Barrel Aging Schedule

[joea132]

I've got my first 100L barrel sitting in the basement patiently waiting to be put to work. I think it would be prudent to assemble a barrel aging schedule and make it a sticky in this thread. I'd like to get schedules for all sizes of barrels from 5 to 60 gallons.

For those of you who don't understand, wine aging in a barrel picks up a certain amount of oak over time. A new barrel will impart oak at a faster rate than one that has had a few batched rotated through it. Winemakers often have a "schedule" of how long they intend to leave each batch in the barrel to give it the right amount of oak. Because the size of the barrel changes the amount of surface area to wine, each barrel has a unique time frame. This time is normally expressed in weeks. Thanks in advance everybody!

Lets fill in the blanks:

~20L (5 gallon)

2 weeks ------1st batch
4 weeks------2nd batch
8 weeks------3rd batch
16 weeks-----4th batch
32 weeks-----5th batch
**See the post below by ibglowin

(Thanks ibglowin for this schedule, I stole it off of an earlier post)

~23L (6 gallon)

4 weeks ------1st batch
8 weeks------2nd batch
12 weeks-----3rd batch
16 weeks-----4th batch
20 weeks-----5th batch
24 weeks-----6th batch
**See the post below by ibglowin

55L (15 gallon)


100L (27 gallon)


225L (59 gallon)

 

[ibglowin]

This will be a good sticky! I have 3 of the 23L (6 Gallons) Vadai Barrels now. Oak is a personal preference obviously so you should always taste along the way. Just remember that the oak levels on wine aged in a barrel will fall back after you remove them from the barrel after a few months. I don't know why but all of mine have either gone back in for a second round in the barrel or I added some beans to bump it back up a notch. Here is my latest break in schedule on my newest 23L Vadai.

On these small barrels, SO2 levels will drop like a rock so after 3 months your levels will go from say 40ppm to start to like 10ppm when you pull them out. You will always need a pretty good dose to bring it back up to proper levels before bottling.

Hopefully someone with the bigger barrels will pop in and give us some time frames on other sized barrels.

~23L (6 gallon)

4 weeks ------1st batch
8 weeks------2nd batch
12 weeks-----3rd batch
16 weeks-----4th batch
20 weeks-----5th batch
24 weeks-----6th batch

 

[pioneergirl]

Awesome, this Fall, a friend and I will be venturing into winemaking from local grapes in Idaho and he has purchased 2 new barrells (sp?) will be following!

 

[joea132]

Bump this post. Anybody with knowledge is encouraged to fill in the blanks.

Again I'm looking to turn this into a sticky to help future winemakers interested in barrels have a quick access guide.

 

[robie]

Joe, you should be able to get the numbers for the other barrel sizes directly from one of the barrel manufacturers.

 

[joea132]

Joe, you should be able to get the numbers for the other barrel sizes directly from one of the barrel manufacturers.

Thanks robie, I didn't even think of that. I'll make some phone calls today.

 

[Boatboy24]

Very interesting thread. I'm interested in getting a 23L barrel so I was looking at this schedule.

~23L (6 gallon)

4 weeks ------1st batch
8 weeks------2nd batch
12 weeks-----3rd batch
16 weeks-----4th batch
20 weeks-----5th batch
24 weeks-----6th batch
__________________

If followed, when you are done with the 6th batch, it will be 84 weeks (roughly 19 months). Is the barrel considered neutral at that point? From the looks of it, I need to have two kits lined up before I even order one of these. Once the third one goes in, you have a little breathing room.

Another question though: If I'm going to lose some volume in the barrel, do you think it would be smarter to go with 5 gallons, and reserve one gallon from each kit for topping off, etc? I don't imagine too much volume would be lost in the first batch or two. But beyond that, I'm not sure how much loss to expect.

 

[ibglowin]

No, I don't recommend anything less than the 23L. Just not worth the money plus they have more problems with leakage. Even the 23L barrels can have some issues. If you are using the 23L Italian carboys and you have your wine cleared and stabilized and fully topped up you will have about a bottle left over when you fill the barrel up. This should get you through the barrel cycle easily. When you pull it from the barrel you will need some more wine to top the carboy back up so either use some of your own home brew or purchase an inexpensive commercial bottle. The 23L barrels are much closer to 6 gallons than the 23L Italian carboys are!

Have 2-3 kits lined up first. Also if you bulk age long enough you can take the first few kits and rotate them back into the barrel for a few more weeks. The oak levels seem to drop off on the kits that only are in for a short period of time.

They will provide oak for up to two years of continuous use (so keep good notes of how long things are in and keep a tally). After that you can just toss in some oak beans to provide the oak flavor once again and let the barrel do its micro-ox/concentration through evaporation thing.

 

[Boatboy24]

Bumping this. Should it be a sticky?

 

[kwb1963]

Another awesome post. Thanks for starting this.

 

[Enologo]

Giving this a bump as I just got my 100L barrel and looking for sugestions on the aging schedule.

 

[richmke]

I have no idea, but I stayed in a holiday inn express last night.

Assuming all else is equal, volume (wine) is proportionate to r^3, but surface area (oak) is proportionate to r^2. So, to get 4 times the volume, you get 2.45 times the surface area, or only 60% of an increase in surface area vs volume. That would imply needing 60% more time in the barrel.

I remember reading somewhere that for a new oak barrel, it could impart enough oak in just a few days. So, I would recommend sampling starting at 50% of the expected time.

 

[FTC Wines]

Thanks for bumping this. We just received our Vinmetric 300, now expect to have at least 1 barrel by years end. Will get a 23 L barrel & rotate 4 reds we have thru it. I would never have thought that U would only keep the first wine in there for 2 weeks! Thanks, Roy

 

[markb1983]

Hello!

I am thinking of getting a 11 gallon barrel from Vadai! Any idea on a formula to figure out an aging scheme? I went to a public school so I dont trust my math that much.

 

[ibglowin]

Knowing what I do now about hungarian oak and 23L barrels I would say you could easily do 3-6 months on the 11 gallon. I put a Petit Syrah in a 23L for almost 6 months on a brand new 23L barrel and did not over oak it although I thought I might have at first. As this wine was going to be made into a Port down the road I was not too worried about the oak as the wine was going to be fortified and back sweetened. After pulling the wine out of the barrel and back to carboy after 3-6 months the oak had fallen way back. I ended up adding more oak to the wine to bump it back up.

Just realize that the oak will fall back and you can always run the wine back through the barrel if you wish which will only improve it more. You will have to have a good way to accurately monitor SO2 levels.

 

[markb1983]

I am currently on my 4th rotation of wine. First one was about 6 weeks. It was Cellar Craft Rosso, the second was an eclipse cab, third was Cellar Craft Amarone, and now an Eclipse Barolo. Its been in since Sept 19. Im hoping for 6 months in the barrel. Thoughts?

 

[ibglowin]

I don't see any problem with it.

 

[Enologo]

I currently don't have a way to monitor the SO2 levels and have been following pretty much the rule of thumb a quarter teaspoon every three months per 6 gallons. Will this not work for the barrel??

 

[ibglowin]

No it will not. 3 months in a small (23L) barrel will completely deplete all available SO2 so you basically have to start over with your Sulfite addition. If you have a barrel you need a way to accurately monitor SO2 levels and I don't mean Accuvin test strips. I mean a Vinemetrica or an A/O rig.

 

[Enologo]

The barrel is 100 Liters. I thought at that size it would be a little less critical at least until I can get a letter off to Santa for a Vinemetrica.