Method and apparatus for roasting barrels

A barrel roaster for roasting the inside surface of an already formed and dried wooden barrel used in aging alcoholic spirits comprising:

• means for generating a stream of heated air;
• a conduit in communication with the generating means and having an outlet for flowing the stream outwardly therefrom;
• means for moving a wooden barrel into alignment with the outlet, thereby to direct the flowed stream through the barrel to uniformly roast the inside surface but not the outside surface of the barrel;
• and
• means for partially impeding outflow of the heated air from a second end of the barrel, thereby to increase the residence time of the heated air in the barrel to enhance the uniformity of roasting.

A barrel roaster for roasting the inside surface of an already formed and dried wooded barrel used in aging alcoholic spirits comprising:

• means for generating a stream of heated air;
• a conduit in communication with the generating means and having an outlet for flowing the stream outwardly therefrom;
• means for moving a wooden barrel into alignment with the outlet, thereby to direct the flowed stream through the barrel to uniformly roast the inside surface but not the outside surface of the barrel, wherein the moving means positions a first end of the barrel adjacent to the outlet;
• and
• exhaust means movable to and from a second end of the barrel, opposite the first, when the barrel is aligned with the top outlet, thereby to capture and recirculate heated air leaving the barrel during roasting.

A barrel roaster comprising:

• a conveyor adapted to support and move a plurality of barrels into a roasting position;
• a plurality of outlets aligned with first ends of the barrels at the roasting position;
• a conduit in communication with the outlets;
• means for generating a heated air stream within the conduit for outward flow from the outlets and into barrels located in the roasting position;
• and
• an exhaust hood having a plurality of deflectors aligned with the plurality of outlets, the exhaust hood adapted to recover some of the heated air stream flowed outwardly from the outlets for recirculation, the exhaust hood being movable to position the deflectors at second ends of the barrels when the barrels in the roasting position, whereby barrels moved into the roasting position and between the outlets and the deflectors may be uniformly roasted by heated air directed out of the outlets and through the barrels.

A method of roasting wooden barrels for use in aging alcoholic spirits comprising the steps of:

• providing at least one already formed and dried wooden barrel of curved wooden staves encircled by at least one ring;
• locating said at least one wooden barrel in a roasting position, with a first end of each of the barrels adjacent to an outlet of a conduit;
• generating stream of heated air in the conduit;
• positioning a deflector at a second end of each of the barrels in the roasting position;
• and
• directing, for a predetermined duration, the heated air from each of the outlets into the first end of each barrel in the roasting position and partially blocking the directed air with the deflector positioned at the second end thereof, thereby to uniformly roast the inside surface but not the outside surface of each of the barrels.