Eli5: how is it possible that a wooden barrel, which is used for aging alcohol, does not rot away.

Question

Or how do they prevent it from rotting for such a long period of time.

I cant imagine that they use multiple wooden barrels during an aging proces of 30 years or so. Because it would interupt the proces, I geuss?

In: 71

Answer 1

At a recent wine tasting in Serbia, they said the barrels are burned on the inside and that provides protection against rot (as well as adding flavours). They also said they can only use the barrels for 2 years before the wine has extracted all the compounds it needs from the wood, at which point they sell them to whisky distillers.