"Glen Duff" > wrote in message
...
> I've been using barrels for years and don't recall the problem in the
> past, at least not as much as it's become in the past few years. I've
> been getting a lot of mould around the bung in my two barrels and it
> develops between weekly top ups. I generally wrap a paper towel soaked
> in sulfite around the bung but even that does not seem to work.
>
> My main concern is that it requires some careful clean up both before
> and after removing the bung each time I top up.
>
> Any suggestions.

Clean the area around the bung as you have been doing, do your tasting and
topping, and just before inserting the bung dip the business end of it (the
tapered part too) into dry sulfite powder. When you insert the bung it'll
grind fresh sulfite into the wood at the bunghole. This works well with
silicone bungs.

BTW, are you sure your sulfite is still active? Exposure to air *rapidly*
degrades potassium metabisulfite into potassium sulfate, which is completely
worthless. I can't stress this strongly enough. You should buy fresh every
year from a source that has a _lot_ of turnover, and sells the stuff in
sealed foil bags. Home winemaking shops are not necessarily a good source
for this. I buy mine from The Wine Lab, and even they say that their stuff
assays typically ~50% available SO2. Theoretical is 57%, but you're never
going to get it that pure.

Tom S