# Oak wine barrels at Walmart?



## garymc

I saw these barrels at my local Walmart a couple of days ago. $88 for what appears to be a 60 gallon oak barrel sounds cheap, but I don't see a 60 gallon batch in my near future. Oh, I have yet to have the presence of mind to turn my phone upside down when I take a picture that will be posted here. I don't know why, but WMTalk turns them all upside down. This one looks to be in pretty good shape.


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## Luse_Cellar

These are most likely being sold as planters not for using to make wine. Pop a bung and shine a flashlight in there, I bet that there's some white mold or bacterial colonies growing in there. Unless they have SO2 in them, which I would be surprised by, smell the inside of the barrel and see if it smells like vinegar or anything off. Barrels are, to some degree, an excellent harbor for all kinds of microbial life. I could stand to be corrected but I would be very surprised if these are being sold as anything other than decoration/planters.


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## Boatboy24

They appear to be used barrels. Judging from the pic, they are near the 'lawn and garden' area (I see firepits in the background). As Luse said, probably being sold for planters or outdoor decoration.


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## vacuumpumpman

Look at the date on the barrel 
09- 04 

Definitely used barrels


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## Whitehrs

Luse_Cellar said:


> These are most likely being sold as planters not for using to make wine. Pop a bung and shine a flashlight in there, I bet that there's some white mold or bacterial colonies growing in there. Unless they have SO2 in them, which I would be surprised by, smell the inside of the barrel and see if it smells like vinegar or anything off. Barrels are, to some degree, an excellent harbor for all kinds of microbial life. I could stand to be corrected but I would be very surprised if these are being sold as anything other than decoration/planters.




That makes sense, since Walmart is also an excellent harbor for Microbial life. LOL..


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## ibglowin

Not a bad price if you want one for decoration on the patio etc. Pretty good condition compared to ones selling for even more on CL.


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## cgallamo

Could they be cleaned and perhaps sanded and charred on the inside for re-use?


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## jburtner

It says french oak on the barrel.... That would make a lot of chips / dust / sticks for $88... French oak spirals at my LHBS go for ~$20 for 2x. Soak in some KMS solution, cut it up, toast to varying degree's....

Cheers!
-jb


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## mennyg19

jburtner said:


> It says french oak on the barrel.... That would make a lot of chips / dust / sticks for $88... French oak spirals at my LHBS go for ~$20 for 2x. Soak in some KMS solution, cut it up, toast to varying degree's....
> 
> Cheers!
> -jb




And keep your friends here in WMT in mind, k? Thanks...


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