Sulfuring Barrel Issues

[AndyG]

Hey there,

Just getting into using oak barrels and trying to learn how to deal with sulfuring/sulfating for storage. My first barrel was stored with Potassium metabisulfate and citric solution, which of course is expensive & time consuming, etc.

Recently I recieved another barrel (used, 52gal. Am.Oak, 3-4 years old).
that had already been filled with S02 gas from a compressed gas system at the winery. That was at least a month ago, and since I won't fill it for another month, I decided to try burning a sulfur pastille (sized to create enough So2 for a 60gal barrel) suspended inside the barrel on a homemade disc holder.

The problem is that the discs aren't burning completely. I think in the beginning there was still alot of inert gas in the barrel, which extinguishd combustion. So I left the barrel open overnight, which lead to better burning of the disc, but it still only burns ~ 1/4 of the way through or less.

Any ideas? I'm lighting these things with a regular butane grill lighter - should I be using a torch or something? I read somewhere that mold in a barrel can cause sulfur sticks/discs to go out due to lack of oxygen in the barrel - but I've looked inside and I couldn't find any mold...

Any thoughts/info would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Wade E]

If you atre burning a sulfur disc designed for bigger barrel then it will go out as thats why. Its designed to size wise for that. If yo have a smaller barrel then cut it down appropriately or get smaller dics designed for this size.

 

[robie]

Make sure that barrel is bone dry when you burn the sulfur in it. If not dry, you can get some nasty, poisonous acids from the water and sulfur reacting.

 

[AndyG]

Thanks for the response guys!

The difference in volume between 52 gal (the size of my barrel) and 60 gal (which the pastilles are size for) is only about 13% and the first disc I tried burned less than half way through. The second about a quarter. Hmmm, maybe together that is about right...

Yeah, and I'm aware of the acid issues with burning sulfur in wet barrels - thanks for the heads up though. The barrel was clean, dried and sulfured at the winery it came from about a month or so ago. Totally dry inside, so no worries there.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Wade E]

Maybe these disca are old? I am really winging it here!