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Regarding wine barrel aged grain spirits, malt liquors, and beers…

Question:

Regarding wine barrel aged grain spirits, malt liquors, and beers, if the barrel has been cleaned and scraped as required by FDA and Health department standards, is the barrel still nosein ta’am to the point of an issur? in other words, now that the barrel has been cleaned and scraped (kdei klipa), does the barrel still give over the ta’am of the wine (yeino stam), or does it give the flavor of the wood? and if it does transfer the flavor of the wine to the beer, is it actually enough to change the flavor halachically?

Answer:

Very controversial topic – wines aged in sherry casks. In 1949 R. Pinchas Teitz from Elizabeth N.J. asked Reb Moshe Feinstein about whisky which had wine added to it. Reb Daniel Levy from Zurich told me that Reb. Y. Weiss (Ravad Eida HaCharedis) was lenient and said you can drink the whisky. See http://www.crcweb.org/Sherry%20Casks%202.pdf

Sources:

Y:D 134:13, Teshuvos Igros Moshe Y:D 62-63, Minchas Yitschok 2:28

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