This has probably been asked and answered a number of time on the forum so one more time won't hurt. How would you go about reconditioning a barrel that has been out of service for 4 or so years, i.e. what is you M.O. to get a barrel back into action?
Seems to me, I would start with a strong K-meta solution and personally, I would add it before swelling the barrel against leaks to get the K-meta between the staves. I would then flush with hot water. After flushing, I would tighten the hoops and fill it with hot water to swell the wood and top all leaks. The hard part will be chancing 6 gallons of wine with the high probability of ruining it.
Funny, when we made wine from California grapes years ago at home and used barrels, we would simply burn a sulfur strip inside the barrel and then flush it with hot water. Can't remember having a major problem with the wine in doing this and these were 20, 30 and 53 gallon barrels that had stood bunged and empty in a crawl space since the previous year.
Seems to me, I would start with a strong K-meta solution and personally, I would add it before swelling the barrel against leaks to get the K-meta between the staves. I would then flush with hot water. After flushing, I would tighten the hoops and fill it with hot water to swell the wood and top all leaks. The hard part will be chancing 6 gallons of wine with the high probability of ruining it.
Funny, when we made wine from California grapes years ago at home and used barrels, we would simply burn a sulfur strip inside the barrel and then flush it with hot water. Can't remember having a major problem with the wine in doing this and these were 20, 30 and 53 gallon barrels that had stood bunged and empty in a crawl space since the previous year.
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