Recondition and toasting a used barrel

[shoelesst]

Hello,
Similar to to philbard, I also recondition my barrels at home.
Phil uses a planer which is much more aggressive and really gets down to fresh wood. I use a belt sander which takes less wood off but is also slightly less scary to do.
I made a video of one I did over the weekend. Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/kNsUcat_W8c

 

[JohnT]

Great video! I have a 5 year barrels that I was planning on replacing.

Is it really as easy as that looks???

 

[shoelesst]

Yes but I will say at some point you may doubt if you made a mistake. That is usually when you are reassembling the barrel with the clamps. It can be sloppy. Once you put that first ring on you realize everything is going to be ok and it's quite exhilarating.

2 years ago I did this to a 15 gallon barrel and put a heavy toast on it. It made such a huge difference and I loved it. Added a lot of complexity to a 100% Red Zin. The one on the video is a 30 gallon.

Let me know if you have any other questions and check out the branding irons if you haven't already.

 

[Johny99]

Great video, many thanks. I'm in year 5 on a barrel, so perhaps this fall!