# Oak age



## ehammonds (May 23, 2015)

I know this topic has been discussed, but I see a lot of variance in the responses. I have a vadai 30 liter barrel. The third wine is in it currently, a cab/merlot. How long should the wine stay in this round? I was planning for three months. Also, for the next rounds, what's the typical and max barrel age time? I'm making kits only for now.


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## ehammonds (May 23, 2015)

Oops, typo: it's a 20 liter. The below post was helpful, just wondering if the responses differ much for 20 liter barrels.


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## ibglowin (May 23, 2015)

You have left out quite a bit from the equation here. 

How long was the first wine in for?

How long was the 2nd wine in for?


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## ehammonds (May 23, 2015)

3 and 6 weeks


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## ibglowin (May 23, 2015)

You should be able to get it to 12 weeks with that wine. I would check it around 9-10 weeks and see what you think. You will be completely out of free sulfite by then. Do you have an accurate way to check SO2? I would not go past 5-6 months with that small of barrel and you would need to stay on top of sulfite levels all along the way.


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## ehammonds (May 23, 2015)

Thanks. I have a way to test so2, though not a great tester. I'll expect to dose probably each month.


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## rayaws1 (Aug 31, 2016)

Don't use kits. Buy juice and craft it with a yeast you like that may achieve your objectives. The result is no kit taste. The wine will have a nose and your oak barrels will function like they should


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## JohnT (Sep 7, 2016)

rayaws1 said:


> Don't use kits. Buy juice and craft it with a yeast you like that may achieve your objectives. The result is no kit taste. The wine will have a nose and your oak barrels will function like they should


 
To be clear, I guess you are saying that you prefer juice over kits? 

Most red wines, and a few whites, can benefit from barrel aging. 

You get the same benefit regardless of weather you are doing a kit, a pail of juice, or processing whole fruit. A barrel will function exactly the same for each one of those choices.


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