Old Cask Questions

[earlyd]

My buddy came across an old wooden rum cask. We guess it to be about 20 to 30 years old and about 1.5 to 2 gallons. It is dried out so he has been soaking it and it is almost tight.

We were going to try to put some beer into it and I was wondering if there is anything that we should do to clean or condition it. My buddy thought about putting some whiskey in there and shaking the hell out of it to try to kill off any bacteria. Any insight would help. We would hate to waste a couple gallons of good beer.

Thanks

 

[david_42]

Sanitizing your barrel

Fill barrel half-way with cold water. Add 2.5 grams of sodium metabisulphite for every litre of the barrel’s total volume (0.4 oz./Imp. gal.). Add 1.25 grams of citric acid for every litre of the barrel’s total volume (0.2 oz./Imp. gal). Bung the barrel. Roll it to mix in the metabisulphite and citric acid. Remove bung and finish filling barrel with cold water. Replace bung and let full barrel stand 48 hours. Drain barrel. Rinse several times with cold water.

 

[earlyd]

Thanks

Is there a fear of off flavors from the sodium metabisulphite of citric acid? Also do you think that we should try to recondition the barrel with whiskey and if so how lond should we let it sit before using it.?