How are the oak barrels used by wineries to brew whisky made?

How are the oak barrels used by wineries to brew whisky made?

First, this is American white oak specially used to make oak barrels. After two to three years of air-drying treatment, craftsmen will first cut each board into the same thickness with a planer, then plant two holes with the same size on both sides of the board, and use the positioning burning made of hickory wood to tightly splice multiple boards together without glue and nails. Next, put the board into the machine and cut it into circles with the same diameter, just like the lid of a barrel and the copper handle, which is also commonly known as the copper hand. What we need to do now is to carbonize the copper hand in a high-temperature combustion device for a few minutes, which can not only change the color of the wine, but also give different spirits unique flavor and taste. Finally, after applying a circle of beeswax to prevent leakage, you can wait for assembly.

Second, this is an assembly line for making barrels. Because the finished oak barrels are all oval structures, workers should first cut each spliced wooden board into a shape with narrow ends, then put side plates with different widths in turn according to the circumference of the base until the bottom of the base is completely filled with wooden boards, and then press the steel wire rope properly to fix it into a semi-finished oak barrel. Next, in order to prevent the board from breaking due to excessive pressure during bending, the craftsman will light a stove on the ground, then buckle the semi-finished wooden barrel on the stove for a period of time until the fiber structure of the wood becomes relatively flexible under cold and hot conditions, and then move them to a special machine. With the rapid contraction of the steel plate, the initially formed iron ring will automatically fall off. At this time, workers will replace the oak barrel with a stronger temporary steel ring, so that the plates can be seamlessly spliced.

Third, finally, craftsmen will carbonize oak barrels of different sizes to varying degrees according to the requirements of various wineries. Next, workers have to dig two grooves at both ends of the inner wall of the barrel to nest copper hands, and then apply a layer of beeswax to install the bottom and lid of the barrel. In this process, the temporary iron rings on the barrel will be completely removed and replaced by permanent steel rings at both ends. Now there is only one last step left. Workers first drill a wine outlet on the barrel, then use the red-hot steel mold to remove the redundant burr, and finally insert the rubber ring, which can be handed over to the flat inspector for pressure test to confirm that the qualified barrel will be polished evenly before being sent to the winery for use.