Whether moonshine is considered noble alcohol is a matter of personal requirements of each consumer to the product and the conscientiousness of the manufacturer. Much depends on the quality of raw materials, the fulfillment of all requirements for compliance with the technology and, in many respects, on moonshine equipment. An important factor is the ability of the handmaker himself to appreciate his work, and this requires experience in both production and proper consumption. If all the initial requirements are met, you can make Calvados or whiskey, brandy or bourbon at home.

It is easy to make good moonshine at home, good in taste, but it is much more interesting and honorable to set a global goal: to turn it into a noble drink. Fortunately, a tool for this has been invented, used for a long time and successfully - an oak barrel.

Citizens, prepare the container!

Not every oak barrel for moonshine is destined to fall into your hands, but only specially made and processed. Home distillers keep the product in a small (compared to industrial volumes) oak barrel, minimum 5, maximum 50 liters. Not because it is unlikely that you and your friends need a lot of homemade whiskey, but also because in small volumes the processes of both aging and fermentation proceed faster.

How to choose the right barrel

• You should start by looking for a cool cooper whose product meets the requirements.
• It is preferable that split oak species be used for the production of the barrel: North American white, pedunculate or sessile (these are the best options). European species have also proven themselves well - Slavonian (Serbian), Bulgarian, Ukrainian, as well as oak growing in Russia. Such wood will cost the manufacturer cheaper.
• The board for barrels should be qualitatively air-dried or in a special chamber.
• Assembly quality plays an important role, through slots and loosely fitted hoops are unacceptable.
• An oak barrel for whiskey must be fired from the inside, this is done to give the drink a noble sound, obtained by releasing aromas and nuances of taste from the wood.
• Wood is a porous material, so you have to put up with the loss of part of the product during aging, the so-called share of angels. Sometimes angels allow themselves to drink up to seven percent of the contents, and in order to protect them from excessive drunkenness, it is better to buy a waxed barrel.

Preparing a barrel for the sacrament of creating a noble drink is a simple process, but it requires compliance with the rules.

Soaking with water

Attention! Do not immediately fill the barrel with water to the brim!

Steaming

Soaking with water lasts from two weeks to a month. In order to reduce this time and wash out excess tannins as much as possible, we steam the barrel with live steam.

Oak barrel waxing

To reduce losses (the share of angels) of the product, the barrel is waxed - waxed.

In our opinion, this should not be done, because the barrel should “breathe deeply” and then all the processes in it will go right, and you will get a quality product.

Operation and aging technology

Even a well-prepared oak barrel for aging moonshine and turning it into brandy or whiskey is not a complete guarantee of success. It is important to know where, how and under what external conditions to withstand the product.

• If the barrel was bought waxed, it is not superfluous to check how conscientiously the procedure was carried out, whether the waxing of the chimes and the bottom was done, whether 2 staves were left dry for gas exchange
• Store the barrel in a dark and ventilated room without direct sunlight, without extraneous odors and vibrations, do not use neon lighting indoors
• Storage temperature for wine and other light alcohol 10°С to 14°С (recommended 12°С), for moonshine, whiskey, brandy and other strong alcohol 14°С to 20°С (recommended 16°С)
• Keep humidity in the range of 75%-85%. You can increase the humidity by placing a container of water next to the barrel. Excessive dampness will damage both the container and the contents, and too dry environment will increase losses, the angel's share will increase
• Drafts and heating elements near the barrel are unacceptable

Follow these recommendations and this will extend the life of the barrel, and most importantly, get alcohol that is comparable in taste to the products of world famous brands or even better.

Entrance

How to pour wine from an oak barrel

News

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We offer high-quality barrels made of split Caucasian oak at an affordable price. Such a barrel can not only serve for many years on the farm, but also decorate any interior.

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17 Jul 2017

Oak barrel firing: features and modern technologies

Today, aging cognac and wine in oak barrels is a tradition, but not all producers can do it due to the high price. The first barrels played the role of just a convenient container, which (unlike ceramics) could withstand quite serious loads.

The first wooden container for storing wine appeared in the third millennium in the expanses of sunny Egypt. But in ancient Rome, wooden barrels were known a little earlier. Already at the end of the nineteenth century, the profession of a cooper was very honorable, but with the advent of synthetic materials, wooden utensils were gradually replaced. Today, wooden barrels are used exclusively in the wine industry.

