I dry stored my 60 gal oak barrel for the first time. I burned sulfur
sticks as recommended. I couldn't find any commercial pieces/devices
to catch the burning sulfur drips. I tried a home-made device but, it
seemed like I was having a marrionette show inside my barrel and I
gave up.

So, I burned the sulfur sticks in the barrel and let them drip into
the barrel. I was advised by a few people that this practice was ok,
"just make sure you clean it out really good before you use it".

When I cleaned out the barrel a few weeks ago, I could see a few small
deposits w/ the largest about 3/8" dia. These spots were hardened and
somewhat fused to the bottom of my barrel like solder. After scraping
the inside of the barrel with a long rod (w/ and w/o steel wool) and
repeated rinsing, these raised deposits were reduced to faint spots,
but, I couldn't get them 100% clean.

So, am I ok? How much sulfur would it take to ruin 60 galons of wine?
Is the tiny amount that still remains in those little spots on the
bottom of my barrel enough to ruin all that wine wine?

"jason" > wrote in message
om...
> I dry stored my 60 gal oak barrel for the first time. I burned sulfur
> sticks as recommended. I couldn't find any commercial pieces/devices
> to catch the burning sulfur drips. I tried a home-made device but, it
> seemed like I was having a marrionette show inside my barrel and I
> gave up.
>
> So, I burned the sulfur sticks in the barrel and let them drip into
> the barrel. I was advised by a few people that this practice was ok,
> "just make sure you clean it out really good before you use it".
>
> When I cleaned out the barrel a few weeks ago, I could see a few small
> deposits w/ the largest about 3/8" dia. These spots were hardened and
> somewhat fused to the bottom of my barrel like solder. After scraping
> the inside of the barrel with a long rod (w/ and w/o steel wool) and
> repeated rinsing, these raised deposits were reduced to faint spots,
> but, I couldn't get them 100% clean.
>
> So, am I ok? How much sulfur would it take to ruin 60 galons of wine?
> Is the tiny amount that still remains in those little spots on the
> bottom of my barrel enough to ruin all that wine wine?

Jason,
Elemental sulfur in a barrel is OK for aging _clean_ wine. But, you will
probably have hydrogen sulfide problems if you ever have significant amounts
of viable yeast lees in that barrel. So don't use it for barrel
fermentations.
Lum
Del Mar, California, USA

"jason" > wrote in message
om...
> I dry stored my 60 gal oak barrel for the first time. I burned sulfur
> sticks as recommended. I couldn't find any commercial pieces/devices
> to catch the burning sulfur drips. I tried a home-made device but, it
> seemed like I was having a marrionette show inside my barrel and I
> gave up.
>
> So, I burned the sulfur sticks in the barrel and let them drip into
> the barrel. I was advised by a few people that this practice was ok,
> "just make sure you clean it out really good before you use it".
>
> When I cleaned out the barrel a few weeks ago, I could see a few small
> deposits w/ the largest about 3/8" dia. These spots were hardened and
> somewhat fused to the bottom of my barrel like solder. After scraping
> the inside of the barrel with a long rod (w/ and w/o steel wool) and
> repeated rinsing, these raised deposits were reduced to faint spots,
> but, I couldn't get them 100% clean.
>
> So, am I ok? How much sulfur would it take to ruin 60 galons of wine?
> Is the tiny amount that still remains in those little spots on the
> bottom of my barrel enough to ruin all that wine wine?

Jason,
Elemental sulfur in a barrel is OK for aging _clean_ wine. But, you will
probably have hydrogen sulfide problems if you ever have significant amounts
of viable yeast lees in that barrel. So don't use it for barrel
fermentations.
Lum
Del Mar, California, USA

Lum wrote:


> Jason,
> Elemental sulfur in a barrel is OK for aging _clean_ wine. But, you will
> probably have hydrogen sulfide problems if you ever have significant
> amounts
> of viable yeast lees in that barrel. So don't use it for barrel
> fermentations.
> Lum
> Del Mar, California, USA

Lum, you have touched on a related subject of interest to me.
Is sulphur residue on grapes at harvest due to fungicide spraying a risk for
H2S problems during or shortly after fermentation? If so, how does one
deal with this problem?

Lum wrote:


> Jason,
> Elemental sulfur in a barrel is OK for aging _clean_ wine. But, you will
> probably have hydrogen sulfide problems if you ever have significant
> amounts
> of viable yeast lees in that barrel. So don't use it for barrel
> fermentations.
> Lum
> Del Mar, California, USA

Lum, you have touched on a related subject of interest to me.
Is sulphur residue on grapes at harvest due to fungicide spraying a risk for
H2S problems during or shortly after fermentation? If so, how does one
deal with this problem?

"Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote in message
...
> Lum wrote:
>
>
> > Jason,
> > Elemental sulfur in a barrel is OK for aging _clean_ wine. But, you
will
> > probably have hydrogen sulfide problems if you ever have significant
> > amounts
> > of viable yeast lees in that barrel. So don't use it for barrel
> > fermentations.
> > Lum
> > Del Mar, California, USA
>
> Lum, you have touched on a related subject of interest to me.
> Is sulphur residue on grapes at harvest due to fungicide spraying a risk
for
> H2S problems during or shortly after fermentation? If so, how does one
> deal with this problem?

Paul,

Sulfur on grapes at harvest is certainly one of the primary causes of
hydrogen sulfide problems, so I will not ferment grapes if I know they have
been sprayed with sulfur within six weeks of harvest.
Copper judiciously applied soon after fermentation has completed will
usually correct an H2S problem, but prevention is the best method.

Lum
Del Mar, California, USA

"Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote in message
...
> Lum wrote:
>
>
> > Jason,
> > Elemental sulfur in a barrel is OK for aging _clean_ wine. But, you
will
> > probably have hydrogen sulfide problems if you ever have significant
> > amounts
> > of viable yeast lees in that barrel. So don't use it for barrel
> > fermentations.
> > Lum
> > Del Mar, California, USA
>
> Lum, you have touched on a related subject of interest to me.
> Is sulphur residue on grapes at harvest due to fungicide spraying a risk
for
> H2S problems during or shortly after fermentation? If so, how does one
> deal with this problem?

Paul,

Sulfur on grapes at harvest is certainly one of the primary causes of
hydrogen sulfide problems, so I will not ferment grapes if I know they have
been sprayed with sulfur within six weeks of harvest.
Copper judiciously applied soon after fermentation has completed will
usually correct an H2S problem, but prevention is the best method.

Lum
Del Mar, California, USA