Preparation of oak barrels for cognac. Waxing, drum storage, or how to minimize waste

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Immediately after purchase, a fresh oak barrel contains too much tannins. He needs several procedures:

soaking;
steaming;
proper drying.

Attention: waxed containers are not steamed! If necessary, waxing must be repeated. ... Standard preparation of an oak barrel begins with soaking

For three days in a row, it must be filled with fresh cold water and emptied the next day. Then the water can be kept for 2-3 days. On the 10-15th day, either a visual-taste analysis of the composition of the water is carried out (it should be completely transparent and without a taste of wood), or with the help of ferric chloride 10% (the water should not darken).

The standard preparation of an oak barrel begins with soaking. For three days in a row, it must be filled with fresh cold water and emptied the next day. Then the water can be kept for 2-3 days. On the 10-15th day, either a visual-taste analysis of the composition of the water is carried out (it should be completely transparent and without a taste of wood), or with the help of ferric chloride 10% (the water should not darken).
Next, fill the container with boiling water up to half and add up to 10% of ordinary soda to it. Now you can clog the barrel for spirits or wine and "roll" it, that is, completely rinse its walls from the inside with a hot solution of soda. After 30 minutes, the liquid can be drained off.
You can additionally treat the wood with a hot solution of sulfuric acid 2%.
Next, the barrel is steamed with clean hot water or, if possible, with steam for 10 minutes.
Now you can rinse your oak keg with clean cold water.
Before pouring moonshine or wine (and this must be done as soon as possible after processing), the container should be stored in the same conditions in which the drink will be infused. The approximate humidity in the room should be 75%, the temperature should be less than + 15 ° C (preferably + 10 ° C, but not lower). If the room is too hot or dry, the barrel is wrapped in plastic.

Recommendation: Experienced winemakers never use new containers for infusion of spirits - the losses are too high. In the early years, oak barrels are used for fermentation or for storing young wines. And only after that they are "trusted" with more valuable products.

Preparing the keg for use

Pour clean water at room temperature into a new container. The liquid should take up 90% of the volume. Close the barrel and leave it alone for 4 hours.
Now carefully inspect the container for leaks. We inspect both the sides along the entire perimeter of the rings and the bottom. If there are small leaks, that's okay. The tree will swell and the problem will evaporate by itself. But if the water pours in a stream - it's bad. Such a barrel is subject to repair.
Refill the container with water. Cover and take to a warm place. If there are small leaks, add water every 12 hours until the leak stops. After three days, drain the liquid. Its color will be unpleasant for the eyes - dirty shades of yellow or brown will not please, however, it should be so. Pour clean water back into the barrel.
Empty the container the next day. After that, pour boiling water into it - for every 10 liters of volume - 1 liter of liquid. Close the barrel tightly. Now shake it so that the water washes all the walls. After about an hour, add water to the top and close.
Change the fluid every other day. Now you need to pour new clean filtered water every day until one fine moment you drain an absolutely pure liquid that will have neither taste nor smell. Barrels are usually soaked in 1-2 months.
When you achieve the desired effect, prepare the solution according to the following recipe. Boil water (50% of the total volume of the barrel). Refrigerate it to 70 degrees Celsius. Add soda to the liquid at the rate of 20 g per 1 liter. Stir the mixture and pour into a container. Close it and shake thoroughly for 10 minutes. Drain off the soda water.
Now pour hot water into the container. After 15 minutes, drain and fill with cold liquid for 10 hours.
Now you can insist the moonshine in a barrel. Such processing of oak containers is suitable for aging any strong alcoholic beverage: moonshine, bourbon, whiskey, cognac. But if you want to prepare a barrel for maturing wine, then after all the above procedures, pour the distillate of the second distillation into the container. It should be odorless and diluted to 20 degrees. Soak it in a barrel for 1.5 months. The wooden vessel is now ready for wine as well.

It is important to know that it is not only the volume of the barrel that affects the maturation of the alcoholic beverage. The optimum temperature for keeping moonshine is 14-16 ° C

Air humidity should be around 80-85%. Of course, the infusion time is of great importance. To control the drink, samples are taken from time to time. Moonshine is poured into glass bottles when the taste suits you completely.