Just imagine, one well-known cognac house cuts down up to 3,000 oaks annually for its needs. An indescribable taste effect of the drink is obtained after aging in oak barrels, and this effect (at one time) was discovered quite by accident. This effect is due to the fact that active substances are present in the tree. It is they who change the structure of the wine, as a result of which we have a special taste. Wine connoisseurs will immediately determine the taste of wine from the barrel.

Light toasting gives the tare a subtle hint of vanilla, but the key is not to overdo it, as this will destroy the enzymes that are responsible for that flavor. Fires are constantly burning in the cooperage, on which future barrels are put on top. At this stage, the container has neither a bottom nor a top. It is the degree of roasting of the barrel that will subsequently affect the very taste of cognac, which will be aged in it. But thanks to the abundance of pores that are in oak wood, the wine becomes "alive" and saturated with oxygen. After, it, enriched with oxygen, acquires a special tenderness and velvety, and fruit tannins give it a little sharpness and at the same time softness.

It is the roasting of an oak barrel that is the most important process that will affect the creation of a high-quality product. An open flame has a magnetic effect on the wood, as the sugar caramelizes and the aromatic active enzymes are released, saturating the wine with amazing aromas and shades. It is for this that the drink is loved and appreciated. When firing, the most important thing is to correctly calculate the time and select combustible material. As soon as the firing of the oak barrel is completed, the container is checked again and permanent hoops are placed. Next, the inner part is polished with sand, after which the bottom is fixed and the finished product is prepared for use.

Even after the barrel has lost its original appearance over the years, it can be given a second life. Anyone who understands winemaking knows this.

The thought of buying an oak barrel visited me for a long time, even before I became interested in winemaking and home brewing. Then it seemed to me that it was enough to buy a barrel, pour alcohol into it and after 3-5 years get a three-, or better five-star cognac. When I began to delve into the topic of distillation, and then into the cooperage issue, then everything turned out to be not quite right, or rather, not at all like that.

Firstly, it’s impossible to pour anything into a barrel, and even more so pure alcohol, well, it’s impossible, it’s possible, but it’s not necessary - because the output will be the same alcohol, but with an oak taste. A barrel is able to ennoble a drink suitable for aging and give it notes that have never been in it before: prunes, caramel, vanilla, even chocolate and flowers - taste buds are different for everyone and each describes these sensations in his own way, for example, I felt the smell very clearly prunes, when moonshine insisted on specially prepared oak chips. However, a barrel is not a magical vessel and it cannot make candy out of a barrel. Therefore, for aging in a barrel, high-quality prepared material is used - fruit or grain distillates, they are home-made moonshine that does not have the nasty smell of fusel oils, which can be obtained at home with the help of modern home-brewing, while maintaining the taste of the feedstock. This is how cognac (aka brandy) is made by pouring grape spirit into oak barrels. Calvados is made from apple / pear raw materials, but whiskey, scotch, bourbon are obtained by aging various grain distillates in barrels.
Contained in such distillates (unlike pure alcohol), the aromatic particles of the original fruit or grain raw materials react with oak wood, which in turn contains tannins: tannins, acids and lignins - the stiff walls of plant cells, which are a mixture of aromatic polymers , and the result of this interaction is a drink with the taste of the well-known cognac or whiskey. Simultaneously with this reaction in the barrel, the gas exchange of the drink with the surrounding air takes place through the pores of the wood.
But these processes take time. According to Wikipedia, “According to the law, cognac spirit, in order to be called cognac, must be aged in oak barrels for at least two years.” On the one hand, the longer the exposure, the nobler and tastier the drink becomes, and on the other hand, the greater the so-called "angels' share" - the volume of the drink, which simply evaporates from the barrel during the years of aging. And the smaller the barrel, the greater the proportion of angels, since the ratio of the inner surface of the barrel to its volume in small barrels is maximum, the area of ​​​​contact of the liquid with the walls of the barrel is also maximum and, accordingly, evaporation will also be the largest. For example, in the smallest three-five-liter barrels, the share of angels can be up to 50% per year of the initially filled volume, that is, in a couple of years there will be nothing to drink from the barrel. But such barrels do not need a long aging period, since due to the same maximum ratio of the inner surface of the barrel to its volume, the extraction of tannins will also occur as quickly as possible and in a couple of months the drink will pull out of the oak. But 225 liter barrels used in wineries, on the contrary, will take years to mature. Simultaneously with aging, the drink also matures: as they say, those who understand the taste soften, round, ennoble, various flavor notes appear. Thus, the larger the barrel, the more noble the drink will turn out and the longer it will mature.
I chose a 15 liter barrel for myself, as I consider this volume to be optimal, because I do distillation in a small apartment and it will be hard to exercise with large volumes.
I went shopping for a long time and looked at the barrels, but somehow I didn’t like them: either the cracks are large, or the color of the wood is somehow strange, or the smell comes from it is unpleasant. And at the last Intercession Fair, an exhibition and sale of agricultural products held in our city, I came across barrels of local producers from the symbolic region of our region for this product - Bondarsky. I liked the barrels, the price was reasonable, I was about to make a purchase, but I decided to walk around the fair further - maybe I could find somewhere else. And indeed, there was a tent of out-of-town coopers nearby, some of the southern regions, unfortunately I did not remember which one. Their prices for barrels differed significantly from the prices of local craftsmen, and not for the better. To my reasonable "purkua?" a colorful bearded man in a sheepskin coat replied that only in their south there grows a tree suitable for wine barrels, and your local will go only for pickling cucumbers. Then I realized that not everything is so simple in the matter of choosing barrels and I need to go deeper into it. I had to postpone the purchase and take time out to study the material.
I read a lot of information from various sites, forums, watched YouTube, until I came across the Krasnodar masters of Bondarnaya Lavka LLC. A lot of videos have been published on this blog, in which the coopers themselves do not hesitate to explain what a quality barrel is, how it is made and how to choose it correctly. Well, since they are doing it publicly, it is logical to assume that they should not deviate from what they said themselves. I ordered a barrel from them. Let's check as far as we can what is true and what is not.
The barrel was delivered by DPD 10 days after order payment


