New oak barrel

OK so I just received a new oak barrel I ordered online and was inspecting the inside. Apart from the fact the "medium" toast looked very light, I also notice white stuff (I'm guessing some sort of glue/sealer) along the joins. Is that normal? Should I be worried?
Thanks
Trevor

 

Hmm not sure how this got here I posted it in general...

 

That's OK. How much did you pay for the oak and who did you order it from? Montanaandy

 

Ok good, I hadn't read anything about it so I was a bit worried. It was on ebay. The barrel was only $1, but shipping was $135... It was some guy in Turkey so I dare say it did cost quite a bit to ship. It's supposed to be french oak too, so not a bad price.

 

Please post once you brew in it. I noticed those online and you never know what you are getting into when ordering online.

 

There should be no glue in a properly coopered barrel. It should be a tight fit and the liquid inside makes the wood swell and become liquid tight.

 

the standard practice is to place reeds between the staves to make it seal. then, as stated, the wood swells with the introduction of water and is nice and tight. maybe you are seeing some of the reed sticking out from between the staves? i bought an american oak barrel from mexico on ebay for like $30 and $60 in shipping. it's terrible quality when compared to the barrel i got from the group buy in the HBT classifieds that originated at a distillery. a piece of styrofoam even came out of it during a cleaning. for now on i would stick with a reputable seller for a major purchase such as an oak barrel.

 

No it's definitely not reeds. That's the only thing that seems iffy, the wood seems reasonable thick, it hold water OK, etc. I'm going to use it and see, I think it'll be OK though there's not that much. But if there's no more posts from me don't buy any ebay barrels

P.S. If you don't mind me asking how much was the barrel from the distillery and what size was it?

Thanks

Trevor

 

In the classifieds here there have been a couple group buys organized, the barrels came from the Balcones distillery near Austin, TX. They are around 20 liters which is close to 5 gallons. I really like mine. Somewhere around $100 each.

 

"In the classifieds here there have been a couple group buys organized, the barrels came from the Balcones distillery near Austin, TX. They are around 20 liters which is close to 5 gallons. I really like mine. Somewhere around $100 each."

Those are beautiful. I would be interested in joining a group buy on this. Anyone else interested...? Montanaandy

 

Oh those do look nice! I may have to get one too

Update on my barrel: I had a few emails back and forth from the seller and although I didn't get a straight answer as to what the white stuff is, I now think it's wax. I've had water sitting in it for a few days now so I'm going to fill it with beer today. I'll report back in a few days.

 

did you by any chance get your barrel from this guy?
http://myworld.ebay.com/arts_craftsofmexico/

the barrel i got from the group buy was from one of those classified group buys, but my barrel is # 138, and cost around $125 after shipping.

 

No it was a guy in Turkey. $125's not bad, I'd definitely be interested if they do it again.

 

MMMMmmm Baby Blue!!!
I am going to dump the XX stout recipe we got from the brewer at Mad River in mine. They age theirs in a used whiskey barrel for 100 days. So.. Thats what I'm gonna do too. Brewed it last night along with the Vertical Epic from Stone.

 

Jay,
100 days may be overkill in a barrel that size. You have a lot more oak surface area per gallon than a full sized whiskey barrel, I have read at least a 3x (someone said 20?? not sure about that) increase in "oak aging" compared to a standard barrel, but I'm no mathematician or scientist. I put clear spirits in for one month and they were transformed into whiskey colored smooth tasty woody sweetness. I think Balcones used roughly one month as well. 2 weeks made an impact on my barleywine.

 

Check with the guys on this thread, supplies are limited and the buys happen at intervals:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/whiskey-rum-barrels-march-group-buy-164804/

 

#333 about to receive my DIPA



Brocks homebrew supply in Melbourne, FL is selling them.
http://www.brockshomebrew.com/cgi/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=1093