# food grade plastic barrels for bulk aging



## toddrod (Aug 7, 2012)

I am thinking about getting a couple of 30 gallon food grade plastic closed head barrels for bulk aging of my muscadine wines. Has anyone used any of these barrels for this purpose. They have a 2" and a 3/4" opening in them. I figured this would be great as that is the amount of red and white muscadine wine I am planning on making this year.


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## UBB (Aug 7, 2012)

Have you looked at a 'Flex Tank'?

I like what I've read up on them. The 30 gallon Eco tank might be something worth considering.


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## bob1 (Aug 7, 2012)

post a link to the barrel you are talking about I would like to see one. a 50 gal. flex tank is almost 300.00


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## UBB (Aug 7, 2012)

bob1 said:


> post a link to the barrel you are talking about I would like to see one. a 50 gal. flex tank is almost 300.00


Yeah but the OP is talking about a *30* gallon tank. $177 for the Eco Tank.


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## toddrod (Aug 7, 2012)

A flex tank is more than I wanted to pay. I am talking about a brand new blue food grade barrel. 

Using the search function I found some threads on these but most people are using them for primary or a very short secondary. I am looking to use them for long term bulk aging for 6-9 months


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## bob1 (Aug 7, 2012)

my interest is here or peaked as I have passed up a few larger barrels that would have been good for secondary but were #2 and they were white like them. But I look at the fact they are darker and breath and sometimes wonder if the need for glass and specifically #1 is something that has been drilled in my head to sell the #1 food grade better bottles and glass.


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## grapeman (Aug 7, 2012)

If you are careful about the S02 additions, the heavy duty ones work great for about 6 months. Beyond that is a crapshoot. Sometimes it is OK, sometimes you end up with a bit of oxidation. I drill a hole in the lid and put an airlock on. A forstner bit drills the plastic clean and leaves a good seal. Been there, done that a lot. I am racking out of a 40 gallon barrel from last fall as I type this.


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## bob1 (Aug 7, 2012)

grapeman are you talking about the #2 barrels or the flex tanks? I keep thinking that wood barrels are going to oxidize wine a good bit in 9 months. The above I dont know what grade the flex tanks are I am guessing they say they breath well.


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## grapeman (Aug 8, 2012)

I was referring to the blue barrels asked about.

The Flextank is designed for a permeability to air similar to a wood barrel. The blue barrels have a variable permeability that cammot be determined well ahead of time, so the Flextanks are safer for long term.


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## toddrod (Aug 18, 2012)

This is just a follow up for more information I found about the food grade barrels. I have a friend, who is a commercial winemaker, that uses food grade containers in his processes. After much research that he did, he found out the the O2 penatration for these food grade containers is just about the same as if you would age your wine in a wooden barrel for 2 yrs. This is good enough for me as I will be getting a 15 gallon closed head barrel to do some bulk aging for up to 6 months in.


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