Filling new used barrel

[wood1954]

Got my used bourbon barrel Friday, the distillery had pounded in the wood bung nice and tight so the barrel was still pretty air tight. I filled it with warm water and let it sit for 24 hours, no leaks. The water soak removed most of the bourbon smell so I’m hoping for a fairly neutral barrel now. The inside of the barrel must have a 1/4” of charcoal on the staves , quite a difference from a wine barrel.
Used my AIO PUMP to fill the barrel, sure makes it easy. I bottled the last 8 bottles from the carboys as vin nouveau, it’s the best vintage yet.

 

[winemaker81]

Congrats!

Do you have topup plans? My barrels consume about 10% their volume annually, so I start with 16 US gallons for 54 liter (14.25 US gallon) barrels.

 

[wood1954]

I’ll use my 2022 barrel aged wine , it’s bottled so it’s easy to pour into the barrel. I’m interested in how much evaporation there will be considering how charred the inside is. I’m probably going to add some toasted oak powder as I can’t think of anything else I’d be able to rinse out, any ideas on oak adds for barrels?

 

[winemaker81]

any ideas on oak adds for barrels?

I use cubes. They're not hard to get out when rinsing the barrel after emptying it.