Home Distiller

Hi To all,

Recently bought a used barrel to run some tests. We got an early (mid winter) fruit fly invasion.

We left the barrel over night to drain (after rinse) and it got infested.

Any tricks to clean them out? Can we use very mild glycerin soap? Or just hot water?

And while I'm at it... Do you have any tips for preparing and storing used barrels?

Thanks!

I've never had an infestation ...But any of em are annoying ...
My thinkn the barrels weren't rinsed completely out, then completely dried ..
Thats what I would do ..No soap I'd say ...Then rinse once and check when you do use em.
Not sure, but may have to keep em plugged all the time.

Chuckyboilo wrote:Do you have any tips for preparing and storing used barrels?

Fill it with alcohol!

If you have to store them empty, they have to be dry and you will have to swell them again with water, before you want to use them. Lot of work.

For cleaning I would use only water. And not hot water, it will leach out the caramel (except you want less caramel of course). The whiskey will kill all bacterias of course.

I've never had flies get into any of my barrels, but I have noticed that fruit flies and gnats are strangely attracted to oak barrels. One summer there were so many flies swarming around the fill plug of one of my barrels that my wife taped plastic over the area of the plug. The summer heat was making the oak sugar ooze out in that area.