Filling new charred barrels with hot water the day before filling them

[aellison]

Anyone aware of any reason why you couldn't fill new charred barrels with hot water the day before filling them?

Just seems like this might make them swell the best, but will it remove too much of the goodness?

Thanks in advance

[rtshfd]

You can, but you're stripping the first layer of flavor from the interior of the barrel. Just lay them out a few days before you fill them and spray them down like they're a garden. Soak on the outside thoroughly and then leave some water sitting on the head. Flip, soak again and leave some water on the other head for a few hours. I've done this with cold water from the spigot. You get the rare minor leak that you can seal with a cooper kit easily and you don't lose any flavor.

[Silk City Distillers]

We use filtered steam, easier than filling and dumping, and doesn't seem to require much liquid water to swell. They stay pretty on the outside.

[mcsology]

I usually will put 5 or so gallons in there and check the heads, roll it around to check for leaks and use the same water from barrel to barrel. I collect the small amount of little bits of char that come out with the water at the end. Useful stuff.

Straight off the truck I've rarely seen ones that need work to seal. If they have been sitting its a different story

[NEPA-still-chillin]

All these techniques are great. To add, I take advantage of rain storms and leave my barrels outs for the day

[Donutboy]

We fill up the heads of ours. If they hold for a couple of hours we flip em and do the same to the other side. We've never had an issue with doing it this way.

I've heard from coopers that when you fill with hot water and dump it that you are bringing down the level of your char by .5 of a degree. So from Char 3 to 2.5.

[aellison]

Thank you all for the great ideas! They will definitely help seal the barrels and not lose any of the flavor. We have plenty of steam and rain here in Michigan.

[Blakeson]

We fill barrels at 8000ft and 15% humidity. So they dry out pretty quick. We have to fill barrels with water sometimes a few days before. They will leak like sieves for a few hours, but they always seal up. The whiskey still gets tons of flavor after a few years. Haven't noticed any downside in the aging process from filling. Hot water seems to seal them up faster.