrel was emptied in March 2011 after holding whiskey for almost a full year, so this thing has been sitting empty for 10+ months. They also said that the woodchips are a result of the charring process at the cooperage.

Still looking for feedback on what I should do with this thing to revive it.

If its been dry since March 11, I'd be willing to bet there is something funky growing in there. I'd fill it with 180 water to swell the wood and make sure its water tight. After that, I'd brew a sour beer in it.

I would buy a handle of Whiskey and put it in there. Then add enough water to fill it. Let it sit for a week and then fill it with a nice RIS. This is exactly what I did, although mine was brand new.

I brew at a local brewpub and we got a Bourbon barrel to age beers in.

Being bone dry is actually a good thing. You must rehydrate before you put you beer in to swell the wood and be sure there are no leaks. Do this with 180 degree water which will take care of nasties that may be in there. Put a stopper in it and let it sit for a couple days to properly hydrate.

Then just drain it and fill it with your beer.

xdalisx said:

I brew at a local brewpub and we got a Bourbon barrel to age beers in.

Being bone dry is actually a good thing. You must rehydrate before you put you beer in to swell the wood and be sure there are no leaks. Do this with 180 degree water which will take care of nasties that may be in there. Put a stopper in it and let it sit for a couple days to properly hydrate.

Then just drain it and fill it with your beer.

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Sweet, thanks for the info, you just made my night! I'll add the water tomorrow to rehydrate and then when I drain it, I think I'm going to add a bottle of the Palm Ridge Reserve whiskey to keep it wet until my beer is ready. I'll turn the barrel every couple days to keep all surfaces wet and swollen.

Well I heated up about 6 gallons of water today to ~180 and filled up this barrel... I might as well of drilled holes into the bottom of this thing, it was leaking like CRAZY, we're not talk just a little drippage, this was full blown water pouring out of it. I went ahead and drained all 6 gallons of the water I had warmed up and because it was leaking sooo much I only got it about 2/3 filled. The leaking has definitely slowed down considerably, so hopefully as I let it sit it continue to swell the wood and seal it up. Hopefully I can add more hot water to it tomorrow to swell the upper part of the barrel and get that sealed.

How did you get the barrel from palm ridge?

Jersh said:

Well I heated up about 6 gallons of water today to ~180 and filled up this barrel... I might as well of drilled holes into the bottom of this thing, it was leaking like CRAZY, we're not talk just a little drippage, this was full blown water pouring out of it. I went ahead and drained all 6 gallons of the water I had warmed up and because it was leaking sooo much I only got it about 2/3 filled. The leaking has definitely slowed down considerably, so hopefully as I let it sit it continue to swell the wood and seal it up. Hopefully I can add more hot water to it tomorrow to swell the upper part of the barrel and get that sealed.

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1 gal of distilled water (does not need to be heated). Stand barrel on end for 12 hours. It will leak like crazy. Repeat using the other end. After 2 days or so the barrel will seal and stop leaking. Leave the residual water in the barrel once the barrel seals until ready to use for aging. Done...

Any info on how to get a hold of palm ridge barrels?

Eh, I just happen to know the right people. I initially emailed the distillery and asked them about buying used barrels. They replied back that they do not sell them to the general public, they sell them to their distributor and the distributor then parcels them out. I'm not sure if there is a rhyme or reason to who gets them, but if I had to guess they probably give preference to local Florida breweries for whom they also distribute. The distributor is the Special Division of Brown Distributing out of West Palm Beach. I just happen to know the VP of Sales for Brown so when I ran into him last fall I asked him about getting a barrel. He didn't know much about it, but about 2 months later I got word that he had found one for me. He said it was a PITA to get one.

I have only used it for two brews so far. The first was a weak attempt at a Hunahpu's clone. The beer turned out good but not as outstanding as I was hoping. The second was a KBS clone that turned out absolutely stunningly phenomenal. I can't wait to brew that again and age for a while longer.

Oophaga said:

Any info on how to get a hold of palm ridge barrels?

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Jersh said:

Eh, I just happen to know the right people. I initially emailed the distillery and asked them about buying used barrels. They replied back that they do not sell them to the general public, they sell them to their distributor and the distributor then parcels them out. I'm not sure if there is a rhyme or reason to who gets them, but if I had to guess they probably give preference to local Florida breweries for whom they also distribute. The distributor is the Special Division of Brown Distributing out of West Palm Beach. I just happen to know the VP of Sales for Brown so when I ran into him last fall I asked him about getting a barrel. He didn't know much about it, but about 2 months later I got word that he had found one for me. He said it was a PITA to get one.

I have only used it for two brews so far. The first was a weak attempt at a Hunahpu's clone. The beer turned out good but not as outstanding as I was hoping. The second was a KBS clone that turned out absolutely stunningly phenomenal. I can't wait to brew that again and age for a while longer.

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Yeah I contacted them. They referred me to a distributor and that where things stopped.
I have one more trick up my sleeve. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for the reply! It's a pity things always have to be so complicated, I'll just do the soaked chips using some palm ridge.

Thanks again.

Jersh said:

I have only used it for two brews so far. The first was a weak attempt at a Hunahpu's clone. The beer turned out good but not as outstanding as I was hoping. The second was a KBS clone that turned out absolutely stunningly phenomenal. I can't wait to brew that again and age for a while longer.

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So when you reused the barrel, how did you sanitize it? Same method?