Post bourbon barrel aging density

[miboss]

I managed to source a freshly dumped 10 gallon bourbon barrel and started the aging process for the first time. Should I expect the density of the syrup to change after ageing? I only ask because I'm spraying the barrel a lot to keep the staves tight, so I'm assuming the barrel may be absorbing some moisture (both inside and out?). Do those of you that age your syrup in bourbon barrels find the density gets a little heavier after ageing?

[Amber Gold]

From my experience, the density goes down.

[maple flats]

I have always done th same as what you are doing, I generally need to tweak the density a little as I go to bottle, but not much. Sometimes I need to thin it, sometimes I need to thin it. I do either in either the finisher or the water jacketed bottler. I've most often done 15 gal batches, at times I needed to add up to 2 qts of distilled water, other times I needed to evaporate off aqt or 2. I now have a 30 gal barrel aging so the numbers will likely reflect the bigger size barrel.

[maple flats]

As a SS barrel is packed, It's generally at or very slightly thicker, I don't retest as I put syrup into a bourbon barrel for aging, I wait and test it as I'm bottling a batch.