How to choose the right barrel

You should start by looking for a cool cooper whose product meets the requirements.
It is preferable to use chopped oak species for the production of the barrel: North American white, pedunculated or rocky (these are the best options). The European breeds - Slavonian (Serbian), Bulgarian, Ukrainian, as well as the oak growing in Russia - have also proven themselves well. Such wood will cost the manufacturer less.
The barrel board must be properly air-dried or in a special chamber.
Build quality plays an important role, through slits and loose 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 the release of aromas and nuances of taste by 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 drinking, it is better to buy a wax keg.

Making moonshine and alcohol for personal use
absolutely legal!

After the end of the existence of the USSR, the new government stopped the fight against moonshine. Criminal liability and fines were abolished, and an article banning the production of alcohol-containing products at home was removed from the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. To this day, there is not a single law prohibiting us from engaging in our favorite hobby - making alcohol at home. This is evidenced by the Federal Law of July 8, 1999 No. 143-FZ "On the administrative responsibility of legal entities (organizations) and individual entrepreneurs for offenses in the production and circulation of ethyl alcohol, alcoholic and alcohol-containing products" (Collected Legislation of the Russian Federation, 1999, No. 28 , art. 3476).

Excerpt from the Federal Law of the Russian Federation:

"This Federal Law does not apply to the activities of citizens (individuals) who are not producing products containing ethyl alcohol, not for the purpose of marketing."

Home brewing in other countries:

In Kazakhstan in accordance with the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan On Administrative Offenses of January 30, 2001 N 155, the following liability is provided. So, according to article 335 "Manufacture and sale of home-made alcoholic beverages", the illegal manufacture for the sale of moonshine, chacha, mulberry vodka, home brew and other alcoholic beverages, as well as the sale of these alcoholic beverages, entails a fine in the amount of thirty monthly calculation indices with the confiscation of alcoholic beverages , devices, raw materials and equipment for their manufacture, as well as money and other valuables received from their sale. However, the law does not prohibit the preparation of alcohol for personal use.

In Ukraine and Belarus things are different. Articles No. 176 and No. 177 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine provide for the imposition of fines in the amount of three to ten tax-free minimum wages for the manufacture and storage of moonshine without the purpose of sale, for storage without the purpose of selling devices * for its production.

Article 12.43 repeats this information practically word for word. "Making or purchasing strong alcoholic beverages (moonshine), semi-finished products for their manufacture (mash), storage of apparatus for their manufacture" in the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses. Clause No. 1 informs: "The production of strong alcoholic beverages (moonshine) by individuals, semi-finished products for their production (mash), as well as the storage of devices * used for their manufacture, - entail a warning or a fine of up to five basic units with the confiscation of the specified drinks, semi-finished products and apparatus ".

* It is still possible to purchase moonshine stills for home use, since their second purpose is to distill water and obtain components for natural cosmetics and perfumery.

05.05.2018

buy an oak barrel , preparation and operation.

how to choose an oak barrel

Preparing an oak barreloak barrel

Oak barrels use

At first glance, it is very simple buy an oak barrel, choose any one marked "oak", pour your distillate there and wait for that desired day when you can start tasting the finished drink. Unfortunately, with incomplete awareness, sometimes it turns out that way, but the result discourages any desire to repeat such an experiment. How to make a good whiskey, calvados or barrel-aged rum and get a decent result. To do this, we will look at 3 main points: choice , preparation and operation.

So you need to start with the question -how to choose an oak barrel? Firstly, for the manufacture of oak barrels, coopers use rocky and pedunculated varieties of wood. The reference age of a tree is considered to be at least 90 years; it is best suited for barrels for strong alcoholic drinks. Next, you need to turn to the method of making the barrel. A sawn product or chipped is best considered chipped, since all natural qualities are preserved. And the last important indicator is wood burning. It is believed that a tree will give up its qualities if it was burned over an open fire, then such a product is simply extinguished with water.

There are 3 types of barrel roasting: 1. Light - suitable for aging wine, 2. Medium - suitable for cognac, whiskey, rum and calvados, 3. suitable for - certain types of cognac, wine, whiskey and fruit grappa.

Types of barrel firing and purpose:

Also note that there are no gaps between the rivets when firing over a solid fire, if you see gaps, this means that each rivet was fired separately.

