10 year old, never used barrels

[DGarrett]

I recently came into possession of 5 ten year old never used 59 gallon French oak barrels and was hoping some one might have some ideas on how to save them. They are still wrapped in the original shipping planstic.

 

[Johnd]

So many questions. What do they look like? How and where were they stored? My first two concerns would be sanitation and winetightness. Still wrapped is a good thing, can you see what they look like? Tight joints and hoops hopefully? If not, I’d start by tightening joints / hoops and move into a barrel hydration / sanitation mode, and if possible, I’d find a way to do it with steam. Steaming on a stand, bung down for a while will get the wood rehydrated, well sealed, and sanitized. If not, just use boiling water to rehydrate, followed by a Kmeta / citric acid soak for sanitizing as well as checking for leaks.

Can you post some pics?

 

[DGarrett]

They look tight, is there any concern about contamination if they had been empty for so long? They have been stored in a cool place in the pacific north west, west of the cascade mountains where there is a lot of winter rain.

 

[stickman]

You'll have to look inside the barrel with a flashlight, also smell the inside of the barrels, some barrel care sources indicate that even with new barrels there is the possibility of mold growth along the stave joints, the inside should smell, as expected, like toasted wood, the smell of dirt or musty odors may indicate a problem.

 

[topper9520]

If the barrels are still wrapped you might get lucky, you will get a musty smell which is the worst but here is what i would do if you don't have access to a commercial steamer fill the barrel with water first doesn't matter hot or cold bang the rings to make it water tight then add 4lbs of cleaning solution Soda ash, barrel kleen 1 of them and soak it for 3 days. Drain the barrel and rinse 3 times with fresh water. Prepare a solution of 4 oz of sodium bisulphate and 2 oz of citric acid in 5 gallons of HOT water roll the barrel so that the solution washes the entire inside of the barrel . Drain the barrel and do a final rinse. if you still get a musty smell or any kind of off odor then your last resort is burning a sulpher stick in there and leave it for 2 days if that does not work cut the barrel in 1/2 and plant tomatoes in it. You either want an oak smell or neutral smell anything else NG.