Old Barrels found

[eroyal]

I recently purchased a house in Cenrtal Portland Oregon (built in 1880). While renovating the basement I discoverd a room that had been walled off. It contains 7 full size Barrels of Whiskey "no markings". Definetly whiskey inside. Any body have any idea what I should do (sell it, drink it, throw it out)?

[OscarV]

WOW!!!

Taste it, find out what kind of whiskey it is.

Then report back here asap.

[mozilla]

No markings on the barrels??? How many metal bands are holding the barrel together?

[OscarV]

How many metal bands are holding the barrel together?

Jeff, what would that signify?

[mozilla]

Jeff, what would that signify?

Older barrels were 8 hoop....newer are 6 hoop.

[barturtle]

Before I drink it I would see if you can find a lab that would test it to make sure its not tainted somehow. I would think barrels hidden in a walled off room would likely be from prohibition times. I would think a lot of stuff could leach through the wood in that amount of time.

Interesting find.

[jwrussell]

Wow. Interesting find.

[pepcycle]

There's a guy in Lexington who can test the stuff for contaminants and alcohol content.

His name is Gary Spedding.

I used to do sensory panel beverage testing for him when I lived there.

I have his card somewhere.

gspedding@alcbevtesting.com

You might want to send him a sample.

[fishnbowljoe]

Paging Corvallis Cracker! Scott, Where are you? Scott is a member here, up your way. There's a chance he could be of some assistance too. Good luck, and keep us posted. Joe

[Jono]

Wow....I bet it is Canadian.....agree...get it tested...who knows what they contain.

[pepcycle]

Please post some pics.

Barrel Heads are a wealth of information.

Were they on their sides or on their ends?

Leakage?

How did you open them? Removing Bungs without drilling them out is no easy task.

The more I think about it the more likely these are to be brandy or sherry.

[Virus_Of_Life]

I am in SE Portland, right around Reed College (Holgate & 28th). I'd very much like to see pictures of these, or perhaps even see them in person. Send me a PM if I could be of any assistance.

I don't recall all the history off hand, but remember reading and seeing TV specials about Portland's activities during prohibition which included underground activities and speakeasys. Could it be that old? Doubt it'd be any good if it was.

[callmeox]

...or much left in the barrel considering the 5% yearly loss to the angels.

[Dramiel McHinson]

Whiskey during prohibition was notoriously dangerous to drink because it was cut with all kinds of unhealthy stuff before it was sold to the general public. Testing it first is a good idea. If you can retrieve some of the whiskey and nose it you can get an idea of the taste without actually drinking any. Let it breath for about ten minutes and give er a whiff.

See if you can find some history on the house itself, who owned it and the type of "business" the owner(s) were in. It might be a private stash that was simply left in place because it was too much trouble to move when the wall was built. Knowing a little about the home and its owners could clue you into why the whiskey was there. Other forms of alcohol have been known to last a long time without being ruined as long as the environment was stable.

If nothing else, it's a great find and a small part of history. Please keep us posted.

[sku]

Talk about your dusties. This may be one of the coolest finds I've heard about. It would definitely be great to see pictures.

Isn't Portland the city that has a network of underground tunnels? Maybe it's all connected somehow.

[ILLfarmboy]

If the house had been, for most of the time the whiskey was there, heated in the winter and cooled in the summer, wouldn't that cut down significantly on the "aging" and the loss do to the angles?

Like everyone else I await pictures and additional information.:cool:

[Dr. François]

Pending further verification, I can't believe this seductive tale. Let's not get too excited.

[spun_cookie]

I will be in your neck of teh woods on June 19th... I hope this is good swill and would love to see where you found this.

I hope you plan on turnign the area into an old "speak easy" like bar room for yourself... just to great of a tale

[smokinjoe]

I came across this thread while looking up some other info. I remember this from last year. Two possibilities, in that he hasn't been on the site since his original post:

A heck of a whopper told. :bs: Or,

He didn't take advice given to get it tested before drinking. :pope:

[callmeox]

IIRC, this was around the same time that one new member spun the whopper of a tale about moving to the states from Europe and then he "found" Scientology. The whole thing was :bs:.

Just some bored no-life folks playing around, I guess.

[ILLfarmboy]

I came across this thread while looking up some other info. I remember this from last year. Two possibilities, in that he hasn't been on the site since his original post:

A heck of a whopper told. :bs: Or,

He didn't take advice given to get it tested before drinking. :pope:

If it had been real, pictures would have been forthcoming. From the first post it sounded like a tall tale, all the more so when pics didn't follow.

IIRC, this was around the same time that one new member spun the whopper of a tale about moving to the states from Europe and then he "found" Scientology. The whole thing was :bs:.

Just some bored no-life folks playing around, I guess.

I remember that thread. The guy seemed to genuinely take offense when folks tried to point out that, to be blunt, it was nothing but a cult.

I took it he was as brainwashed as he made himself sound.

[Virus_Of_Life]

This guy was never active again after the day of posting this, I think he was full of :shithappens::horseshit:

[Special Reserve]

Given the course of events, it's most likely what VOL says it is.

But this did get me to thinking.

My Grandpa has several old barrels in his basement and I got to sample its contents. Hard cider. At least one of his sons also had several barrels in his basement and as teenagers my cousin and I would sample for it, also hard cider. My dad's brother always had home made wine in his basement stored in some barrels. He would give my dad and I samples and my dad would give he his sample as well. My dad was always clever enough to give me his sample as he didn't like it and I might add for good reason. My uncle's wine was bad but at 15 you did not know or care.