Preparing an oak barrel- a painstaking business. First of all, you need to understand how much of the cooper's product was in the finished state. The longer the barrel lay in the warehouse, the more it lost moisture and, accordingly, the longer it will take to soak it until the flow stops (the rivets will fit into the grooves). We also need to get rid of unnecessary firing, for this we need to pour and drain water every couple of days. The preparation will take about 2 weeks, it all depends on the volume of the product. Some distillers recommend that the barrel be steamed first before filling with water. To do this, we put on a heat-resistant hose on any kettle and direct the other end into the barrel. After it is desirable to filloak barrelfruit drink, dry wine priority. The wine will take away the harsh woody flavors and give the barrel a fruity note. After that, the wine will not be drinkable, but it can be safely distilled in your distiller.

Buy an oak barrel for moonshine in Moscow and other cities of Russia is not so easy, the main thing is to find the right supplier.

Oak barrels useat home. First of all, you need to remember that the barrel has its own life cycle on average - this is 4 times, for 5 times its properties are simply not enough. But you can add to the barrel and then and for the 5th time you can achieve the desired result. The maturation period for elite alcoholic beverages directly depends on the size of the barrel and, of course, the recipe for the drink.

Barrel size to aging table:

Types of barrel firing and purpose:

Also note that there are no gaps between the rivets when firing over a solid fire, if you see gaps, this means that each rivet was fired separately.

Buy an oak barrel for moonshine in Moscow and other cities of Russia is not so easy, the main thing is to find the right supplier.

Barrel size to aging table:

Types of barrel firing and purpose:

Also note that there are no gaps between the rivets when firing over a solid fire, if you see gaps, this means that each rivet was fired separately.

Buy an oak barrel for moonshine in Moscow and other cities of Russia is not so easy, the main thing is to find the right supplier.

, preparation and operation.

Types of barrel firing and purpose:

Also note that there are no gaps between the rivets when firing over a solid fire, if you see gaps, this means that each rivet was fired separately.

Buy an oak barrel for moonshine in Moscow and other cities of Russia is not so easy, the main thing is to find the right supplier.

Barrel size to aging table:

Lovers of moonshine try to make their product with an excellent aroma and great taste. Oak barrels are used to refine the drink. Keeping fruit and grain distillates in such containers has a very positive effect on the taste of alcohol. The tree "breathes", and oxygen enters the barrel through the pores, which saturates the drink with a unique aroma, making an elite drink from moonshine.

If you have the opportunity to purchase a new oak barrel, then you cannot pour moonshine or wine into it right away. The container must be prepared before use, otherwise the drink can simply be spoiled. Alcohol will have a tart taste and an unpleasant bone odor.

There is nothing difficult in choosing an oak barrel, for example, if you want to make cognac for yourself, then you need a small container. It is enough to purchase a 2-10 liter vessel. If you plan to prepare a drink for your guests, then you need a barrel with a volume of 10-50 liters.

There is one more nuance that needs to be taken into account - the "share of angels", that is, the loss of one liter of alcohol per year. This evaporation is explained by a beautiful legend. It is worth noting that there is no difference in what volume the container will be, 1 liter will evaporate in any case. And if you want to get a 5-year-old cognac, then in a five-liter barrel by the end of the aging, there will be no alcohol in it.

Important! The time for converting moonshine into brandy or cognac depends on the volume of the barrel, the less the less, the faster you will get the desired result.

Preparation for use

In order for the barrel to give the drink its taste and useful qualities and at the same time not leak, it must be prepared. You can do this yourself, the main thing is to perform the basic procedures correctly and in order.

Washing

In the store, the barrels are sold in their original form. The goods are often stored in warehouses, where dust can settle on the walls of the container, therefore it is imperative to rinse.

Rinse with clean running water without using any means. Pure water washes away tannins well from wood, which can impart bitterness and unpleasant astringency to the drink.

Steaming

At this stage, boiling water is poured into the barrel, about one fourth of its volume, the cork is closed and the product is turned and shaken so that the boiling water hits all the walls.

Hot water will begin to swell the wood, and all cracks will automatically heal. Steaming must be done 4 times, so you can be sure that the barrel will not leak during operation.

Soaking

The longest process that will require a lot of patience from you. It is necessary to soak the barrel for a month, until moisture ceases to ooze through the cracks that did not tighten during the steaming process.

In the first three days, the water should be changed every 12 hours, then every day. After 7 days, the water is changed every 2 days. After 4 weeks, drain the water and rinse the barrel with an alcohol solution diluted to 30 degrees. At the end of the process, pour over boiling water.