From packaging only stretch film


Underneath are layers with bubble wrap


Here in this quantity


The barrel comes with a stand, waxed cork, instructions and a tag. I bought beeswax separately, such 200 gr. a jar costs 300 rubles, later I found out that it is sold in stores with goods for beekeeping and is much cheaper.


So, what did I manage to understand in the issue of cooperage products? First of all, the "correct" oak barrel must be made from the "correct" oak. In nature, there are several hundred species of oak, but only three are suitable for wine barrels: pedunculate oak (Quercus peduncolator), sessile oak (Quercus sesstiis), and American white oak (Quercus alba), which grows in North America. In our country, there are only two types of suitable oak: pedunculate (aka flat) and rocky, which grows on the slopes of the mountains. Of these, sessile oak has the greatest value, since its wood has a high density and, accordingly, products made from this oak are more durable and reliable. famous french cognacs poured just into the Limousin "stone" barrels made of sessile oak, growing on lands in the county of Limousin. This is the most expensive variety of oak, as its aroma is considered unsurpassed throughout the world.
According to the manufacturer, all barrels of Bondarnaya Lavka LLC are made only from rocky Caucasian oak. It can be distinguished from the pedunculate by the distance between the annual rings; in sessile oak, it should not exceed 2 mm. We look at the chime - the end of the riveting (the curved board from which the barrel is made) and measure the distance between the annual rings


For all rivets, this distance is different, but it seems that there is no more than 2 mm
For the purity of the experiment, I took a log from our local Morshan oak and also measured the distance between the annual rings


Here, too, this distance does not exceed 2 mm, although there are no rocks in our central chernozem area, continuous forest-steppe, perhaps this comparison is incorrect and our oak is not a pedunculate, but some other of more than 300 species of this tree.
Second: the quality of the barrel. According to the information from the manufacturer's website, all barrels are made of split oak and radially sawn boards. What it is? This is when an oak log is split into logs, as is usually done with an ax for cutting firewood.


In production conditions, this is done using mechanisms of a similar plan (clickable gif)


Proper coopers do not saw logs, but rather split them in order to separate the wood in the place where it has slack, which can manifest itself in the finished product and leak. The split of the log should go so that segments are obtained from the circle with the center at the point of convergence of the annual rings (this is ideally), in fact, just in the center of the log. And already from these segments they make a radial cut of boards for the manufacture of rivets - the boards that make up the wall of the barrel


As a result of this treatment, the annual rings run perpendicular to the barrel wall, which is necessary for the barrel to breathe properly, and, according to gourmets, it enriches the drink with the tastes of different years of the tree's life. The juice channels are thus parallel to the barrel wall and the drink will not flow through them. In our barrel, this is exactly what is done.


