2nd Life for Barrels

Boatboy24 · Mar 5, 2018

I have a 5 year old, 23 liter Vadai that I use for kits. It's been great, but my red kit volume has been dropping considerably and I'm not sure I want to go through the trouble of keeping this one up. And I have two others that I use for grape wines that are plenty for keeping up with my volume there. I suppose I could simply keep it full with a KMeta/Citric cocktail in between batches. In the event that I don't, any ideas for how to use an old, small barrel? Obviously, I could cut one end off and use it as a planter. But I figure I'd only get a few years out of it before it rots and would need to be tossed.

mainshipfred · Mar 5, 2018

It's neutral so keeping the cocktail in it wouldn't take away anything. Give you time to think about it. If you want to loan or sell it I'll have 4 batches coming up that would enjoy some micro/oxy.

cgallamo · Mar 5, 2018

Is it neutral? It would cool for grain storage or a side table in the man cave. Or put a bladder and a tap in it for large get togethers. It still has value for sure.

baron4406 · Mar 11, 2018

our local LHBS has a wine club and my wife asked to buy one of their old barrels (55gal) so we could make a table out of it. No problem, just got the call and the owner warned me to "hurry and get it so it doesn't dry out". Somehow the signals got crossed, I don't know where he got the idea I made 55 gallon batches......lol......I think all the wine stains add character. Can't wait.........

JohnT · Mar 14, 2018

If you like woodworking, you could try to make cheeseboards out of the heads and, perhaps, curved serving trays out of the staves. I have seen these in the past and they are pretty cool.

Before I do that, however, I would have to be convinced that you do not have any more use of it as a barrel.

balatonwine · Mar 14, 2018

JohnT said:
If you like woodworking

For ideas what to do with old wine barrels, lumberjocks.com is the place to go:

Johnd · Mar 14, 2018

I have an old barrel that i removed one head from, keep it in the wine room with a trash bag in it and use it as a trash can, fits in perfectly with the décor. You could also consider taking it apart, planning down the heads and staves, reassemble and have a reconditioned "new" barrel to use as your others wear out. Personally, I'd buy a new one before going through the ordeal, but it's an option..........