Used Whiskey Barrel Planters at Lowes

[Pamulli]

I've seen this mentioned before, but my local Lowe's just got in a supply of used whiskey barrels that have been cut in half to use as planters. They have a strong whiskey smell and should be good for aging.

[LWTCS]

Wild turkey or jd?

[Mr.Spooky]

just how far is "far away"????? can you hand out the state your in???
in in GA and i got one last year. a 1/2 barrel will give you a hell of alot of styx! here lately, iv been asking the people at lowes when there gonna get them in,,, but i havent been in there in about a week.... maby time to go back..... was it about 30 bucks???
spooky

[Bushman]

I checked out my local lowes and they advertise whiskey barrels but they are very reddish in color so I'm thinking wine. I then went to Home Depot where they have the same barrels (come from the same source) and are listed as wine barrels. According to the tracking I should have my 2-5 liter barrels from Texas this Tuesday. I do have a question about how many times they can be used. I was told they start loosing flavor with a max use of between 8-10 times. What do people do with their old barrels, is there a way to re-charcoal them or do you cut them up into sticks and do the charcoal flavoring again?

[rad14701]

What do people do with their old barrels, is there a way to re-charcoal them or do you cut them up into sticks and do the charcoal flavoring again?

Investigate re-charring those small barrels with a propane torch... I recall reading something about it a couple years ago...

[Samohon]

We dont have Lowes or Home-Depot here where I'am, but we do have a Store called Homebase that is a subsidiary of Home-Depot. They sell half whisky barrels from £40.00 ($60US), may seem a bit pricey, but it is a lot of wood...

Being in whisky country I have a never ending supply of them. I get them from a cooperage about 3 miles away. He has about 7000 that are a mixture of whisky, sour mash, bourbon, ect; They cost £15 for a half one or £25 for the whole thing.. I bought a whole one and got a few funny looks when I took the top 2 metal rings off and started to loosen the staves so that I could put it into the car easilly... Seems I'm not the only one who breaks them up, but I know that some winemakers go through the same process with oak...

With the staves and ends of the barrels dismantled, I first of all plane down the outside of the stave to get rid of any dirt and rust that is there... I then put them through my friends tablesaw lengthwise and cut into ½" strips, Ive also used a jigsaw to do this, does a good job, but is a little slower. Cutting the strips to 6" lengths is the next thing I do, discarding 1" from the ends.. I end up with 3 big bags of 15mm x 20mm x 150mm sticks.. It really is a lot of wood... I then toast and char as needed, but thats for another thread... BTW, the smell from inside the barrel is damn amazing...

The owner told me that he had heard of people putting 2 pints of water into the barrel, rolling it every 2 or 3 hours over a few days and getting some watery booze back... I just told him I was a winemaker and needed the oak as part of the maturation process... Well, its only a little one...

[Bushman]

Thanks,

rad14701
Investigate re-charring those small barrels with a propane torch... I recall reading something about it a couple years ago...

My local guy at our brewshop mentioned this and I will investigate closer once the barrels are reaching the end of their life span.

rockchucker22
4-5 times max. But when you consider 1 year minimum 2 better yet, times 4 uses 8 years .....

The guy at my local brewshop mentioned 8-10 times and I thought that might be a bit high. Watching Modern Marvels on Whiskey making it seems like Jack Daniels used the barrels once and then sold them to other companies that used them one or two more times.

[Pamulli]

just how far is "far away"????? can you hand out the state your in???
in in GA and i got one last year. a 1/2 barrel will give you a hell of alot of styx! here lately, iv been asking the people at lowes when there gonna get them in,,, but i havent been in there in about a week.... maby time to go back..... was it about 30 bucks???
spooky

I'm in GA and the one I got is definitely whiskey...you can't mistake that smell. I can't make out the distillery on the bottom, but I know it came from Ten. The cost was $39.

[Mr.Spooky]

just how far is "far away"????? can you hand out the state your in???
in in GA and i got one last year. a 1/2 barrel will give you a hell of alot of styx! here lately, iv been asking the people at lowes when there gonna get them in,,, but i havent been in there in about a week.... maby time to go back..... was it about 30 bucks???
spooky

I'm in GA and the one I got is definitely whiskey...you can't mistake that smell. I can't make out the distillery on the bottom, but I know it came from Ten. The cost was $39.

damn,,,,, im in Ga too,, but my local Lowes aint got them yet. the one i got last year fron lowes was a wild turkey.. and your right,, theres no mistaken the smell thats about the same price i paid last year.
spooky

[Condensifier]

Just a heads-up, my local Lowe's got some in for the season. The guy there said they won't last long and they might not get more in until next March so now's the time to get one. I'm sure Home Depot probably has some now, too.

[Bushman]

Just a heads-up, my local Lowe's got some in for the season. The guy there said they won't last long and they might not get more in until next March so now's the time to get one. I'm sure Home Depot probably has some now, too.

Yep, about the time of the year they start gearing up for spring. I have a source that I buy my barrels whole and pay way below market value at $40.00 for a 55 gallon barrel. I've been making furniture and using the scraps for aging. As mentioned a lot of sticks in a 1/2 barrel.

[RBL]

Bushman,
what furniture have you been making? I got 26 full size 53 gallon barrels about a month ago. Sold a lot of them whole, some cut in half as planter. I have made a few benches, a bistro table and stools and working on a coffee table now. Got some for $65 and some for $75.

