Bourbon Barrel Cleaning?

[TomorrowsVerse]

Hi all. I haven't brewed too much but I can't pass up this opportunity and I'd really like to try this. In a couple of days I should be picking up 1 or 2 barrels that Goose Island just emptied of 2011 Bourbon County Stout. They're Heaven Hill bourbon barrels.

They're unrinsed. They removed the BCBS, and then set the barrels aside.

Do I need to clean them out at all? I'm worried about bad bacteria being in there already. If so, is warm water good enough? I'm thinking I might just boil some water, pour it in the barrel, and then dump it out.

 

[millaj92]

I'm no barrel expert but I would say maybe a quick scrub with warm water to remove solids and a quick rinse then maybe mix up a bit of sodium or potassium metabisulfite with some water to sanitize.

 

[thetomG]

I actually picked up one of these barrels as well and asked the Goose barrel guys about how to clean it... they pretty much said that it didn't need much more than a nice rinse with hot/boiling water, followed by a flush with CO2 and then resealing the bung.... they also recommended getting beer into it withing a month if possible.

That being said I'd still be open to any other recommendations/suggestions everyone has for general care/maintenance/storage as I've never worked with a barrel like this before...

cheers!