I have a friend who ages distilled spirits in small white oak wooden barrels. The staves are about 3/8″ thick.<!—-> <!—-><!—->
During each four month aging cycle he loses more than 25% of his product. <!—-><!—->
Someone told him to shellac the outside of the barrel. I don’t think this would be a good idea since shellac is alcohol soluble. Another person said to use water based varnish. If varnish is the answer, should it be applied when the barrel is swollen or dry? (He says the outside of the barrel feels “clammy” when it’s full.)<!—-><!—->
Any ideas would be appreciated.<!—-> <!—->
Replies
A certain amount of content is normally lost from all liquor barrels as they age. I suspect that your friend's problem is that the wood staves in his barrels are thinner than those in a larger barrel and thus more porous.
He could simply wrap the barrel in Saran food wrap to possibly reduce the loss, although that may just result in the the spirits collecting on the outside of the barrel under the wrap. I doubt if any brushed on finish would be more effective than wrapping in plastic and the finish would quite possibly wind up flavoring the liquor. The loss of content contributes to the aging process and stopping it may change the way the aging affects the flavor.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
While I have zero personal knowledge about how to properly distill spirits, I suspect that John makes a good point about loss being normal and stopping it could perhaps negatively alter the aging process.
That said... skip the finishes. Bees wax or paraffin wax ought to reasonably seal the outside of the barrels without imparting any flavoring that would be deemed negative. Their both nontoxic, food grade materials that we know do a fine job of impeding moisture.
I wonder if only partially sealing the barrels might not be a happy medium between stopping the lost of spirits and creating a quality tasting spirit? Maybe slow it down to 10% or something like that? I honestly don't know. Just throwing the idea out there...
25% loss is much too much, 10% loss would be too much.
The barrels could be slowly leaking, or just plain too porous. I age my spirits in glass carboys with charred white oak chips, at the end I press the chips and have very little loss.
C.
Maybe you could deep fry the chips and have 0% loss - said with a grin. Didn't know that people were home brewing hard liquor, thought that was still tightly controlled by the Feds.
John W.
OP said "a friend" <wink, wink, nudge, nudge>
The whole idea of using oak barrels for aging is the flavor the wood imparts. The barrels have to breathe, coating them would flavor the brew and perhaps cause problems with the process. With something like whiskey, you can expect to lose 20% the first year and maybe 30% by bottling time. In wine making, they call the loss "the angels share". It's mostly the alcohol and water evaporating through the wood. It's the process of the brew moving through the wood and taking on oxygen that produces the color and flavor. The older it's left to age the less product you will have, therefore the high prices.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Are the barrels charred on the inside? I think that is one of the reasons they char them. Simply build a small fire (outdoors) and set the barrel (without ends) over it. Look at any of the barrels you buy for garden planters that originally came from distilleries and they're all charred.
Well I'd say that Hammer's reply seems reasonable.... other than that either you or "friend" may have to reduce the number and size of "samples" taken during the process....
http://www.earthflix.com/stories/wine_barrel_making.php
I think his staves are too thin at 3/8". The link above has a guy making a barrel and those staves look to be a heavy 3/4" at the ends. The thinner walls are going to allow moisture to pass through faster. He might also try wetting the barrels before he fills them with his spirits. Assuming he is using barrels charred on the inside, the alcohol will still dissolve the caramels in the wood and the wetting might slow the initial absorption of the spirits into the wood.
I would shy away from sealing the outside of the barrels with anything. You want the evaporation to concentrate the flavors, it just needs to be slowed.
Larger barrels might also help. Small barrels would have a greater relative surface area for the amount they hold. Unless he is going after some kind of staggered aging process, he might lose less product overall.
Glass carboys with toasted (please, not fried) chips would put a stop to his losses, but I wonder what the flavour difference would be. Citrouille?
Don't want to highjack this discussion, but speaking of barrels, a restaurant wants me to convert used oak wine barrels (this is California, after all) into combination ash tray/garbage can covers. They have been sitting outside for a long time and are the approximate shade of charcoal. Does anyone know if sanding will make them look like oak again? Any hints for retaining the oak look, assuming sanding works? These things will be outside. Thanks for any advice.
Dennis
oatman
I don't have an answer for your question about retaining fresh look, but I will suggest you find some way to securely attach the metal rings to the sides. After the wood shrinks for a couple of seasons, the rings will slip down the sides and it all falls apart. I have a couple of barrels outside for planters, and put a couple of deck screws through the hoops as inconspicuously as possible. I used spar varnish on the outside but that needs re-coating every year.
Thanks for your response. I was going to put stainless steel screws into the staves through the metal rings to try to keep the whole thing from falling apart. The restaurant currently has a bunch of similar barrels that have been there for years and look horrible because of the drooping metal rings. Methinks the marketing people at this place have the idea that wood can be magically treated to last forever outdoors, without maintenance. Maybe that really thick epoxy stuff they use for counter tops? I dunno.
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