BTW, the Tractor Supply by my house just got a shipment of 1/2 barrels. $45 each, sucks because I was getting $60 for mine.

[Bushman]

Made a bar couple end tables currently working on a Adirondack chair. Been pretty busy lately made the bar for the reception at my son's wedding last spring.

[35mastr]

After reading this thread. I stopped by the 2 Lowes stores I drive by everyday. Actually 3. Forgot to stop at the first one. Going to tomorrow. The first one had one left. It was full of water from the rain. It's a Jack Daniels barrel. Even has a card on it from the distillery . The second store had none. Got 2 more stores to hit tomorrow. Gonna check Home Depot too since I have one within walking distance..

[S-Cackalacky]

After reading this thread. I stopped by the 2 Lowes stores I drive by everyday. Actually 3. Forgot to stop at the first one. Going to tomorrow. The first one had one left. It was full of water from the rain. It's a Jack Daniels barrel. Even has a card on it from the distillery . The second store had none. Got 2 more stores to hit tomorrow. Gonna check Home Depot too since I have one within walking distance..

Been draggin' my feet. The weather's been so cold I haven't even thought about them being available. Guess I better hit Lowe's tomorrow.

[35mastr]

If the other stores are out. I am going to grab that one tomorrow. The guy said a couple pallets went in 2 days. He said that the smell of whiskey was still in them when they got there. But we had a shit load of rain over the last week...

[Condensifier]

Home Depot has them, too although when I check the one closest to me online it says they have a limited quantity. My Lowe's still had like 10 left but only one or two were the bottom section without the plastic bung in the center of the top.

[Truckinbutch]

Look for the most rickity ,dried out , fallin apart one in stock .Offer .25 on the dollar and make them call the manager . Negotiate from there . I never pay face value for a planter that is so obviously falling apart that it is never going to hold plants .
In my area be prepared to be asked by the manager whether you want the tub for a planter or wood to cure whiskey with

[35mastr]

Home Depot has them, too although when I check the one closest to me online it says they have a limited quantity. My Lowe's still had like 10 left but only one or two were the bottom section without the plastic bung in the center of the top.

Does any of that actually matter if you are going to cut them up ? Kind of curious now....

[Truckinbutch]

35 , don't see how that would have any bearing . We don't want no plastic in what we are doing . Trust me , Lowe's managers want to move product , especially seasonal items . Aggressive haggling will glean you all the barrel wood you could use at a more affordable price than retail .

[Condensifier]

Home Depot has them, too although when I check the one closest to me online it says they have a limited quantity. My Lowe's still had like 10 left but only one or two were the bottom section without the plastic bung in the center of the top.

Does any of that actually matter if you are going to cut them up ? Kind of curious now....

Except for the plastic, no, it doesn't really matter if you're going to make oak sticks out of it. I wanted one without the bung hole in case I decided to make a lid and use it for aging. Maybe whoever bought all the bottoms had the same idea because I would think if someone wanted one for a planter the one with the bung hole in the center would be the best choice for drainage.

You could actually cut off the top 4" or so down to the first steel band and use that for sticks and use the rest as an oak barrel for aging. There's plenty of oak, it's gotta weigh at least 50 pounds.

[BDF]

How does one know whether or not the wood in these barrels was treated for outdoor purposes?

I'm probably about to pick one up and would like to know before I start destroying it.

[Condensifier]

They're just old barrels roughly cut in half. Some have more char than others but you can tell when you see them they haven't been treated.

[RBL]

a lot, not all, have been used by breweries to age beer. makes a nasty smell and taste. probably not as noticeable in the ones already cut in half since they have had time to air out.
I would recommend for any of them to scrape the char and maybe sand the outside just in case.

[BDF]

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.

[Bob Loblaw]

Found these today at my local Home Depot. Walked into the garden section and it smelled like a distillery. My nose led me to this:

$40 for that. Even smells like JD

[35mastr]

Stopped by my Tractor Supply yesterday. They had 2 pallets of the JD half barrels. Kind of steep at 45.00

[BDF]

Stopped by my Tractor Supply yesterday. They had 2 pallets of the JD half barrels. Kind of steep at 45.00

While that may be a chunk of change, it is a way to get a near life-time supply of oak for those of us aging in pint or gallon jars that is local, can be paid for in cash, and is guaranteed to be the right type of wood and part of the tree for aging spirits.

[wilded]

Tractor Supply in Texas has the half barrels for $44.99

[MyUncleMo]

Found these today at my local Home Depot. Walked into the garden section and it smelled like a distillery. My nose led me to this:

2014-03-24 17.53.46 (800x600).jpg

$40 for that. Even smells like JD

Finally got around to making some jar sized pieces of my JD barrel form Home Depot.
Same label as Bob's.

My 4 year old and I had a fun project while the toddler was napping.

When I was roto zipping the staves the whiskey smell came through big time.

I put a half gallon of previously (NEW) GIBBS oaked 128 proof double distilled Hook Rum on a 2" x 1" x 5" scrubbed stave and a small chunk 2'x1'x3' that my daughter was "in charge of" went into 80 proof hook rum single distilled spiced jar that had been oaked with a black swan honeycomb.
I'm going to get out my woodworking tools in the future to see what I can craft from some of these staves. For sure I'd like some coasters for the bar.
It is cool to see the previous whiskey penetration in the staves.

Thanks HD for the inspiration and knowledge base.