Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

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SJ_distiller
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by SJ_distiller »

At my local Tractor Supply today. They had 1/2 barrel planters--whiskey barrels cut in half--for the 'bargain' price of $59.99. I know the day after I buy one they will go on clearance. I also know if I don't buy one, they will sell out before I decide to buy one. But it is mid-July; can't imagine there is any demand now, right? Sucks to be neurotic--just sayin'. Advice welcome!
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by 700G »

Got one at TSC last year on clearance for $19.99.
stillin' when I shoulda been buyin'
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by BDF »

BDF wrote:Got one of these half-barrels. It was labeled as having Rye-Bourbon stored in it, and from some Kentucky distillery I hadn't heard of. Sawed through the iron bands with a hand saw and the thing just fell apart like someone dumped a bag of Xylophone keys on the ground (very entertaining).

Sanded off some of the grime on the outside, cut a few 1" x 1" x 5" sticks out of one of the staves (got a TON of wood left over), charred them, soaked them in water, and am now on my first endeavor in oaking.
Because this thread helped me a lot, reporting back to say this worked really well for oaking, and I still have more oak than I'll ever know what to do with for that original $45.
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by Vanmark »

BDF wrote:
Because this thread helped me a lot, reporting back to say this worked really well for oaking, and I still have more oak than I'll ever know what to do with for that original $45.

I'm in Denmark and it's quite hard to find any oak products for booze other than chips which I have found to be flat tasting. I recently found a "Wine Barrel Plank" that they sell from broil king.

http://www.broilkingbbq.com/accessories ... rrel_plank" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

It smells nice and looks legit. Seems like it will be a good match for the heavy rum I'm working on. The question I have is on how I should process from here. From my understanding I should sand/plane off the outside layer and cut it into staves. But from there do I toast or just char?

I was also going to season the wood with sherry before using it on my rum. Should that happening before or after re-toasting or charring?

Any pointers would be appreciated.
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by Bushman »

Vanmark wrote: The question I have is on how I should process from here. From my understanding I should sand/plane off the outside layer and cut it into staves. But from there do I toast or just char?
Any pointers would be appreciated.
It depends on what your tastes are. Yesterday I posted the following Chart:
Oak aging chart
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by jb-texshine »

Reminds me....
Home depot has jack barrels in stock now.
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by Vanmark »

Bushman wrote:
Vanmark wrote: The question I have is on how I should process from here. From my understanding I should sand/plane off the outside layer and cut it into staves. But from there do I toast or just char?
Any pointers would be appreciated.
It depends on what your tastes are. Yesterday I posted the following Chart:
Oak aging chart

Thanks! I've seen different temp/taste charts but could never quite figure out what that meant for a barrel. My understanding is that they put a fire to the inside, right? So the outer layers would all still be "raw" wood. That would mean that to use a barrel as staves one would have to toast the staves after cutting them up, otherwise end up with tannic oak tea...?
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by Vanmark »

I also came across this in my search through other threads:

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =4&t=45447
This is from Demptos Cooperage, who sell all over Europe.
"Watch out for retoasting! Anyone who wants to recondition a used barrel should know that retoasting does not give satisfactory results. All the substances in the 5 liters of wine absorbed by the staves of a 225-liter barrel are burnt and converted into compounds that give the wine tarry and burnt rubber odors, collectively known as "burnt character".

This is why we scrape down to fresh wood if the reconditioning order desires re-toasting or toasting and charring. Of course everyone has the right to do it their way.
This leads me to suspect that I shouldn't retoast? Or if I do scraping away the red wine and much of the character of the used barrel is required for a smooth finish.

Any further advice would be appreciated.
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by frunobulax »

What I did with a Old Grand Dad planter barrel (It was printed on the head), was take a right angle grinder with 24 grit and ripped the sides down to fresh wood, then toast/char them
to desired doneness. From a half barrel, I have enough staves to last a LONG time.
Vanmark, If ya want smooth with sherry flavor, I would use a MEDIUM TOAST and soak them in sherry,
or just add a little, to taste, to the booze itself. There is a gazillion posts on oaking here.
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by BDF »

Vanmark wrote:This leads me to suspect that I shouldn't retoast? Or if I do scraping away the red wine and much of the character of the used barrel is required for a smooth finish.

Any further advice would be appreciated.
Not sure about your barrel in particular, but I pretty much assumed whiskey barrels were already toasted, and would only need to be cleaned/sanded to remove grime from sitting outside/shipment and charred.
I took my method from this thread, and series of posts: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... n#p7076323

And just put down three more jars using a similar method:
Image
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by Vanmark »

I tested out the wine barrel in different versions:

Untouched
toast
char
toast and char

There was also a control of heavily toasted french oak chips and medium toasted american oak chips.

Toast is by far the winner for what I want. I'm looking to age some funky rum and it has the right balance of vanilla, warmth and spice.

Toast and char is quite nice but all too bourbony for the profile I'm going for.

The chunk of wine barrel, that had presumably been toasted at some point, has some nice notes but is not quite aggressive enough. I think I would use it for a fruit brandy.

The chips are quite monochromatic and boring. They coloured the fastest, which is no surprise.

I think the takeaway from my test is that you can't really go to wrong. None of the above were bad, including the chips. It was just worth figuring out the aroma and flavour profile I was looking for.
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Re: Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

Post by BDF »

Vanmark wrote:I tested out the wine barrel in different versions:

Untouched
toast
char
toast and char

There was also a control of heavily toasted french oak chips and medium toasted american oak chips.

Toast is by far the winner for what I want. I'm looking to age some funky rum and it has the right balance of vanilla, warmth and spice.

Toast and char is quite nice but all too bourbony for the profile I'm going for.

The chunk of wine barrel, that had presumably been toasted at some point, has some nice notes but is not quite aggressive enough. I think I would use it for a fruit brandy.

The chips are quite monochromatic and boring. They coloured the fastest, which is no surprise.

I think the takeaway from my test is that you can't really go to wrong. None of the above were bad, including the chips. It was just worth figuring out the aroma and flavour profile I was looking for.
A single month is pretty short for aging on charred wood. Keep an eye on those toast+char and char-only batches to see how the flavor develops as the months roll on.

Good news is you what you found you like, happened to have a pretty quick turn-around period.
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