My barrel adventure!

[ibglowin]

No TonyT is spot on. 3 months is the sweet spot on a small barrel with a kit wine. Wine made from fresh grapes is about 6 months. You can keep them in longer if you like but those are very good timelines once the barrel is broken in. My oldest Vadai is coming up on 4 years and still in service.

 

[Elmer]

Well I guess I have only a couple weeks left before I hit the 3 month mark.
I got the Barolo in there now, hoping it picks up some oak.

I guess from this point on I will use it as a wooded carboy!


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[sdelli]

No TonyT is spot on. 3 months is the sweet spot on a small barrel with a kit wine. Wine made from fresh grapes is about 6 months. You can keep them in longer if you like but those are very good timelines once the barrel is broken in. My oldest Vadai is coming up on 4 years and still in service.

Ya... Sorry. I forget sometimes that I mostly only deal with fresh grapes and juice.....

 

[Elmer]

Barolo has been in the barrel for nearly 2 months and it is getting well oaked.

However it is not nearly as oaked as the brunello, which spent 1/2 the time of the barolo in the barrel.

 

[tonyt]

My oldest Vadai is coming up on 4 years and still in service.

Mike
How long do you expect to be able to continue using it? I understand its already neutral. Are you oaking in carboy or are you adding oak to the 4yo barrel?

 

[ibglowin]

I am adding ~3oz oak right to the barrel on 3 of my 4 Vadai's. Only the last one is not neutral at this point. As long as they show no signs of infection going to keep on keeping on. At some point I may switch over to either a 40L or 50L and simplify things since I usually do two carboys worth of each varietal. I rotate after 6 months and that takes most of a day to move 4 out, clean and sanitize the barrel and rotate back in.

 

[Elmer]

I popped a bottle of my 2013 RJ Super Tuscan.
Bulk aged 8months (1.5 of that in a barrel) an additional month with 1 oz of Hungarian med toast cubes.

My first reaction was it was tart and liquid lumber, I could taste the effects of the barrel.
I let glass sit and air out for a bit and it mellowed into a smokey delight.

Barrel aged super Tuscan is a winner!


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[Juniorvintner]

I have an "old" American oak barrel. My husband bought it for liquor and never used it. I have tightened the rings an swelled the barrel with the hot water method. Since this barrel has traveled with us through numerous moves, my next step is to use Barrelkleen, just to be sure. I have read through these threads but don't see any mention of waxing?? Any suggestions, if so beeswax or paraffin?





BARREL PREP INSTRUCTIONS

PREPARATION FOR NEW TOASTED BARRELS PRIOR TO USE
Do Not Remove the Saran Wrap from the barrel until you are ready to prep the barrel with our Barrel Prep Instructions and Store The Barrel In A Cool Place to keep the wood from drying out.

Prep your barrel just before you are going to make your wine in the barrel, otherwise if your barrel is not in use after you prep it, you will have to treat your barrel with the Barrel Prep After Use Instructions using sulfite so no bacteria forms in the barrel while it is sitting around waiting for the winemaking procedure.

HOW TO PREPARE THE BARREL BEFORE PUTTING WINE IN IT
Tighten the hoops if they are loose. Start with the belly hoops up to the head hoops.
We tighten all of the hoops if they are loose at our warehouse before we ship your barrel.

WATER TREATMENT
Put boiling hot water on the head of the upright barrel 30 minutes.
Do the same on the other head.
Repeat the boiling hot water procedure on the heads one more time.
Put 3/10th of the barrel measurement of hot boiling water inside the barrel.
Put the bung in place and stand the barrel on each head about 30 minutes.
Do not stand in front of the bung because the pressure of the steam could shoot the bung out like a bullet and could hurt someone or damage something.
Roll the barrel slowly on its belly so the boiling water hits all of the staves.
Keep the boiling hot water in the barrel for 2 to 3 hours.
Pour the water out of the barrel.
Lie the barrel down on it's side with the bung opening in the upright position.
Fill the barrel completely with tap water.
Fill the barrel daily with tap water and keep it full until the barrel does not show any leakage or wetness
outside of the barrel. At least 3 to 5 days.
You must add sulfite to the water proportionately to your barrel size if you have to soak your barrel more than 3 days so no germ can develop in the barrel during the barrel soaking process.
If the barrel shows any wetness the second day or after that, the winemaker should extend the soaking to at least 7 days or as many days as it is required to stop the leakage.

After the barrel has stopped leaking, soak the barrel a minimum of 3 to 5 more days.
The acidity in the wine or brandy will find the smallest hole and cause a leak if the barrel is not soaked well enough.
If you do not soak your barrels properly with water, you will loose some of your wine & brandy because it will soak into the barrel wood.
If the barrel was leaking water more than 2 days, "DO NOT PUT WINE IN YOUR BARREL."



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[jpwatkins9]

Just wondering, got a new barrel, and started the soaking process after tightening the hoops. Had some end leakage and some from the staves. The water came out black. Is that normal? Barrel is supposed to be medium toast. Had to use a bit of wax on the ends and looks like leakeding has stopped after a few weeks. Will use Kmeta before I put anything in it. Is the black water normal, or should I get an I an untoasted or light toasted barrel?

 

[Boatboy24]

Just wondering, got a new barrel, and started the soaking process after tightening the hoops. Had some end leakage and some from the staves. The water came out black. Is that normal? Barrel is supposed to be medium toast. Had to use a bit of wax on the ends and looks like leakeding has stopped after a few weeks. Will use Kmeta before I put anything in it. Is the black water normal, or should I get an I an untoasted or light toasted barrel?

That's just from the toast. I fill my new barrels up for a day or two just to get that rinsed out, but it should be no harm.

 

[jpwatkins9]

By the way, wish I had gotten those barrel prep instructions with my barrel. They do make a lot of sense and seem to work.

Thanks for the reply, that was what I thought, but ya never know.

 

[mainshipfred]

@Juniorvintner, if your husband bought it for liquor it's probably charred and not toasted and not recommended for wine. @jpwatkins9 you may want to check yours as well. The water should come out dark but not black.

 

[FTC Wines]

I’ll recommend Vadi barrel prep instructions to every one. In the process of doing my 3rd as I type. Now have 2-40L barrels & a 23 L one. They are awesome. Roy

 

[jpwatkins9]

Mine was definitely black, stained the porch with it. Rinsed it out three times, still got black. Think I may look at another barrel toused for wine. Don’t know many folk that use a 20L barrel for Whisky though.