Another important point is the riveting itself, it should be the same throughout the barrel, and its width should be sufficient so that the drilled filler hole does not weaken the riveting and does not crack. The hole must be in the center of the rivet, and not between two rivets! Like this:


Otherwise, when a cork is driven into the hole, it will wedge adjacent rivets and a gap will form through which the entire drink will evaporate very quickly.
Also, the stave should have the same thickness along the entire length, since the "pot-bellied" barrel is given by steaming the barrel, bending the staves and fixing them with hoops, and not by turning the profile of the board, as some "craftsmen" do. We measure the thickness of the riveting in the filler hole and at the end, the so-called barrel chime.
It is difficult to measure in the filler hole, illuminated with a flashlight


The chime is simpler, the thickness seems to be the same - about 17 mm


The barrel can be selected with three degrees of roasting: weak, medium, strong. According to the manufacturer's website

Firing is necessary to relieve the tension of the wood and soften it so that the riveting does not crack in the future and is fixed in a curved shape.
Roasting also caramelizes the carbohydrates (sugar) contained in the oak. And the taste of the finished drink depends on the intensity of this process. The stronger the roast, the more caramel shades will be in taste and aroma. With medium roasting, the taste will be more vanilla.
Weak (technological) roasting is usually used for aging in barrels of beer or white wine, because. for them, a change in taste and color is practically not required. Medium roasting is suitable for aging red wines. Strong firing is best suited for strong drinks - whiskey, cognac, calvados or just sugar moonshine, as well as fortified wines (Madeira, sherry, etc.)

I chose medium firing, despite the fact that I plan to keep strong alcohol, because in one of the videos on YouTube I saw that one of the buyers of the barrels of this manufacturer complained that they were burned too much, almost to the point of coals.
It turned out to be not so easy to check the degree of roasting, since I ordered a barrel with only one filler hole without a tap (I don’t need extra options for leakage) and highlight from the side to see what’s inside is impossible. The well-known flexible USB lamp and power bank came to the rescue


The lamp butt went into the hole, but it was not possible to consider something, let alone photograph


And what we managed to see, not only didn’t feel like coals, but it didn’t really look like firing either, just some kind of gray board. And then it occurred to me, as it seemed to me then, a great idea to use a USB extension cable


With its help, we managed to see the contents of the barrel much better, there really is firing, you can even see some numbers drawn with chalk on the rivets


Doubts are dispelled, you can pull the lamp out of the barrel, and here I made a mistake, which later cost a lot of time and nerves - I dragged the cable too sharply and at the point of its connection with the lamp connector, it got stuck in the hole of the barrel and fell down safely. The next hour turned into an "entertaining" quest for the whole family to extract this damn lamp from the barrel. And so and so we tried to do it, but nothing worked. I was already longingly imagining how I would knock down the hoops and dismantle the barrel without much hope of returning everything as it was, but then the idea was born to develop a rescue operation with a simulation of the situation using the second of the same lamp (thanks to Mysku and its shares) and a cabinet shelf.


As a result, a joint action strategy was developed and the son managed to put a lamp on the priest with his finger, after which the USB connector appeared in the hole, the wife was able to pick it up with narrow-nose pliers and pull it out. Son's fingers confirm - there really is firing


I really liked the barrel in appearance: beautiful, nice, it smells very pleasant.


There are no cracks, everything is well fitted, machined and sanded


The hoops sit evenly, stretched tightly. They are made of galvanized steel, riveted upwards


The manufacturer claims that this is not a minus, but a plus - since the water flowing from the barrel when soaking it will not accumulate on the rivets and rust.
There are small teases under them, but apparently it will not work to besiege the hoops in another way.


The manufacturer's logo is embossed on the front bottom


The cork is also oak, waxed - covered with a layer of beeswax, this will protect it from swelling and mold.


The stand comes disassembled and with only one cross member, I didn’t like it right away


When I began to join the parts, I understood why - it was impossible to evenly combine the side parts, they parted first in one direction, then in the other, and the stand ended up uneven


One edge is higher, the other is lower, and when installing the barrel, the whole structure balances, of course, when the barrel is full, it will remove this distortion, but anyway, it’s not constructive. The manufacturer, in his answers to customer questions, explains this by some kind of savings, which will ultimately fall into the buyer's pocket, I don't know how much such savings on one thin stick and a couple of holes are justified in large-scale production.

Barrel dimensions

Bottom diameter 28 cm


Rivet length 36 cm


Height on stand 35.5 cm

It is impossible to immediately pour a drink into a new barrel, it must first be prepared in a special way. How to do this is summarized in the instructions.


