In order to make moonshine, in fact, an aromatic drink, a special oak barrel for moonshine will help you. Many years ago, experts on this drink put forward the theory that storing alcoholic beverages in wooden barrels has a positive effect on moonshine. Its taste becomes more intense and its aroma becomes more pleasant. The secret lies in the fact that the pores located in the wood allow the barrel to breathe. Thus, oxygen is able to enter the middle of the container with the drink, while alcohol vapors are not able to escape back.
The barrel must be steamed before use.Experienced experts say that before starting use, oak barrels for moonshine must undergo thorough preparation. If you do not pay due attention to the necessary procedures, you risk transferring a large batch of raw materials and spending a lot of your time absolutely in vain. There are several mandatory procedures that allow you to prepare an oak product for further use at home. One of the important stages is steaming the product. The procedure in question allows you to get rid of cracks. Such gaps are not considered defective; they are of natural origin. Regardless of what material the container is made of, be it cherry or acacia, in any case the product requires preliminary steaming. The steaming process is as follows. An oak barrel is filled one-third full with boiling water, after which the container is rotated. Leave the barrel to completely steam. After half an hour, the water is drained.
Such manipulations help the wood to swell, which leads to the disappearance of existing gaps and cracks.
Barrel soaking
Soaking the product allows you to detect and correct all the shortcomings of the oak product. The fresh product contains tannins, especially in the stave. It is to eliminate them that soaking is carried out. Otherwise, the moonshine will taste too tart.
Initially, oak barrels must be soaked daily, completely filling the container with water. Initially, leave the water in the barrel for a day. Experts recommend gradually increasing the duration of water content, from 2 to 5 days. After two weeks, the water infused in an oak container should be clear and free of any foreign odors.
It is recommended to use warm water to soak the container. If you use boiling water, do not leave the water until it cools completely. The filled container is carefully inspected. Liquid may leak between the ends and rivets. When the tree swells, the cracks disappear.
Soaking is one of the stages preceding the use of the barrel for its intended purpose. How to store an empty oak barrel?
When talking about wooden structures, we should not forget how susceptible this material is to moisture and temperature changes. As a rule, wood products are subjected to auxiliary processing in order to preserve their functionality for as long as possible. However, this has nothing to do with barrels. Oak barrels in which alcoholic beverages or food are supposed to be stored should not be coated with varnishes, oils or paints. The fact is that such procedures can not only affect the taste of the contents, but also harm the health of the user.
If you plan to leave the oak barrel empty for a long time, you should ensure that the product is properly stored. After each use, the barrel should be thoroughly rinsed with drinking water and then scalded with boiling water and soda ash. Then you should wipe the product dry and place it in a canvas or jute bag. This will protect the container from dust. The most suitable place to store empty oak barrels is a utility room or barn made of wood. Please note that it is strictly forbidden to place the barrel on the ground. Direct contact with the ground will cause the product to absorb moisture and subsequently become moldy.
Barrels should be stored correctly What you need to know about barrel depletion?
Alcohol pulls quite a lot of nutrients out of the keg. It is important, after the next batch of moonshine or cognac is drained, to pour the next batch of alcohol-containing drink into a pre-prepared oak barrel. The break should be minimal and not exceed 24 hours. Therefore, experienced specialists recommend preparing in advance the required amount of ingredients for preparing the next batch of moonshine. If you do not fill the vessel with the next batch of alcohol in a timely manner, the inner walls of the product may become covered with mold, which is quite difficult to get rid of. We should also not forget that oak releases its tannins into the contents of the barrel. Based on this, the aging period of the drink will change. Each subsequent tincture will require more and more time. As practice shows, the period for preparing moonshine will increase by an average of 15-20%. Unfortunately, after 10-20 infusions (depending on the volume of the container), the oak barrel, having lost its basic properties, can only serve its owners as an original accessory or storage for alcohol.
Over time, the barrel becomes depleted and loses its properties. How to age moonshine in an oak barrel?
It is important to observe a number of conditions when aging moonshine. The alcohol obtained after distillation, as a rule, has a harsh taste. In addition, moonshine can be cloudy. After aging alcohol in an oak barrel, the composition of the drink changes, which leads to an improvement in its quality. The aged drink acquires a golden hue, in addition, an oak barrel gives it a pleasant aroma. Tannin, in combination with other substances, helps increase the strength of the alcoholic drink, but the moonshine will be softer and even acquire a light and pleasant vanilla flavor.
