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ok i just got my barrle from mile high they sent a spigot and a bung i put the spigot in my ? is about the other hole and plug the bung has rubber on the end that goes in the hole but the rubber does not conect with the wood. is the wood sopposed to seal on the rubber or is the wood sopposed to seal aganst the wood

Id be carving out bungs,(or buying) poplar works good, rubber is not and the spigot I whould not install until you want to use it.

sure it's not leather... my mile high barrels have a wooden bung with leather that fits snugly between the bung hole and the bung....

you are right it is leather but it dont fit snugly between the bung hole and bung

probably from a smaller barrel.... i would send the whole trip back and ask him to send you a working model... seems like a nice guy and ships stupid fast.....

BUCK-O wrote:you are right it is leather but it dont fit snugly between the bung hole and bung

Have you water treated your barrel yet?

Sounds like they sent the wrong size bung, just call and they will send the correct one, not a big deal.

the barrles are already full of water
i talked them this mornig and the are sending the right ones

Some barrels come with "shipping" bungs . not the right ones for storage.

This is why I purchase all my barrels from Gibbs Bros. Cooperage Co.

dropping_planets wrote:sure it's not leather... my mile high barrels have a wooden bung with leather that fits snugly between the bung hole and the bung....

I don't think I would want leather next to my drinking spirit, the chemicals used in the tanning process to make leather are not the sort of thing that I would want to ingest. All of the barrels that The Barrel Mill ship out have a White Oak Wooded bung that fits the bung hole snugly (meaning I tap it firmly with the hammer about 8 times and it is water tight). I haven't observed leather around the bung at any of the commercial distilleries I have toured. Has any one ever checked to see if leather around the bung is an accepted practice.

my brother purchased these when we were getting started.... they're not a quality barrel... more like an economy knock off or something...they did color and flavor well the first few times i used them, now they got nothin' left..... wouldn't buy more or recommend them.

looking for quality 5 gl. barrels...i guess gibbs is the place .......

any recommendations on 1000 oaks or the barrel mill...?

they did color and flavor well the first few times i used them, now they got nothin' left.....

That's perfectly normal, and expected. The wood only has so much to offer; once it's all extracted, it's done. That's why distilleries have to keep replacing barrels....

Barney Fife wrote:they did color and flavor well the first few times i used them, now they got nothin' left.....

That's perfectly normal, and expected. The wood only has so much to offer; once it's all extracted, it's done. That's why distilleries have to keep replacing barrels....

There are some posts on this site that suggest using your depleted barrels for aging White Rum.

using your depleted barrels for aging White Rum.

right; I've also read of some who transfer their spirits from their newer barrels to their older barrels after a month or two, to slow the aging. That would sort of mimic how the big boys blend their stock of new barrel aged with the second and 3rd run barrels.

age it on new oak in glass first, once you got some color and flavor, oput it in the barrel to mellow and age.

got my barrel from A&J whiskey barrels. I hear hes out of town at the moment so not that quick to answer emails, but the barrel I got from him is very nice.
got my rum aging in it right now, aging in barrels is like magic.
Just make sure you buy one without the varnished finish.

how do you keep your barrels when not in use if it's only a couple weeks...? or a couple months..?

doesn't seem like water takes any thing out of them....

always keep your barrels full.
neglected to do so with one of my smaller barrels and it fell apart.

also keep in mind that wet wood will mold. so you'll need to use a little sanitiser in the water if thats what you're storing in there. otherwise you get a really foul smelling slime forming, ruined a barrel that way too.

completely emptied them 2 nights ago.....
i think i'm gonna fill them with water in the mean time as i will fill them back up with booze in 2 weeks....

what type of sanitizer would work well..... metabisulfate is the only thing i have that seems even slightly appropriate ...?

dropping_planets wrote:completely emptied them 2 nights ago.....
i think i'm gonna fill them with water in the mean time as i will fill them back up with booze in 2 weeks....

what type of sanitizer would work well..... metabisulfate is the only thing i have that seems even slightly appropriate ...?

metabisulfate will work fine. for a couple weeks storage it won't have to be too strong.

I used bleach to get the slime out of my ruined barrel, it'll be fine for aging, but won't be imparting any flavour of color anymore.

violentblue wrote: I used bleach to get the slime out of my ruined barrel, it'll be fine for aging, but won't be imparting any flavour of color anymore.

Problem with bleach on wood is the formation of dioxins... a very serious carcinogen. I'm no expert but I think I would keep bleach out of your barrels. The barrel manufactures have information available for long term and short term barrel storage.

Yes, I would guess that hydrogen peroxide is a much safer bet.