Do I have to sanitize my barrel?

[fatnhappy]

I know, you guys want to give me a head slap for even thinking of not sanitizing. We all know its paramount. My question arises because I just got an 8 gallon barrel that first had whiskey, then maple syrup. Popped the bung plug off and it smells like heaven. Shined a light in it and it's still has a lot of moisture and it still has some syrup in it. It is supposed to be "freshly emptied" and I believe it is. I would love to just put my stout in there and not lose the syrup and all the goodness still in the barrel. Is that suicide or low risk because it's fresh and held a liquor?

 

[Wagon_6]

I purely gamble it all on the first batch I put in the barrel, no sanitizing. I want all the whiskey oak goodness left to get inside my beer and not be watered down with sanitizer. For subsequent batches i put in a bottle of good bourbon and rotate the barrel every day.

The maple syrup worries me though. If it was filled with 8 gallons of thick sugar, that may be a bacterial heaven very quickly.

 

[fatnhappy]

It looks good inside and smells just as good. The bung is clean also. Thinking I'm going to put it in there and hope for the best

 

[wilserbrewer]

I believe maple syrup is bacteria resistant as the sugar content is so high...syrups and honey don't spoil for that reason.

I vote for adding the beer

 

[Spyderbyte07]

What about dosing the stout with kmeta?

 

[MaryB]

Only way I have seen maple syrup go bad is mold. And that would be very visible. As long as it was sealed you are probably good to go!