Excessive vibrations, odors, as well as contacts with the moonshine installation and its contents are extremely undesirable. If you need to increase the humidity level in the room where the barrel is located, you should place a bowl filled with water near it. Do not forget that the water should be changed periodically, otherwise flowering cannot be avoided.
The technology for using wooden barrels and pouring moonshine into them for aging is elementary and understandable even to a beginner. The process is labor-intensive and time-consuming, but producing environmentally friendly moonshine is worth the effort.
An oak barrel allows you to preserve the aroma and strength of the drink How to make whiskey from moonshine at home?
In addition to making traditional alcoholic drinks such as moonshine and cognac, whiskey is aged in oak barrels. After the mash distillation process, it is poured into a container. After this, the distillate is diluted with drinking water. Using an alcohol meter, you need to reach 63–65% alcohol strength. At the next stage, the drink is poured into an oak barrel and tightly closed.
Barley is used as a key ingredient in whiskey production. The following components are used to make single malt whiskey:
- barley malt,
- yeast,
- drinking water (in a ratio of 1:3).
In any old recipes, an oak barrel or jug is a mandatory attribute. And this is not at all surprising, since such a container allows you to give drinks impeccable taste and a pleasant aroma.
Homemade moonshine production is becoming increasingly popular due to the fact that modern alcoholic drinks, even elite brands, are not always of high quality, pleasant taste and aroma.
The effect of changing the taste and color of alcohol when it is kept in a barrel is associated with the ability of wood to enrich the drink with tannins. The most suitable option for storing moonshine is an oak barrel. But you cannot use it for its intended purpose immediately after purchase.
An important stage in preparing the drink is preparing an oak barrel for moonshine. This procedure must be followed according to all the rules, otherwise the moonshine will be spoiled.
The first step to preparing a noble homemade drink is choosing a quality oak barrel.
You can get a very tasty and aromatic drink using an oak barrel.
It is almost impossible to make it yourself, since the process requires experience and special skill. You must approach the purchase of a container with all responsibility, then it will last for more than one year.
At home, containers with a volume of 2 to 50 liters are used. But the most optimal volume is considered to be 10 liters, since it is in such a barrel that the most acceptable area of contact of the drink with the wood is found.
The choice of vessel is also influenced by the following criteria:
Important. Barrels with a built-in tap are not the most suitable option. Wood constantly breathes and changes in volume under the influence of temperature and humidity in the room. Therefore, cracks form at the tap insertion point. Even a small crack will cause all the drink from the barrel to spill out. Barrels with taps are convenient, but not practical.
The concept of “angels' share” and methods for reducing it
The poetic epithet “angels’ share” refers to the banal process of liquid evaporation, explained by the physical properties of wood. The liquid gradually evaporates through the wood pores.
First, the moonshine loses its strength, as the alcohol evaporates through the pores of the wood faster. The speed and intensity of the evaporation process depends on the quality of the wood, as well as the temperature and humidity of the room in which the barrel of the drink is stored.
Oak barrels must be waxed (coated with wax). The angel's share ranges from 1.5 to 7% of the total volume of the drink. Waxing wood helps curb the appetite of voracious “spirits.” Waxing is not a panacea, and alcohols will in any case gradually evaporate through the pores of the wood. But waxing helps reduce the amount of evaporated liquid by almost half.
Most manufacturers offer customers a barrel already prepared in this way, increasing the price accordingly. But you can buy a clean barrel and carry out the waxing procedure yourself.
For the procedure you will need natural beeswax (about 100 g), heated in a water bath or using a hair dryer. Melted wax is poured onto the back end of the barrel so that it fills the circular groove. Then, using a brush, the wax is evenly applied to the surface of the barrel. To ensure that the substance does not harden during application and is better absorbed into the wood, the surface of the barrel is heated with a hairdryer.
Important. Beeswax should not be heated on the stove or open fire. Too high a temperature will cause it to burn, and the drink in the treated barrel will acquire an unpleasant aftertaste.
During the process of waxing barrels, a hair dryer is used to heat the wood. Processing sequence for a new barrel
Even the highest quality and most expensive barrel cannot be used without special preparation. The preparation procedure for moonshine consists of soaking or steaming and then thoroughly drying.
Barrel soaking
The procedure is performed in the following sequence:
- Hot water is poured into the barrel (300 ml for every 10 liters of volume). Then the barrel is taken by the ends and vigorously rocked so that the water evenly moistens the inner surface.
- After 20-30 seconds, the water is drained and a new portion is poured. The total number of procedures is 6 times.
