# Barrel help



## ehammonds (Jan 13, 2015)

Was hoping for some input. I'm really interested in buying a vadai 5.3 gal barrel for my 6 gallon kits. I have a few concerns though. I don't currently have enough wines in the rotation to ensure I keep the barrel in use. Is this a big problem, ie having to store it in between oaking? Can I just fill it with water and K meta for storage? Also, I don't have a way to test SO2 levels and can't yet afford an expensive vinmetrica. Is this a huge problem, or can I wing it with generous k meta doses? Hoping a barrel will bring my kits to the next level, but maybe I'm going about this wrong? Thanks!!!!


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 13, 2015)

You can fill it with water and KMeta for storage, but you will waste all that good oak essence when you wash that water down the drain. 

I've used the SO2 test strips. While they are by no means the most accurate measure out there, they give me a ballpark sense of what the levels are. I can use my judgement from there as to whether or not I need to add. I have every intention of getting a Vinmetrica unit soon though. I've been lucky so far, but it is only a matter of time before I screw something up without solid data. In hindsight, I probably should have just waited.

I would hold off on getting a barrel until you have 2 or 3 wines that are clear, or very near clear. You will need a method to measure SO2, as stated. You will also need a reliable way to measure pH. Otherwise, you won't know how much sulfite you need.


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## ehammonds (Jan 13, 2015)

Thanks. I've got a red mountain cab clarifying now and I've been eyeing that CC amarone. Maybe I'll buy that kit instead and wait to have it ready to oak, then go for the barrel in a few months.


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## ColemanM (Jan 13, 2015)

The CC Amarone is a great kit. It was my 4th fill in a then 7 month old 5.3 Vadai barrel. I left it in for 19 weeks and now the oak is pulling way back. The wine is now 14 months old and has great legs, mouthfeel and flavor. Dominated by cherry right now. The WE Amarone has more anise aroma and taste but didn't see the inside of a barrel and the two wines couldn't be more different. You will need about 3 wines already cleared or two cleared and one close before you get the barrel. That will buy you about 6 months before you need another wine cleared. Good luck, wise choice.


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## salcoco (Jan 14, 2015)

Adding 1/4 tsp of K-meta per 5 gallons will get you where you need to be without other concerns. I and members of my wine club have tested for SO2 with various test equipment and found this seat of the pants approach was a good as any testing. do this every two months and you will be fine. A ph meter is warranted for correct balance for fermentation and acid testing. Also using mixture of K-meta and citric acid in for the barrel will work. another is burning a sulphur stick and using a tight bung will keep barrel fine. if liquid use 3 grams SO2 and 11 grams of citric acid per gallon of water to fill barrel.


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 14, 2015)

@salcoco:

What size barrels are you using, and do you feel that barrel size has any impact on the rate of SO2 depletion? Thanks.

Jim


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## olusteebus (Jan 14, 2015)

ok, say you have a 5.3 gallon barrel. How would you rotate 18 gallons of wine into that barrel?


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 14, 2015)

olusteebus said:


> ok, say you have a 5.3 gallon barrel. How would you rotate 18 gallons of wine into that barrel?



5.3 gallons at a time?


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## FTC Wines (Jan 15, 2015)

Interesting on the 5.3 gal barrel. I was planning on buying 6 gal barrels, for my 6 gal kits. I have a good stock of similar wine from the previous year so I should have plenty to top off with. But I think it will hard to pour ur fav bottled wine into the barrel just to top off. Roy


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 15, 2015)

FTC Wines said:


> Interesting on the 5.3 gal barrel. I was planning on buying 6 gal barrels, for my 6 gal kits. I have a good stock of similar wine from the previous year so I should have plenty to top off with. But I think it will hard to pour ur fav bottled wine into the barrel just to top off. Roy



I haven't had any issues doing that. I take a small flashlight in one hand, and the bottle in the other. I shine the light into the barrel so I can tell when the wine is getting near the top.


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## ehammonds (Jan 15, 2015)

Novice question: does the wine need to be completely cleared before putting into barrel, or can you put the stabilized wine into the barrel to clear?


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## JohnT (Jan 15, 2015)

You can, but IMHO it would be better if you clarify first. 

Sediment will only serve to impede (although only very slightly) the wine's contact with the wood. You will also have an easier time cleaning the barrel afterwards.


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 15, 2015)

I agree 100% with John. Wait until the wine is clear.


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## ehammonds (Jan 15, 2015)

Thanks everyone!


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## FTC Wines (Jan 15, 2015)

Boatboy, my sarcasm isn't understood by many! What I meant is, it's hard to take a great drinkable wine & pour it into a barrel of wine that may be drinkable in a year! Roy


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## olusteebus (Jan 15, 2015)

Boatboy24 said:


> 5.3 gallons at a time?



Damn, I shoulda knowed that. 

Ok, you got 16 gallons of wine and a 5.3 gallon barrel. So, and I am guessing here, you want to age some of that 16 gallons of wine in that barrel, say 5.3 gallons of it. Now, you gots 10.7 gallons left in carboys. 

So, you may want to bottle that barrel aged 5.3 gallons and then put another 5.3 gallons of the carboy wine in the barrel. 

Let me stop here and make sure, am I kinda on track here. Do you think I am understanding this process?

How long do I let the original 5.3 gallons stay in the barrel?


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## ColemanM (Jan 15, 2015)

I'm guessing here, but 18 gallons seems like he has 3 kits of wine done. You would put the first 5.3 into the barrel. Use the remaining .7 gallons to top up. The first wine will probably only stay in for 3 weeks or so til it gets oaked. Yank that out and put it into a 5 gallon carboy and some bottles. Put the second 6 gallon wine in and use the remainder of that wine to top up that barrel. This wine would probably stay in for 6-10 weeks. Rack that into a 5 gallon carboy and some bottles, then in goes the third kit for about 12-18 weeks. When that one comes out, the first one would have relaxed a little in the amount it is oaked, it can then go back into the barrel to finish up its 12+ weeks in the barrel unless you have made a new wine, which would go in before this wine is recycled into the barrel. I would then be thinking about maybe cycling the second wine back in when the barrel is giving less oak and more for the purpose of micro oxidation. That is the long answer to the question. don't forget to check the so2 levels!


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 15, 2015)

Yep, what @ColemanM said. I'm doing a version of that now in one of my 6 gallon barrels. I have 10 gallons of Cab/Merlot from this Spring's Chilean harvest. I put 6 in and that will stay for 3-4 months, at which time I'll remove 3-ish and put the three gallon carboy in there. I have a 1 gallon that I'll spit into bottles for topping up over it's barrel time. 

It is the same with my CA Old Vine Zin from the fall, though I have 11 gallons of that. I'm thinking I need a 30 liter barrel.


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