Home Distiller

I see these are still available. Working on enough Honey Bear Bourbon to be able to fill one.
This will be my first barrel and I am anxious to take that leap.Have been aging in jars so far.
Still waiting for a pair of once used 5 gallon barrels from the distillery an hour away. Working on an all malt recipe for at least one of those.

So having some sitting for over a month, The spirit does have some tequila like qualities to it. Just starting to get some color as well.

Adventures in homebrewing got a few more and I drive there and got the last one they had today, I’m going to put some water in it tomorrow and swell it up

How are they working for you guys? I just picked one up today, French oak from their FrOak line of whiskey. I'm planning on filling it with rum

So it has been 9 months since I filled mine. The end result is fantastic I am going to let it ride and see how it progresses.

DuckofDeath wrote:So it has been 9 months since I filled mine. The end result is fantastic I am going to let it ride and see how it progresses.

Good to know. I've got one that is dry as all hell but havn't used it yet (still). This fall I'll do a bourbon

Found this old post looking for this type of information. I really disagree with some posts that stated the best Tequilas are put to bed on oak. Who wants vanilla and caramel with the real taste of agave. But I guess that's why we have so many flavors to choose from, everyone can find what floats their boat. Being here in Jalisco there are many used JD and other well known brands barrels for sale after they were used for Tequila and Rum. I was curious how these small barrels turned out for you guys. Not having a clue on curing whiskey/rum on oak, I wanted to know if those barrels put out an off flavor after a year. If they do do you think buying a barrel and sand down past the char would work for me.
JK

If you break a barrel apart and sand or plane down until you get to lighter/fresher wood you can certainly toast/char and produce excellent results in glass.

If you want to keep the barrel intact, I am not sure how others have done it effectively and quickly. Maybe right angle grinder with sanding disks? Heavy wire wheel? Certainly a dust mask and a fan outside. Toast and char as necessary.

Normally barrels are disassembled to scrape, it's a fairly quick process (just number the staves first). Scraping can be done quickly with a draw knife. Then charring is done just like you would a new barrel.