# Used Whiskey Barrels



## jnblk (Aug 13, 2010)

I'm looking for some input on using, used whiskey barrels for wine making. Oak barrels being so cost prohibitive, used WB seem like a affordable option. 
Thanks!


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## AlFulchino (Aug 13, 2010)

adds a nice spice to a good zin


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## jnblk (Aug 13, 2010)

AlFulchino said:


> adds a nice spice to a good zin


Al,

Thanks for the response, my thoughts are the same, the whiskey reminants would add some flavor. However, what about sanitation? Have you had any experience with whiskey barrels? 

Rick


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## winemaker_3352 (Aug 13, 2010)

I wouldn't use them - the inside of the barrels are charred - and from what i understand that is not good for wine making.


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## rodo (Aug 13, 2010)

The guy who got me started uses a former whisky barrel and his wines are delicious.


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## ffemt128 (Aug 13, 2010)

winemaker_3352 said:


> I wouldn't use them - the inside of the barrels are charred - and from what i understand that is not good for wine making.



I obviosly don't hae the experience some have here, but it sure looked like the oak cubes I purchased were slightly charred and I have seen mention of people on here making their own cube/sticks by charring on a grill.


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## winemaker_3352 (Aug 13, 2010)

ffemt128 said:


> I obviosly don't hae the experience some have here, but it sure looked like the oak cubes I purchased were slightly charred and I have seen mention of people on here making their own cube/sticks by charring on a grill.



Yeah i don't have experience with whiskey barrels either - i am just relaying what i have read before.


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## Wade E (Aug 13, 2010)

Most people are looking for charred or toasted barrels. There are many different levels of toasting and also different oaks used in these barrels so it really depends on what type you are looking for. I dont know where to get any just stating that if I were to get a barrel which I will be getting soon I would surely get a toasted or charred barrel othyer wise its not much worth the money. It will have very little to offer without the charring.


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## AlFulchino (Aug 13, 2010)

Rick..you gotta start somewhere..in the end its all about the flavor profiles that you prefer....i dont have any whiskey barrels right now but will get some when the time calls for it...

sanitization and later on barrel nuetrality will become an issue...but for you pay for a whiskey barrel it should be worth it


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## jnblk (Aug 13, 2010)

Al,

As a fellow Italian I can see the forest through all the trees now thanks to your thoughts! I live 20 minutes from your vinyard and plan to visit in the very near future hopefully you won't be sold out of every thing....

"Ho capito, quando ero un bambino mi ricordo che i vecchi italiani utilizzati botti di whisky al vino età. Il vino era delizioso!"

Rick Russo


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## AlFulchino (Aug 13, 2010)

Hey Rick...20 minutes? what town you in..i have a cousin named Dave Russo....a very talented comedian ( daverusso.net) you are probably not related but thought i would run it by you

your welcome by most any time...!


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## Runningwolf (Aug 13, 2010)

jnblk said:


> Al,
> 
> As a fellow Italian I can see the forest through all the trees now thanks to your thoughts! I live 20 minutes from your vinyard and plan to visit in the very near future hopefully you won't be sold out of every thing....
> 
> ...



*"I realized when I was a child I remember the old Italians used whiskey barrels to age wine. The wine was delicious!"*

Rick Listen to Father Al and all will be well! It's always exciting to find someone on this forum from nearby.


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## jnblk (Aug 13, 2010)

AlFulchino said:


> Hey Rick...20 minutes? what town you in..i have a cousin named Dave Russo....a very talented comedian ( daverusso.net) you are probably not related but thought i would run it by you
> 
> your welcome by most any time...!



I'm in Chelmsford Ma, I enjoy Dave's comedy but like you say, not related as far as I know. I'm second gen. American. My grandfather did not have any siblings but my great grand parents did... We may be distant, regardless, a fellow wine lover/maker is always welcome! My wife and I will definately be knocking on your vinyards door...
Having just planted a small vinyard I've enjoyed the photos posted on your web site and look forward to our visit...

Rick


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## jnblk (Aug 13, 2010)

Runningwolf said:


> *"I realized when I was a child I remember the old Italians used whiskey barrels to age wine. The wine was delicious!"*
> 
> Rick Listen to Father Al and all will be well! It's always exciting to find someone on this forum from nearby.



I agree, I will learn something out of this yet... What a great site!


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## AlFulchino (Aug 13, 2010)

Rick...this chap is also from Chelmsford....his family stopped in the nursery/vineyard 2 summers ago...he never learned to make wine w his dad...but wanted to...he started coming in to assist me here and there..now we are good friends..and he helps me a TON....he wont take money from me so i told him to come up w a blend from some of my reds....i took this picture the other day to place on the label of a future wine that we will sell


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## Runningwolf (Aug 13, 2010)

That is a totally awesome picture. Looks like it should be hanging above a fireplace or bar.


