It will be a nice addition to my campsite equipment but at the moment it is very dry and leaks like a sieve. I am in the process of soaking it in water and this is helping to plug the leaks.

I wonder if anybody out there has had any experience in re-waterproofing old barrels and can recommend other steps to seal them while ensuring that the contents remain drinkable?

Thanks,

Callum.

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URL=http://www.jousting.co.nz

To prevent your barrel from drying out, keep it away from heat and excessive dryness. A basement, garage or storage locker is fine. Do not leave it outside.

You could leave it full of water, but I am paranoid and like a fish tank, I would need to replace the water every couple of weeks to keep it from stagnating, as it does not have alcohol as a preservative.

I also have a couple of oak washtubs, they were lined with a soft wax, possibly parrafin. This is not food grade. If you leave water standing in the washtub, it will seap through the wax to the wood and then slowly pry off the wax. Really looks horrible. While this is fine for washtubs and buckets, I would not use anything in a wine barrel. Soaking is what it was designed for.

[ 05-26-2003: Message edited by: Woodcrafter ]

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I have left the barrel submerged for a couple of days and this seems to have stopped all the leaks.

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URL=http://www.jousting.co.nz

Our brewery used to serve cask-conditioned ale in wood pins (5 gal US), and they do leak. You can tighten them by using a dulled chisel and a mallet.

Set the cask on end. Carefully place the dull chisel on the first metal band (from the middle of the cask to the "top"). Tap the chisel lightly with the mallet, working all the way around the metal band. After you tighten that band, work your way up. Then turn the cask over and repeat on the other end.

That's the cooper's method.

I recommend performing the cooper's maintenance outlined above, then purchasing some food-grade brewer's pitch available from Jas. Townsend. Install the tap tightly. Grab an assistant, who will hold the cask. Melt the pitch and carefully pour into the cask; your assistant will now swirl the cask, coating the entire interior. This will not only seal the cask, it will allow you to place any liquid at all in the cask without imparting flavor or risk of inoculating your drinkables with potentially noxious microflora.

True, you will lose any flavours the wood may impart to your beverage, but since I cannot document untreated wood casks being used in England for beer and brewing in any period from C19 back, and since the pitch treatment negates the necessity of sulfuric sanitisation, I see no reason to decline the treatment.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,