More details in a special from the Cooper's Blog.
First of all, the barrel must be soaked. This is necessary so that the wood inside the barrel swells and closes all the cracks and crevices to prevent leakage, and also so that the water absorbs excess tannins from the oak and the subsequently poured alcohol does not turn into a plinth - alcohol with the taste of a stool. It is advisable to take softened, purified or spring water, because at the same time as the tannins are washed out of the wood, the water will add its components to the barrel and rust with bleach from the water supply will obviously not improve the taste of the barrel.
I have a three-stage filtration system in my kitchen under the sink, we will take water from there.


But first, we measure the useful volume of the barrel, pour water into a measuring cup


And through the funnel we send it to the barrel


I pour it, and my son keeps counting on a piece of paper for some reason in Roman numerals, he messed up something in writing, but I also thought to myself, the result was the same for us - it took 16 full liter glasses


And another 100 ml from 17 glasses, and this is clearly more than the declared 15 liters.


In the first few days of soaking, the barrel, when stored under conditions other than those recommended (temperature 14-18 ° C, humidity 75-85%), must also be wetted from the outside in order to avoid cracking the riveting


We completely spill the entire barrel outside and leave it overnight in the sink, in case the barrel suddenly leaks and causes a flood


The next day, the barrel was all dry, except for the area around the cork.


And two places in the morning


Below, at the junction of the rivets to each other


And on the side in a similar place


Everything else is dry.


And pure


Since the barrel did not leak on the first day of soaking, it will no longer leak and subsequently, the wood will swell more and more, the chances of leakage will disappear completely. Such an outcome, in principle, could be assumed, since the barrel is made very well, all the staves are fitted, the hoops are lined and I received it piping hot - straight from the factory. The barrels are either poorly made or have been empty for a long time in the wrong storage conditions - somewhere on a dusty store shelf, wrapped in film.
In the first week we will change the water daily, the next week every 2 days, the rest every 3 days. Drain the first water.


It has such a tea color, it smells very strongly of oak, no other tones are heard


At the bottom, chips and pieces of washed wood are visible.


We pour water inside again and moisten the barrel from the outside, now we boldly leave it on the table


The second water is already much lighter, almost colorless, but the tart smell of oak is still present in it.


Soaking with water will be done for four weeks. Before the last filling, just in case, we put a newspaper under the barrel to make sure that the barrel is 100% tight.


We examine the newspaper - everything is dry, you can proceed to the next steps


To do this, we need the following range of consumer goods: baking soda, beeswax, a small piece of sandpaper, a paint brush, a gas spray with a collet clamp and a burner for it.


First, the barrel must be scalded with boiling water. Pour water into a saucepan, put on the stove and bring to a boil.


For a 15 liter barrel, according to the instructions, about 6-8 liters of boiling water are required. Carefully pour boiling water into the barrel, observing safety precautions - we work in mittens-tacks


We tightly clog the cork and begin to intensively shake and jerk the barrel for 10 minutes, you can’t leave boiling water in the barrel for longer, it should never cool down in it.


After this procedure, the barrel starts to flow a little over the chimes, there is nothing wrong with that, it should be so


We drain the water, it again has a brownish color and contains particles of wood


For the next stage, you need to heat the water again, but not to boiling water, but to 70-80 ° C


And dilute 6 tablespoons of soda in it


Pour this solution back into the barrel and shake again for 10 minutes. I must admit that these are very energy-consuming procedures, I was sweating all over from them and then my arm muscles ached for several days, I don’t even know how much health you need to have in order to prepare a 30-liter barrel in this way.


Soda will finally wash out excess tannins and disinfect the barrel before pouring alcohol. Then the barrel must be thoroughly rinsed several times with water to remove the remnants of soda. First I rinse with tap water, and then with filtered


Then I planned to burn the barrel on the outside to give it an interesting look, there is no practical sense in this. I have never worked with a burner, but when we need to start, we mount it on a cylinder and set it on fire


It turned out to be not easy, the burner either went out, or the pressure of the gas blew off the flame. At first I sinned on my inexperience in this matter, but then I realized that it was not the reel. First I decided to practice on a stand


He was exhausted while doing this, even burned his thumb, every now and then setting fire to the jet and adjusting the pressure with the valve, until the burner completely went out and refused to burn again, despite the fact that when the valve was opened, the gas hissed somewhere.
If you suddenly decide to buy a similar burner, then in no case take this rubbish under the "brand" of Genghis Khan - money thrown to the wind.