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## AlFulchino (Aug 13, 2010)

its going on the back label of the Tutto di Rossi...have not checked how its proceeding in a few weeks now...need to taste it soon...was looking for a september release

i had the idea for a distinguished look to accompany this wine....figured i would have to take a 100 or so pics before it came out right....luckily enough it was about seven pics into the shoot...i snapped and saw the image and that was it...sometimes you just get lucky


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## Rock (Aug 13, 2010)

Sorry to break this party up but my father made wines in wiskey barrels years ago and i would not recommend it at all.Wine should be aged in oak barrels used for wine only.This is coming from both ends of the barrels.Please ask the oak barrel wineires that use oak barrels and they will tell you the same thing but not be so nice about it.


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## AlFulchino (Aug 13, 2010)

well....umm..you never really said why you don't recommend it...all you inferred was that you were nicer about it than wineries that use oak barrels would be....thanks for sparing our feelings...we wont have to call in grief counselors now 

not sure why you have an issue w your dad's wine in the barrels...i know for yrs i tasted my grandfathers and the whiskey barrels imparted a beneficial spicieness

and as i mentioned in a previous post..one's personal flavor tastes are what mattered


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## Rock (Aug 13, 2010)

AlFulchino said:


> well....umm..you never really said why you don't recommend it...all you inferred was that you were nicer about it than wineries that use oak barrels would be....thanks for sparing our feelings...we wont have to call in grief counselors now
> 
> not sure why you have an issue w your dad's wine in the barrels...i know for yrs i tasted my grandfathers and the whiskey barrels imparted a beneficial spicieness
> 
> and as i mentioned in a previous post..one's personal flavor tastes are what mattered



Yes personal flavor is what matters,maybe you should use your grandfathers whiskey barrels to add a beneficail spiicieness to your wine if you like it so much.


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## Runningwolf (Aug 13, 2010)

*Wine Meets Whiskey*

And read on *HERE*

The true perversion, however, took place back in Australia, where Philips convinced a cadre of winemakers to age some of their most promising juice in used whiskey barrels, sourced from Julian Van Winkle, proprietor of the Pappy Van Winkle Distillery in Kentucky.


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## Rock (Aug 13, 2010)

Yes and so whiskey aged for 20 years in the same oak barrels that go neutral after 4 years or so yea right.Like i said go for it get your whiskey barrels and age your wine in it good luck with your wine.


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## AlFulchino (Aug 14, 2010)

Rock said:


> Yes personal flavor is what matters,maybe you should use your grandfathers whiskey barrels to add a beneficail spiicieness to your wine if you like it so much.




Rock..i don't think i know you before today...maybe under another name? if i offended you before this exchange in some way...tell me what it was...since i dont know...

i am not sure what the dig is about...i dont recall trying to enforce upon you that you have to alter your wine making techniques.....

did you take the time to read the article that Running Wolf shared? Aftre this passage:

"The true perversion, however, took place back in Australia, where Philips convinced a cadre of winemakers to age some of their most promising juice in used whiskey barrels, sourced from Julian Van Winkle, proprietor of the Pappy Van Winkle Distillery in Kentucky. (Before those charred oak barrels held wine for eighteen months, whiskey slept in that same wood for twenty years.)"

came THIS:

“We work with winemakers I consider to be some of the most open-minded and innovative in the world,” Philips told me. “But, at first, they flat refused to do it. The wine business is very codified, and the peer pressure to conform is very intense. The French way is always better, and French oak is always better. And here I was asking them to use American oak barrels. Super-steroidal American oak barrels that smell of whiskey. It just isn’t done.”

Philips won the argument, and eventually fifteen hundred cases of Southern Belle Shiraz were on their way from Australia to America. Those $25 bottles should be in stores by the end of 2009.

I recently drank an early-release bottle. It was a heady, fruit-driven bomb of a wine, with a nose full of vanilla and a spine cobbled out of post oak. It was a wine that defied the dictates of terroir and tradition and begged for a rack of ribs. When I told Philips as much, he said, “I’ve always thought there’s more of an affinity between the American South and Australia than there is between the American South and the American North. The winemakers feel it; I feel it.” Now you’ll get to taste it.


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## Runningwolf (Aug 14, 2010)

Father Al, I wish you could make my party today. we are actually going to be tasting a wine aged in a whisky barrel from what I understand. Pic's and notes to follow...


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## Wade E (Aug 14, 2010)

I can see a whiskey barrel giving a wine a nice flavor but Id be afraid to risk putting that much of my wine in there to find out. Like Rock said, if you atre looking for some oak extraction you are not going to get it here unless you take these barrels apart and shave them down some to expose new wood. I would like to get a very small barrel like 3 gallon and age me whiskey in it and then a Port or similar wine to try that. Everyone has their own tastes, people like liver and I *DO NOT*, that does not mean liver is nasty!


