Barrel Aged Maple Syrup

[Amber Gold]

Last year, we got into barrel-aged syrup and it was a successful both in the flavor and in sales (so far). We filled a 53-gallon rye barrel in June/July, and by Christmas, the barrel started leaking excessively, so it was emptied. Fortunately, it had great flavor, so we just packaged it up. I thought that during the summer, the staves stayed swelled, so it didn't leak until the humidity dropped in the winter, causing the staves to shrink and then leak.

This year, I filled a bourbon barrel in April, and in general, it's been pretty tight, but about a month ago, it started leaking, and now the leaking is getting worse. I don't think a lot of volume is being lost (at least not yet), but it's making a mess and I don't want to lose product.

In July, I filled a rye barrel, so I don't want the same thing to happen again. Trying to figure out a solution the problem, so this can be successful.

How do I keep the staves swelled? Will soaking it regularly with a house keep the staves hydrated enough? If so, is once a week enough, twice a week? Other ideas?

Thanks for your help.

[maple flats]

My method works for me. When I fill a barrel, I use a spray bottle (and now a pressure pump up dedicated sprayer) . I spray the outside of the barrel just enough to get it all wet. In the beginning, I spray 2x a week, 3x if real hot weather, as I spray I turn the barrel so it all gets wet. After 2 weeks, I reduce the spraying to 1/week, after a month later, I just mist it once a month, until it's time to open it. This approach seems to keep the staves swelled enough that if any leaks, they are very slight. For turning the barrels, I made moving type dollies, wheels up, non-swivel. One goes under each barrel.

[Amber Gold]

Thanks Dave. I'll give that a shot. I have a hose nearby, so I'll use that. Hope it works. I'll need to rig something up for batch #3 to be able to rotate the barrels.

[maple flats]

I made my dollies. 2x4's and 4 non-swivel casters on each. I used 2.5" casters, I think 3" may be easier to rotate larger barrels, my barrels so far have been 5 gal (1 time) 10 gal (several time, and 15 gal (4-5 times). I have not done any larger at this point.

[Amber Gold]

Thanks Dave for the idea. I'd prefer not to have barrels this large, but this is what my supplier uses.