In general, this unfortunate burner was enough to only slightly burn the stand and bottom


We will return to this issue later, and then we need to proceed to the next step, which is not in the manufacturer's instructions, but I will need it for the next step - waxing the barrel. You can optimally perform this procedure with the help of a building hair dryer, which I don’t have, but somehow I didn’t want to buy just for the sake of once, especially considering the unsuccessful experience of buying a burner. Therefore, before waxing, the barrel will need to be thoroughly warmed up, this can be done using steaming. We assemble the steam generator - a kettle with a silicone hose stretched over the spout


Filling the kettle with filtered water


We put it on the stove, press down the lid with a wet towel, place the barrel near it, insert the hose into the filler hole, substitute a container for collecting condensate under it


We check the operation of the steam generator, the steam goes properly


Over time, he even breaks out of the barrel, soar for about an hour


In the meantime, let's start waxing, it will be required to reduce the proportion of angels, the wax will be absorbed into the wood and flood its pores, but the entire barrel cannot be waxed, otherwise the gas exchange through the wood with the surrounding air will be disturbed and the drink will not breathe and ripen. Therefore, we will wax only bottoms and chimes. We cut off a third of the purchased piece of wax, I think that this is enough for me, by the way, it smelled somehow tart and not very pleasant, but it was cut very hard.


And melt it in a water bath


When the wax melts, the smell is delicious and familiar, like honey. After the barrel warmed up, I noticed that a crack appeared on the front bottom after firing, which is probably why the manufacturer removes the guarantee from the guarantee for barrels fired on the outside. But this crack is not terrible, superficial - I was able to burn the barrel quite a bit. So it's not worth getting carried away with such roasting.


We turn the barrel over on the priest so that the steam rises up and warms up the opposite bottom


The temperature reaches the threshold at which the hand no longer tolerates


By this time, all the wax has already melted, it's time to start waxing


We take a brush and quickly coat the bottom with liquid wax


Despite the heated wood, the wax instantly hardens before being absorbed into the wood, I assumed such a development of events and prepared a powerful hair dryer, with its help the wax melted again and began to soak into the wood


We remove the excess with a cotton cloth


We turn the barrel over and do the same with the second bottom


We give the wax to absorb and form a protective film on the surface of the wood, then drain the condensate from the barrel. It has a rich cognac color and a tart smell.


The result of waxing is immediately noticeable, a drop of water is not absorbed into the wood


Rinse again with clean water


Without closing the cork, let it cool down.


Then we take it to a ventilated place - to the balcony, the temperature this winter is warm, positive. We leave the barrel there for airing for 1-2 days


The rabbit lives in the same place - he will look after, if anything)


During soaking, the area around the cork darkened and acquired an ugly appearance.


Fix it with fine grit sandpaper


After a bit of cleaning, this is how it turned out:


But the stand dried up and fell apart after fidgeting while processing the barrel


We glue the joint with PVA glue


For the first filling, we will use apple-pear wine, which, unlike grape wine, I made for the first time and my wife did not really like it


Cider will finally take the extra oak out of the tree and enrich it with fruity notes, as experienced people say, it will not be possible to drink it later - the plinth should turn out to be one hundred percent.
However, if you use a barrel for wine, you also need to fumigate it with sulfur so that the wine in the barrel does not turn sour; special ones are sold in the manufacturer's store for this. I'm going to use a barrel for aging strong alcohol and I don't need extra chemicals in the barrel. In order to avoid souring, I will strengthen my cider with grape distillate, which I made for the first drinking pour.

Judging by the vinometer-saccharometer in cider about 10% alcohol content


And in the grape distillate, about 82% (yes, I know - this alcoholometer is complete nonsense, but all three sets of hydrometers ordered in China never reached me - damn these alcohol postmen)


I want to get fortified wine with an alcohol content of 20%, the moonshiner's calculator calculated the required volume of distillate

We prepare the required volumes of wine material


And with the help of a stainless accumulator we pump a large jar of wine into a barrel


Behind him is grape distillate


And at the end of the last jar of cider


I stood next to it so that it did not overflow, but the pump has a drawback, the shutdown button does not always work


I wanted to take a sip first - the drink really turned out to be vigorous, pumped out the excess with a syringe


According to the rules, the cork must be hammered with a wooden mallet, I don’t have one, a wooden pusher is perfect for this purpose


We send the barrel to the place of permanent deployment - to the pantry to other stocks


We have a corner apartment and a storage room located just along the side wall of the house, in winter there is a suitable temperature, I put an external weather station sensor in the storage room, it shows about 17 ° C, while it is plus outside, which means it will be even colder in frosts.


But the humidity is rather low 65%, let's try to correct it by placing a container of water next to the barrel


However, the readings have not changed, the same 65%


Well, okay, we’ll take this into account when we prepare the distillate for pouring, we won’t make it too strong, because after aging the drink will increase the strength in a dry room, but in a wet one, on the contrary, the degree will drop over time.
In the meantime, it turned out that a colleague at work has a normal gas burner with piezo ignition.


With its help, I burned the stand and the barrel, while focusing the camera, I overdid it a little)


Then I wired the stand to protect it from rotting and mold, since for the summer period I plan to store the barrel in the basement at the dacha, and it can be damp there.


Well, I ended up with such a nice barrel


This is where I want to end my review, without waiting for the final product to mature and be praised with excellent epithets, because I consider describing taste characteristics in words as nonsense as singing praises to some kind of headphones or audio players, yes, audio reviewers will forgive me.
Well, according to tradition: take care of yourself, buy high-quality alcohol in trusted stores, or learn from my experience and then alcohol will not only be harmful, but also a little useful, the main thing is to know when to stop. I plan to buy +85 Add to favorites Liked the review +258 +469

Despite all the variety of modern technologies that are used in the preparation of a particular drink, traditional aging in wooden barrels is very popular to this day. Therefore, the correct choice of barrels for wine and drinks is relevant.

The drink, aged in a barrel, acquires additional aromas and tart tannins, becomes more holistic and harmonious.

Tannins or tannins are substances that enrich the drink, it becomes more complex in taste and changes color. In white wines, the presence of tannin is undesirable and is possible only in small quantities.

Benefits of an alcoholic beverage barrel

The barrel is used not only for aging drinks, but also for their transportation. Moreover, a barrel is the most hygienic container, because a tree is a natural antiseptic, so wine or any other drink stored in a wooden container is less prone to spoilage. The tannins contained in the wood of the barrel also act as natural preservatives and a kind of flavoring.

What can be aged in barrels? - wine, moonshine, cognac, calvados, whiskey and other spirits.

The barrel material is oak (French, Slavonian, American, Hungarian, Krasnodar, etc.), chestnut, maple, acacia, cherry, mulberry tree. To do this, choose a tree whose age is at least 100 years old.
Each type of tree has its own influence on the drink, for example, French oak gives the wine subtle and elegant aromas of vanilla, cloves. In Hungarian oak barrels, the result is close to the result that they give. American oak barrels convey bright aromas of wine, the wood is rich in whiskey lactones, it has less tannins. You can talk about more or less preferred wood for making a particular drink, but still there is no ideal wood, which barrel to choose is the question of an oenologist.

Oenologist- a specialist in winemaking technology, an expert in the field of winemaking.

Processing an oak barrel for wine from the outside

In order to ennoble moonshine, give alcohol a rich taste and rich color, you will need oak barrels. Aging grain and fruit distillates in oak barrels has a very positive effect on alcohol. The barrel breathes, oxygen enters through the pores of the wood, saturating the drink with unique aromas and making it an elite alcohol.

If you become the owner of a new oak barrel, then you should know that you cannot immediately pour wine or distillate into it. To begin with, the barrel must be properly prepared, otherwise you risk spoiling the drink. Aged alcohol will have a sharp unpleasant taste, tart. Distillers call such a drink "plintusovka" or "Pinocchio".

How to choose a good oak barrel? To infuse wine, moonshine or cognac at home, small oak barrels with a volume of 2 - 10 liters are suitable. The smaller the capacity, the faster the aging process will take place, the oak will saturate the distillate with tannins faster. If it is supposed to infuse moonshine in an oak barrel for a long time, then it is more correct to buy a container with a volume of 10-50 liters.

But remember, when the drink matures, a small part of the alcohol evaporates. About 1 liter of the drink disappears per year. The so-called "Share of Angels". And it doesn’t matter what volume the barrel is 5 liters or 50 liters. That is, what we get - if you pour 10 liters of moonshine into a barrel, then after about 10 years you risk being left without homemade cognac. A loss of 5-10% of alcohols during the year is considered normal.

