Neutralizing a barrel

[JTS84]

Depending on grape cost and availability, I am thinking of getting a 5 gallon barrel to use for this upcoming winter. I'm fairly certain I read on the forum somewhere that someone had asked about how to neutralize a barrel quickly but I can't seem to find it. Could someone point me to it or refresh me if this can be done?

Some of you may be asking why I would want to do this. While in Chile I was introduced to asoleado wine - my eventual goal is to make my own version of that type of wine for myself which involves barrel fermenting and aging a white wine. I don't want an oaky wine especially since I only plan on using a 5 gallon vs a standard barrel. I'm trying to plan ahead.

 

[stickman]

This one wasn't too long ago, it might be what you were looking for.

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/neutralize-a-oak-barrel-quickly.67179/

 

[mainshipfred]

I posted this on another thread but can't find it now. I too had a barrel I bought for whites and wanted to neutralize it. I filled it with a citric/K-meta solution and let it sit for 2 weeks and repeated this 4 times. The wine I put in was a Viognier and after 3 months in the barrel I had only a very slight hint of oak and I was pleased with the results. BTW, it was a 25 liter medium toast Hungarian barrel. I never tried the carbonite.

 

[JTS84]

That was exactly the thread I was looking for. