Mini Hybrid Barrels?

[Ty520]

Deos anyone have any experience with any of those mini hybrid barrels (stainless body/wood heads) for home wine aging from companies like Bad Motivator or Fusion Barrel Works?

they claim its the most accurate way to mimic a full size barrel at the home scale?

 

[Ohio Bob]

To be honest, I’d never heard of such a thing. But it’s really intriguing. I could imagine disassembling the barrel for storage and assembling as needed. Also you could probably get replacement heads to bring the barrel back to “new” status. I’m seriously thinking about it.

 

[ChuckD]

To be honest, I’d never heard of such a thing. But it’s really intriguing. I could imagine disassembling the barrel for storage and assembling as needed. Also you could probably get replacement heads to bring the barrel back to “new” status. I’m seriously thinking about it.

I looked and the head (only one) is press fit in the barrels… It looks like the barrel rim may be rolled inward to hold the head. I’d want to make sure it could be removed and replaced DIY style. If it could, making a new one should be simple

 

[winemaker81]

they claim its the most accurate way to mimic a full size barrel at the home scale?

With only one head (or even two), the full evaporation effect of a barrel will not be present. There will be some, but the amount of oak surface area will be less than 20% of a regular barrel of the same size.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Diffusion is also a function of the thickness of the material. So in theory you could tune the total diffusion to the same as a barrel by changing the thickness of the head.

 

[winemaker81]

Diffusion is also a function of the thickness of the material. So in theory you could tune the total diffusion to the same as a barrel by changing the thickness of the head.

What you are saying is correct, but it may not be feasible.

I did a sample calculation using sample figures for a 15 gallon barrel. The numbers listed sound reasonable based upon my barrels, so I used them: The interior dimensions would be 22" long, 16" middle diameter, and 13" end diameter.

Using the formula for the surface area of a closed cylinder [ πdH + 2(πr2) ] and these values:

H: 22
d: 14.5 <--- average of the middle and end diameters
r: 6.5 <--- radius of end diameter
PI: 3.141592654

The barrel is not a cylinder and sizes vary as they're hand-made, so I figured an average value for the diameter is reasonable.

Surface area in square inches:
barrel sides: 1,002.2
each head: 132.7
Total area: 1,267.6

Each head is 10.5% of the total surface area, so combined they're 21%.

Is it feasible to make the wood thin enough to provide enough diffusion? How many tests need to be conducted, and for how long each?

Staves are typically 1" thick. If the heads are made thin enough, is there a potential for breakage or too much seepage?

FYI on the formula -- I remembered the area of a circle, but had to look up the surface area of a cylinder.

• πdH: surface area of the sides of a cylinder
• 2(πr2): Surface area of two circles (heads)