used wine barrel?

[midlife_rebel]

I plan on making some more rum and I have a buddy with a used wine barrel.
Now as the coloring in rum is from caramel and not necessarily the barrel...can this be used for rum storage?

[Dnderhead]

"Now as the coloring in rum is from caramel"
not really,,thats a way to fake it.(instead of aging in barrel they add caramel).good rum does not need additives.
what kind of wine was in it? if it was white use as is,if red the id wash it out first.

[midlife_rebel]

I did not know that Dnderhead. Always thought that it was just carmel. Red wine was stored in it. Its a 53 gallon but I thought I would fill it and put it away for 10 yrs or so.
I suppose too...I could knock off the hoops and just use the oak in glass

[Dnderhead]

if you can fill it do it.. (even "better"white rum is aged in barrels then filtered to remove color)

[Prairiepiss]

How big of a barrel is it? How old is it? I mean has it been sitting around empty for a long time? Or was it just recently retired from wine service?

[midlife_rebel]

Thank you sir...I do appreciate your wisdom in this.

[midlife_rebel]

retired last year but it was ozoned for storage. They had planned on using it again but didn't.

[Prairiepiss]

You will need to fill it with water anyway. To get it to swell. So that's a good opportunity to rinse the red out. You won't get all of it out. Who knows it mite add a nice flavor note to it? But I'm assuming its a 55gal? How you going to fill that baby up?

[Bushman]

I know a distillery in Washington that takes the outside rings off off the wine barrels he buys and re-chars them, then reassembles and makes his whiskey. Says a slight flavor from the fruit still comes over but that is what he is after.

[beelah]

I uses staves from an oak barrel that had a Frenech Cab/saug in it. I clean up the outside of the barrel on the belt sander, cut the stages into 3/4 " thick pieces , char the three side without the red stain from the wine on it in BBq, cut it into 2" pieces and add 2 or 3 to a 2 l mason jar, put a double layer of coffee filer in the top attached with an elastic, and leave it in a dark cool place until it has the colour and flavor I want. I then strain, and dilute and bottle. By the way I usually oak it at 60-65% abv, which is what my hearts come in on the second spirit run of UJSSM. After 6-8 weeks, it's a nice dark amber with nice nose, lots of vanilla and other interesting flavours picked up form the oak. I think the wine stain adds to the bouquet. Cheap and easy to do.

[HookLine]

I use French oak from a red wine barrel and leave the wine stain on and don't char that side. I did a comparison a while back, between leaving the wine stain on and completely removing it, and I think the wine stain works a bit better, adds a little extra flavour and colour. Certainly will not hurt it. If you can get oak from sherry or port barrels that should work very well.

I do give the oak a good scrub with water and a clean nylon brush, then let it dry out, before charring