Food Grade paint for barrel stencil??

[NEPA-still-chillin]

We just got our stencil in for our barrels and someone told me I need to use a Food Grade paint to mark them.

Does anybody know if this is true? I wouldn't think you would need a Food Grade since its never coming in contact with the liquid.

But best to double check before I go stenciling them.

[Natrat]

Others may disagree, but I think that's a level of paranoia where I don't need to go.

Just use spray paint, keep the bungs in, and do it outside. Feel rich? Use AP Nontoxic spray paint. If you really want to go the next level, buy nontoxic acrylic poster paint and roll it on.

What the hell is "food grade paint?" Cake dye?

[Roger]

How about lipstick

[Natrat]

Animal testing!!!

[NEPA-still-chillin]

HAHA!!

Cool thanks guys

[mendodistilling]

How about scan able sticker bar codes w/ info printed also. I see these on wine barrels I got from a large winery.

[Natrat]

You can easily make your own barcodes or even 3D barcodes (like QR codes) in programs like Word and link them to webpages or spreadsheets in your distillery. However, a big logo looks way awesome on a barrel. Of course, if your logo IS a barcode... hehehe

[Rickdiculous]

If you stencil is metal, I would suggest a 1/8 metal water jet cut stencil if it isn't and burn the mark on with a propane torch. Looks pretty classy like the big boys.

[mertmeister]

It would seem that any volatile chemicals in spray paint could penetrate the porous wood and "intermingle" with the spirits, which will penetrate the wood from the other side, and mix. I wouldn't want my bourbon blended with tolulene...sounds like a logical practice to use food-grade paints. Perhaps that's why they used to "burn" the information on the barrels...

[Natrat]

mertmeister,

fair point about wood transpiration, however there are a few things to point out...

First, the pressure inside the barrel is generally higher than the outside (especially when full) so most chemicals will move OUT of the barrel, not into it. Second, transpiration generally occurs along the grain, so as long as you aren't spraying the endgrain, you should be fine. Third, the REASON they use solvents such as toluene, xylene, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, dimethylformamide, 2-butoxyethanol, naptha, ethylbenzene (etc etc) is because they are highly volatile organic solvents...which is to say they evaporate into the air very quickly. If you were to slather a very thick layer of paint on your barrel, such that the top layer of paint cured fully before the layer in contact did (sagging, dripping) you might get some chemical into the barrel...if the barrel inside was significantly lower pressure than the outside air.

Splash out for foodgrade paint. It's certainly something you can do if it makes you feel better. I just think that, on the grand scheme of things, that this is one of those worries that is way overthinking the process. Personally, I think that using filter pads with DE (or pressure leaf filters that use DE) to polish your product pose a far far greater risk of introducing unwanted toxins, and we're talking ppb, here.