Soda peeling

Dilute baking soda in boiling water at a ratio of 1 liter of water to 2 grams of baking soda.

The solution must be poured into a container, filling it by 1/3, clogging it, and rinsing all the walls well from the inside. Drain the soda solution, rinse the barrel with boiling water and rinse with running water. Next, the container is put on drying, after which the barrel is almost ready for use.

Waxing

If you plan to store a container with a drink in a warm room, then the surface must be protected, otherwise the distillate will actively evaporate through the walls.

For this, waxing is used, which is carried out as follows:

melt beeswax in a water bath, gradually add linseed oil, mix well;
take a soft, wide brush and apply the composition to the surface of the keg;
when applying wax, you need to use a building hair dryer, since when heated, the wax will lay on the walls more accurately and soak the wood deeper. If you don't have a building tool, you can use a regular hair dryer to style your hair.

As soon as the waxing process is over, you can pour wine or moonshine into the barrel.

Watch a video on how to properly prepare an oak barrel before pouring moonshine into it:

Storage

Transportation, moving, or storage means that for some time the container will be in an empty state. But natural wood tends to dry out, therefore, so that the barrel does not lose its properties, it must be properly stored. In order not to use the process of preparing the container every time before pouring moonshine into it, it must be filled with water by ¼ of the volume after pouring out the cognac.

Then the container is well shaken or rolled so that the water washes all the walls from the inside. The procedure with washing is repeated several times, but not less than 4. If even after 4 times the water is colored, then the procedure is repeated until it becomes clear.

Then boiling water with soda is poured into the barrel in the proportions described above. Then rinse in running water, dry, wrap in a dense, natural cloth and store in a dark place.

Many experts advise to fumigate the barrel with sulfur before long-term storage - this will prevent the development of fungal infections, save the container from insects and harmful microorganisms.

But even such preparation will not protect the barrel from damage if it is placed in a poorly ventilated room. If drying out nevertheless occurs, then you will have to soak the container again, filling it with cool water.

Ideal conditions for storing empty oak containers are:

air humidity not less than 75%;
the room temperature should be + 10-15 degrees;
you can not leave the barrel in a room where the sun's rays fall;
drafts also have a detrimental effect on wood products;
if high humidity cannot be achieved, then you need to wrap the barrel with polyethylene.

As for the aging of the drink in an oak barrel, it must not be allowed to drift. To store full containers, choose a cool room, the humidity in which should be moderate.

Heat sources must not be located near the drink in the barrel. If storage is carried out in a basement, then you need to take care of well-equipped ventilation. But there should be no drafts.

What is angel share and how can it be reduced?

As you know, when storing an alcoholic drink in an oak barrel, liquid evaporates through the wood, which is completely natural. Moonshine becomes less by exactly 1 liter per year, and it does not matter how much the barrel will be. It is for this reason that large barrels, up to 50 liters, are chosen for long-term storage.

This evaporation is called the angel's share, and of course every winemaker wants to keep these annual losses to a minimum. But how to do it correctly, while not harming the taste of the drink:

produce the process of plugging cracks with natural oils;
cover the barrel with beeswax from the outside;
they do not withstand the moonshine in a barrel for a long time, but the drink is drained as soon as it is saturated with the necessary components, it acquires a beautiful shade and a pleasant aroma.

Moonshine, after draining, it is advisable to store in a glass container, well packed.

The strength of the drink directly depends on the conditions in which the moonshine is stored in a barrel:

if the humidity in the room is 70%, then the alcohol will be less strong, but the proportion of angels will not be so large;
room temperature, up to +25 degrees, contributes to the rapid ripening of the drink, while the strength will be greater, but the moonshine will also evaporate more intensely.

Important! It is worth warning right away that no matter how hard you try, it is impossible to completely eliminate natural evaporation, so you should take it for granted.

Even in a city apartment, it is possible to prepare and store moonshine in an oak barrel, of course, you will not be able to install a large container, but you can afford a 20 liter barrel.

A new oak barrel contains a large amount of tannins, and if distillate or wine is immediately put in it, the drink will acquire a very tart oak taste. Therefore, the barrel is prepared before aging - filled with cold water and soaked for up to 4 weeks. It is recommended to change the water every 1-2 days. When changing water, it is allowed to fill the barrel with warm water (not boiling water), which also speeds up the process of preparing the barrel.