- Then the barrel is placed and filled 1/3 with hot water. Every hour add another 1 part of water until the liquid fills the volume.
- After 2 days, the water is drained and new water is added. The procedure is repeated until absolutely clean water begins to pour out of the barrel.
- After this, the barrel is washed for 30 minutes with hot water and soda (200 g per 10 liters).
- After washing with soda, the container is rinsed with hot and then cold water.
Steaming
An alternative to long-term (from 2 weeks to a month) soaking is steaming the barrel. This procedure allows you to quickly and efficiently remove excess tannins from wood. Steaming is carried out using a steam generator or moonshine still.
They do this as follows:
Drying technology
You can dry the barrel after steaming or soaking by placing it with the hole down in the open air. In summer, on hot days, it is not recommended to place the barrel in open sunlight. Wood can be protected from drying out by covering the container with a thick cloth.
Alcohol infusion time
To obtain a noble drink, you need to infuse moonshine at a temperature of 20-24 degrees. The infusion time depends on the volume of the barrel and the desired result.
The approximate timing for a 5 liter container is as follows:
- bourbon – 3.5-4 months;
- Irish whiskey – 7-8 months;
- Scotch whiskey – 9-12 months;
- brandy or calvados – 4-6 months.
Storage methods and terms of use of the barrel
You need to store the barrel by placing it with the hole down in a ventilated room without drafts. To prevent the wood from drying out, cover the top of the barrel with a cloth or canvas bag.
The air humidity in the room should be 70-75%, the air temperature should be 10-15 degrees. The room should not be exposed to direct sunlight. If the air humidity in the place where the barrel is dried and stored is lower, it is wrapped in polyethylene.
In a dry room, oak barrels are wrapped in polyethylene. A high-quality barrel, with proper preparation and operation, is used for 7-8 cycles. But it is worth considering that with each use the preparation time of the drink increases. Slowing down the penetration of tannins into the drink begins with the 4th cycle.
Features of reuse
An oak barrel can be reused for infusing moonshine. If a new portion of the drink is poured into it immediately after the first, it is enough to rinse the container with cool water 2-3 times.
When time has passed after the first use, the barrel should be prepared more carefully:
- First, the barrel is rinsed with cold water.
- Then pour half the volume of hot water inside, place the barrel on its side and roll it to wash the walls.
- To remove tartar from the walls, the barrel is washed with a hot solution of soda at a concentration of 2%. Remains of the soda solution are removed by washing with warm water three times.
- Before refilling the barrel with drink, be sure to tamp down the hoops.
Advice. If the old barrel no longer imparts noble shades to the drink, oak chips or chips are added to the moonshine.
Proper preparation and operation of the barrel will allow it to be used for several years, providing self-prepared alcohol with a noble taste and aroma.
The video shows the process of preparing an oak barrel.
Whether moonshine is considered a noble alcohol is a matter of each consumer’s personal requirements for the product and the integrity of the manufacturer. Much depends on the quality of raw materials, fulfillment of all requirements for compliance with technology, and largely 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 prepare Calvados or whiskey, brandy or bourbon at home.
It’s not difficult to make good quality moonshine at home that tastes good, but it’s much more interesting and honorable to set yourself a global goal: to turn it into a noble drink. Fortunately, a tool for this has been invented and has been used for a long time and successfully - an oak barrel.
Citizens, get your containers ready!
Not every oak barrel for moonshine is destined to fall into your hands, but only specially made and processed ones. Home distillers age the product in a small (compared to industrial volumes) oak barrel, minimum 5, maximum 50 liters. Not because it’s 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 great cooper whose product meets the requirements.
- It is preferable that split oak species be used for the production of the barrel: North American white, English 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 less.
- The board for barrels must be properly dried in air or in a special chamber.
- Build quality plays an important role; through gaps and loose hoops are unacceptable.
- An oak barrel for whiskey must be charred from the inside, this is done to give the drink a noble sound, obtained due to the release of aromas and nuances of taste by 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 angels' share. Sometimes angels allow themselves to drink up to seven percent of the contents, and to protect them from excessive drunkenness, it is better to buy a waxed keg.
Preparing a barrel for the sacrament of creating a noble drink is a simple process, but requires compliance with the rules.
Soaking with water
Attention! There is no need to 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, steam the barrel with live steam.
Waxing an oak barrel
To reduce losses (the share of angels) of the product, the barrel is treated with wax - waxed.
In our opinion, this should not be done, because the barrel must “breathe deeply” and then all the processes in it will go correctly, and you will receive a quality product.
