Originally Posted by
goraman
There are a lot of people selling junk barrels at unreasonable prices ,so be sure to check the sellers reviews and reputation.
I was told to get the exterior in unfinished raw wood and use a heat gun and bees wax to finish and help seal . Varnish dose not let the wood breath like bees wax so it ages the spirit faster.
It is also food safe, When you get your barrel, Put the tap in with a mallet, easy not to hard a blow,just seat it. Put it on the stand in the sink. Boil a large pot of water ,use a funnel and pour it in the bung.
If the barrel is 2 liters boil 4 liters and keep it full till it seals. Mine completely sealed up ,no drips in 20 min. to a half hour. It can take a day or two, I kept the barrel full of water with the bung in then warmed the out side of the barrel and rubbed bees wax over the entire thing and even treated the spiket and it has not leaked a drop.
Don't be alarmed though if you notice air space after a few hours from filling the barrel with spirit, Booze will soak in pretty fast and after a week it will slow way down. You can top it off once because you don't want the top staves to dry out , I rotate mine every couple days and give it a shake every day, but no more than 3x or your playing with it! Moving the spirit around inside really speeds the process.
