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cleaning out a barrel


Dutchman

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so i have ended up with a small barrel/rumlett/what ever you want to call it. It is made of oak and certainly designed to hold liquids. so here is my dilema. I really want to give it a good internal cleaning, reseal it, then use it for water. We have beat the sealing it horse to death, so i'll save us that agony. What concerns me is cleaning it out. It looks like wine was in it at one time as there are red stains around the plug. What is the best way to clean this critter out to make it food grade safe and are there any hidden dangers that anyone can think of? I'm thinking dtergent, bleach, rinse.

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Here are some interesting tips and techniques for commercial barrel clean up, including dry ice blasting! This site does bring up the dangers of wine trapped in wood and breeding bacteria.

http://www.barrelbla...solutions.shtml

Off the top of my head, I bet you could do a good job with filling the barrel with boiling water and keeping it at a boil for fifteen minutes or so, either by the fresh application of water or the introduction of a properly insulated heat element. And I like the dry ice idea, but not by ice blasting, just to displace oxygen and kill some stuff that way.

It actually looks like you can rent those dry ice blasters. Apparently they use dry ice as the cleaning agent because it sublimates and doesn't leave a residue.

Edited by Matty Bottles

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Hummm... just an idea, what if you filled it 1/3 with fine sand, recorked it and rolled it on something like a rock tumbler to scour out the inside???

Jas. Hook ;)

"Born on an island, live on an island... the sea has always been in my blood." Jas. Hook

"You can't direct the wind . . . but . . . you can adjust the sails."

"Don't eat the chickens with writing on their beaks." Governor Sawney

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just a late note on using Baking Soda, you can blast with Baking Soda, Harbor Freight Tools sells a baking soda 'sand blaster' in two sizes.

The advantage that it has over sand and other abrasives, is that it disolves in water, so clean up is a snap, also it is non toxic so it can be used around food items. Just not sure how well any kind of abrasive may work with brewer's pitch? The hot water approach may work better if it melts away the soft pitch.

No Fear Have Ye of Evil Curses says you...

Aye,... Properly Warned Ye Be says I

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