To reduce the "angels' share", you need to purchase waxed barrels, or wax it during preparation. Waxing protects oak wood from various influences from the outside, as a result, the barrel lasts longer. Wax does not affect the maturation process, gas exchange is good, and the aesthetic appearance is much better. This applies to small volumes of 3-20 liters. There is no point in waxing larger containers.

For barrels of 10 liters or more, it is not recommended to install a drain cock. The faucet is the weak point of the barrel, too often it breaks and leaks. If you still decide with a faucet, then it is better to use it from stainless steel. Good barrels for wine and distillate are made from split oak, from quality dried wood for at least 3 years in the open air.

The older the oak, the better the harvest. An oak barrel must be nutria-charred, this kind of roasting contributes to a better transfer of tannins to wine, cognac or whiskey. Hoops should be made of galvanized steel, and at best stainless steel.

Preparing a new barrel

The process of preparing an oak barrel for aging moonshine, cognac or whiskey is divided into several stages. The most important thing is to reduce the concentration of tannins in the oak - tannins, which in large quantities spoil the taste of the distillate.

1. With clean water, preferably spring or filtered, fill a new barrel by 90%. Use water at room temperature. Close the filling hole and leave for 3-4 hours.
2. Carefully inspect the barrel from all sides for leakage. Small smudges are not critical, when the oak staves get wet, the leak will stop. Drain liquid.
3. Re-fill to the top with water, close the hole and leave it in the room at room temperature, if there is a leak, put it in the bathroom and periodically add water until the leak is eliminated. After 2-3 days, pour out the liquid, it should be dark brown, pour a new batch.
4. Drain the water in a day, pour in boiling water at the rate of 1 part of water per 10 parts of the volume, close and swing the barrel in different directions, rinse the entire inside of it. Wait 30-40 minutes, top up with water and plug.
5. After a day or two, drain the water, pour a new one. And so continue soaking until the drained liquid is transparent, odorless and tasteless. Soaking usually takes 1 month.
6. After soaking, pour half of the volume with hot water at a temperature of 70-80 ° mixed with soda (20 grams per 1 liter of water), shake the barrel well for 10 minutes. Drain the water.
7. After that, you need to rinse from soda water, fill the barrel with hot water to the top, hold for 15 - 20 minutes, drain. Pour clean cold water to withstand 10-12 hours and drain.
8. Pour good moonshine into a soaked barrel after fractional distillation with a strength of 20-30 ° with the addition of wine, you can also use wine and age for 2-3 months. Do not fill the barrel with low-quality distillate for soaking, especially the heads, spoil the barrel!
9. Drain the alcohol mixture, rinse the barrel and you can pour your distillate, moonshine, future cognac, whiskey, bourbon or wine without fear that the drink will go bad. During aging, periodically check the taste of alcohol and remember about the share of angels, top up the barrel with distillate so that the top staves do not dry out.

How to store an empty barrel

There is a downtime of oak containers and in order for it to retain its qualities, it is necessary to properly store an empty barrel. To avoid re-preparation of the barrel after aging moonshine, cognac or wine, it must be filled with clean water by a quarter and thoroughly shaken to rinse the inside of the barrel well. Drain and repeat this procedure 3-4 times.

Then rinse the barrel with hot water and baking soda as indicated above during preparation. Rinse with cold water. Let dry and wrap with a cloth, put away in a dark, dry, cool place with good ventilation. If the product has not been used for a long time, then a wooden vessel should be fumigated with sulfur, which will kill harmful microorganisms and fungus.

How long to insist homemade alcohol in barrels

Proper preparation of oak barrels for moonshine or cognac does not mean that the aging process can be left unattended. Drinks should be kept in a cool, ventilated room with moderate humidity, there should be no heat sources nearby.

The timing of distillate infusion largely depends on the volume of wooden containers, the amount of drink, its strength. The timing is affected by ambient temperature and humidity. There are other minor nuances. In a dry place, the strength of the product increases significantly and can rise from 55° to 75°, while keeping the drink in a damp place, the strength drops from 50° and can reach 40°. In both cases, the total amount of content is reduced.

Don't forget about the "Angel's Share" and sometimes top up the contents to the top. Once a month (if the barrel is oak 5-10 liters) taste, taste the taste of infused moonshine, it’s better to almost finish it than to overexpose the distillate.

Approximate maturation of grain and fruit distillates in a 5 liter oak barrel at room temperature: corn moonshine (bourbon) after 3-4 months becomes quite ready for consumption, for whiskey it takes about 6 to 10 months, calvados will be ready in 4-6 months .