At the beginning of the soaking, it is possible to flow through the gaps between the rivets. This is not a marriage. It is only necessary to add water several times a day until the leak completely stops. When soaked, the rivet will swell and close all the cracks tightly.

After soaking, rinse the barrel with a baking soda solution. Fill the barrel 1/3 with boiling water and add baking soda at the rate of 2 g per liter of water. Close the hole tightly and carefully roll the barrel so that hot water rinses the rivets. After that, it is necessary to drain the water and rinse thoroughly with clean drinking hot and then cold water. If possible, you can steam the barrel. To do this, fill the barrel halfway with water, add baking soda, and bring the water to a boil by supplying steam to the barrel through a hose. Further, as when processing with hot water.

Your product is almost ready to use. You can pour a strong distillate into it for a short time, or you can continue the preparation and soak the barrel with an alcohol-containing mixture (15-25% strength) for up to 5-6 weeks. After that, a strong distillate can be poured into the barrel for a long time. This is due to the fact that the most intensive extraction of oak wood components occurs in the "young" barrel, and their maximum will get into the drink poured into the barrel for the first time, which will give it a rough, sometimes bitter taste of "green oak".

Exposure and storage of alcoholic beverages in everyday life

The barrel with the drink should be stored away from heat sources, in a cool, humid place with easy air circulation. In such rooms, the evaporation of the product ("angel's share") will be minimal, 5-10% per year are considered normal. If you put a keg with a drink in an apartment, then evaporation can reach up to 50-70%. It is important to know that the smaller the volume of the keg, the larger the area of contact of the liquid with the surface, which means that the ripening proceeds faster, but also the greater the percentage of evaporation.

Recommended air humidity should be 80-85%, temperature 10-17 ° C. The ideal temperature for wine and other light alcohol is 12 ° C, for cognac and other spirits - 16 ° C. With an increase in temperature, losses due to evaporation increase, with a decrease, the process of maturation and aging of the drink is inhibited or stopped.
Humidity can be created artificially - put a bowl of water next to the barrel. If you need to create humidity not in the whole room, but only near the barrel, then you can cover it with something and put a plate of water under it.

If you plan to hold the drink in an apartment, it is recommended to wax the barrel. To do this, beeswax is taken, heated with a hairdryer and distributed over the entire surface of the barrel (which should already be soaked in water and wiped dry), including the chimes and the bottom of the barrel. It is recommended to leave 2-3 rivets at the bottom, not waxed, so that there is a slight gas exchange with the external environment. Some home distillers recommend, in dry rooms, placing the barrel in a box that has been whitewashed from the inside with lime, and put a bowl of water there to maintain moisture inside the box.

Storing an empty drum after use

Rinse the keg out of any remaining alcoholic drink by pouring a quarter of cold water into it, plugging the hole with a stopper and rolling the keg from side to side. Drain the water. Repeat several times until the flowing out water is clear. Then pour some hot water into it and add baking soda. Ride well for a few minutes, drain, then rinse a couple of times with cold water. Dry your keg and wrap it in cloth, now you can put it in a cool, dark place for storage.

Before long-term storage, it is recommended to fumigate the barrel with sulfur to prevent the development of microorganisms. Equally, after long-term storage, before use, it is also recommended to fumigate the barrel. If over time your keg is slightly dry, fill it with water and it will regain its shape.

Oak barrel depletion

During the second, third and subsequent pouring (aging cycles) of young alcohol into barrels, the rate of release of wood components from oak to alcohol gradually slows down. This is due to a decrease in the content of these components in the barrel rivets. This happens until the wood is depleted, after which the barrel continues to serve, however, not as a source of oak components, but mainly as a vessel for storing wine materials and cognac spirits without a noticeable improvement in their quality.

Thus, after the third cycle of pouring cognac spirits, the barrel becomes old, and on the sixth and seventh cycles, the inner surface of the barrel's rivets is already depleted to 90%. In order to continue to receive high-quality alcoholic beverages, it is proposed to use oak chips. The use of oak chips during the aging of cognac spirits in depleted barrels determines the accumulation of essential oak components in the alcohol.

The best results are obtained when using:

for processing white canteens (dose 0.3 - 1.0 g / dm3, exposure time - 6 - 12 days);
for red table fortified and dessert wines (dose up to 1 g / dm3 - holding time 6 - 30 days);
for cognac and calvados alcohols (dose 5 - 30 g / dm3, - minimum holding time - 3 - 6 months).