Operation and aging technology
Even a properly prepared oak barrel for aging moonshine and turning it into brandy or whiskey is not a complete guarantee of success. Information about where, how and under what external conditions to keep the product is important.
- If the barrel was purchased waxed, it is a good idea to check how conscientiously the procedure was carried out, whether the sides and bottom were waxed, whether the 2 rivets for gas exchange were left dry
- Store the barrel in a dark and ventilated area without direct sunlight, without foreign odors and vibrations, do not use neon lighting indoors
- Temperature for storing wine and other light alcohol 10°C to 14°C (recommended 12°C), for moonshine, whiskey, brandy and other strong alcohol 14°C to 20°C (recommended 16°C)
- Maintain humidity in the range of 75%-85%. You can increase the humidity by placing some kind of container with water next to the barrel. Excessive dampness will damage both the container and the contents, and too dry an environment will increase losses and 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 comparable in taste to the products of world-famous brands or even better.
The wood of a new barrel contains too many tannins - tannins, the concentration of which needs to be reduced. If you pour wine or distillate into an oak barrel without preliminary preparation, the alcohol will quickly become cloudy, then an unpleasant tart aftertaste will appear, which is popularly called “plinth”. Soaking a keg takes time, patience and a lot of water.
In home distilling, it is better to use barrels with a volume of 2 to 10 liters. The smaller the volume, the faster the wood releases tannins, which reduces the aging time. The reason is the area of contact with alcohol. For example, in a five-liter barrel, 1 liter of drink comes into contact with 400 square meters. cm of wood, and in a fifty-liter one - only 152 sq. cm. Accordingly, the ripening period of moonshine, cognac or wine in a large container increases significantly.
Barrels with a volume of 10 to 50 liters are only suitable for long-term aging of strong drinks. During the ripening process, part of the contents evaporates through the pores of the wood. Regardless of the volume of the barrel, losses amount to up to 1 liter per year; in cognac production technology, this evaporation is called the “angels' share.” If you pour the distillate into a small barrel, after 5 years there will be almost nothing left inside.
I advise you to buy already waxed oak barrels. Waxing protects the wood from external factors, extending its service life, preventing leaks and making the barrel more beautiful. At the same time, the wax does not affect gas exchange, the drink continues to “breathe” normally through the pores. It is also desirable that the barrel be without a tap, since this is the most vulnerable element of the structure, which often gives a strong leak. At one point, all the contents may end up on the floor. For a beautiful presentation, it is better to buy a small barrel of 1-3 liters and pour the drink into it before guests arrive.
Crane - convenient, but dangerous! Barrel preparation technology
1. Fill a new barrel 90% of the volume with clean, filtered water at room temperature, close with a stopper and leave for 3-4 hours.
2. Check the barrel for leaks by carefully inspecting the wood around the perimeter of the rings, then the bottom from the front and back. A slight leak is not critical; this problem will correct itself at the next stage, when the wood swells. The main thing is that there is no jet, since such a barrel is considered leaky and needs repair.
3. Fill the barrel to the top with water, close tightly and transfer to a room at room temperature. If leakage is observed, add water every 12 hours until the leak stops. After 3 days, drain the water (it will be a dirty brown or yellow color), then add a new batch of clean water.
The first water is the dirtiest 4. After a day, drain the water, add boiling water to the barrel (1 liter per 10 liters of volume), close tightly and rock the product from side to side several times so that the boiling water washes the entire inner surface of the barrel. After 45 minutes, fill to the top with water and close tightly.
5. After 24 hours, change the water again. The process of soaking the barrel (changing cold water daily) is repeated until the last water becomes clear, tasteless and odorless. This usually takes three to six weeks.
6. Boil water (50% of the volume of the barrel), then cool to 70-75°C, add soda (20 grams per 1 liter), mix and pour into the barrel. Shake vigorously for 8-10 minutes, then drain the soda solution.
7. Fill the entire barrel with hot water, hold for 15 minutes, drain, and fill again with clean cold water, which should be poured out after 8-10 hours.
8. If the barrel is intended for strong drinks (moonshine, cognac, whiskey, bourbon), the container is ready for use. In the case of wine, I recommend first soaking the odorless double distillate, diluted to 18-20 degrees, for 30-45 days.
In addition to the volume of the barrel, the aging result is influenced by: air humidity (optimal 80-85%), temperature (10-12°C for wine, 14-16°C for strong alcohol) and infusion time. The process is monitored through periodic sampling. When the taste is satisfactory, the drink is poured into glass containers for long-term storage.