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## Runningwolf (Aug 14, 2010)

Wade E said:


> Everyone has their own tastes, people like liver and I *DO NOT*, that does not mean liver is nasty!



Oh yes it is!


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## pwrose (Aug 14, 2010)

Im just a reader of this article and really have not input on the barrel issue,,, but WADE why did you have to go the liver route. That was like taking vinegar and putting it in your best wine. I think I'm going to be sick now


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## Rock (Aug 14, 2010)

AlFulchino said:


> Rock..i don't think i know you before today...maybe under another name? if i offended you before this exchange in some way...tell me what it was...since i dont know...
> 
> i am not sure what the dig is about...i dont recall trying to enforce upon you that you have to alter your wine making techniques.....
> 
> ...



I guess it would be a good time to call in the grief counselors,I apologize if your were offended.And yes i did read the article.


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## BarrelMan (Aug 18, 2010)

*Wine in a used barrel*

I was experimenting with one of my new 10 liter American white oak barrels, first I aged tequila in it, the new small barrels do their work very quickly, in only one month I had the most wonderful tequila, usually I sell some but I wouldn't let anybody have any of this one, a few good friends got to try it but it was so good I drank it all myself. The barrel sat empty for a few weeks, if you're aging alcohol it pretty much sanitizes itself, and then I decided to age some white rum in it. I couldn't believe how magnificent the rum came out after the tequila, the agave made the rum sweeter and a fantastic flavor. Later I learned some people were here in Tequila, Mexico from Cuba buying up used tequila barrels to age rum in, I guess they had learned the same thing I did. So later I decided to age some wine in the same barrel. In the beginning I wasn't sure I liked the taste, I always start tasting after the first week or so because these new oak barrels can give too much flavor real quick. But the more I tasted it the more I liked it till finally in the end I drank all that too. It seemed to come out stronger, it went in the barrel at 12%, never did check it after it came out but just a small taste would get me high every time and a nice high too, till finally it was all gone.


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## rodo (Aug 18, 2010)

BarrelMan, welcome to the forum and thanks for posting. Be sure to check out the introduction section and let us know somthing about yourself and what you have going on.

When you have a few minutes take a look at "The Map". You could be the first to sign on from Mexico.

Once again Welcome.


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## BarrelMan (Aug 18, 2010)

rodo said:


> When you have a few minutes take a look at "The Map". You could be the first to sign on from Mexico.



I registered on the map as a member but I sell white oak barrels also, should I delete my member status from the map and register as a Brew Supply Store?


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## soulie (Aug 18, 2010)

When we started making zin our grandfather told us about making the wine in old brandy barrels. After drinking some of his old wine (which we now realize was the victim of 20 years of very bad aging conditions) we thought that this would be a bad idea. However now that we have learned better, we wanted to give it a shot.

The trouble has been finding used brandy barrels as well as justifying making 50 gallons of wine at a time. Actually, now that I put that sentence into print, I can't seem to come up with a reason why 50 gallons of wine isn't a very, very good thing. 

I would love to give this (zin in liquor barrels) a shot at some point.

Could you also add just a bit of whiskey to the wine in an aging vessel to get the same flavors? Does this work?


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## BarrelMan (Aug 18, 2010)

"_Could you also add just a bit of whiskey to the wine in an aging vessel to get the same flavors? Does this work?"_

You could always try it on a smaller scale; keep exact measurements so that if you like it you can use the same ratio.


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## rodo (Aug 18, 2010)

> I registered on the map as a member but I sell white oak barrels also, should I delete my member status from the map and register as a Brew Supply Store?


 
I see you already did this, you could sign up as a member too just give a location a little distance from the business location so the markers don't overlap each other.


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## countrygirl (Aug 18, 2010)

check out wildside winery on the web
near lexington...
i personally can't wait to get bourbon barrel red


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## BarrelMan (Sep 1, 2010)

When I was a boy we had a neighbor who's granddad had stirred his whiskey with a green hickory stick, the whiskey turned out with a green tint and had a taste of hickory, at first he thought he ruined it but later he decided he liked it and that became that family's traditional whiskey, a slight green color and a hint of hickory.


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## Tom (Sep 1, 2010)

My Homebrew Club is talking about getting a J D Whiskey barrel from Tenn.
Who has good pricing and shipping to NJ?


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## GerardVineyard (Sep 1, 2010)

Same thought of using used barrels here, but old beer barrels. IN Midwest's catalog they sell soda ash, Barolkleen and sulphur strips to clean used barrels. I can get 55 gal barrels for $150.


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