Preparing a new oak barrel for cognac includes several stages:
- Sealing the end parts of the rivets.
- Steaming.
- Soaking.
- Rinse with hot and cold water.
- Pouring cognac.
1. Sealing the end parts of the rivets.
Considering that the fluidity of cognac is much higher than the fluidity of water, we recommend that before the steaming process the ends and mouths of the barrel are coated with natural oil paint (or varnish, if the aesthetic appearance requires it) as is done in cognac and wineries. This is a preventive measure that is necessary for reliable long-term storage of cognac and reducing unproductive losses of the drink due to possible capillary seepage and excessive evaporation of liquid (it is through the protruding end part of the stave that the greatest losses of the drink occur).
Oil paint is applied before the steaming process, while the barrel is dry. After soaking, this procedure is difficult to perform because the wood becomes wet and the paint does not “take.” In this case, you will need to completely dry the container.
The following parts of the barrel are usually painted: the end of the staves, the junction of the staves and the bottom, as well as 1-4 cm of the bottom itself (depending on the size of the barrel) in a circle. This applies to both bottoms.
It is generally accepted in the cognac and wine industry to use the following colors of paint: for white wines - green, for reds - red, for cognacs and spirits - white. In private winemaking, paints of other colors, various varnishes, etc. are used. Thus, capillaries are sealed and oak barrels are marked at the same time. See the photo below for more details.
Please note that the paint must be applied efficiently, in several layers (improved coloring) in order to close all open capillaries. See the photo below for more details.
Yerevan wine and cognac factory "Noy". Armenia
Brandy factory "Ararat". Armenia.
2. Steaming.
After the sealing procedure, the oak barrel must be steamed with hot water steam. Steam accelerates the swelling process of the stave, and small cracks are closed more quickly, and the barrel is disinfected.
To do this, fill the barrel a third with boiling water and turn it so that the hot water “runs” throughout its entire interior. Hot water is left in the barrel until it loses its steam-forming ability (about 30 minutes). The top plug does not close tightly. After this, the water is drained through the top (fill) hole of the barrel by opening the tap at the bottom. If there is a plug instead of a tap, then it must be pulled out.
3. Soaking.
Soaking is necessary for the final swelling of the stave and for washing out excess tannins, which can oversaturate the drink with the taste of oak, as well as color it too dark.
The barrel is filled to the top with cold water and changed after two to three days (the frequency depends on the room temperature) until the oak stops turning brown and becomes light. This process can take about 3 weeks. Drain the water through the top hole of the barrel by opening the tap. If there is a plug instead of a tap, then it must be pulled out.
4. Rinse with hot and cold water.
After soaking, the oak barrel is steamed with boiling water, filling the barrel a third with it, closing the stopper and tap. After 30 min. everything merges. This can be done twice. After this, the barrel is allowed to cool by rinsing it with cold water.
The washed oak barrel is turned over with the top hole down, the corks are pulled out, the tap is opened and the remaining water is allowed to drain, after which it is immediately filled with cognac.
Important Details
During the first days of soaking the barrel, water leakage may occur. Therefore, consider where it is best to soak it, because water from an oak barrel can make the surface wet and stain it brown.
If at the beginning of soaking there are small leaks in the product, then the oak barrel must be topped up with water. The final closure of small cracks occurs on the fifth day of soaking. It is important to carefully inspect the barrel on this day. If it is still leaking, call us.
Oak barrel Large sizes can be soaked by rolling it on the ground or on another prepared surface, having previously considered the flooring so that the wood does not get dirty.
Pour water out of barrels easier and faster through the top hole, while opening the tap or pulling out the plug (if there is a plug instead of the tap).
When the tap is replaced by a cork, attention must also be paid to its sealing, namely, painting the part that protrudes beyond the barrel. Alternatively, you can boil the cork in beeswax or paraffin.
Please note that the aging time of the drink in an oak barrel depends on its size and the number of times it is used. The smaller the barrel and the fewer times it has been used, the faster the drink will mature in it. Therefore, we advise you to periodically check the readiness of the poured product so that it does not overcook.
Before pouring liquid for the first time, store the cooperage product carefully wrapped in polyethylene. The film will protect the oak container from drying out if you have insufficient humidity (less than 75%) and high temperature (above +16 °). Please note that we are talking about a newly purchased product that has not yet been in contact with liquid.
Attention! Do not store oak cooperage products in a warm and dry place.
We emphasize! Compliance with the instructions is mandatory. Failure to comply will deprive you of the right to file claims for product defects against the manufacturer.
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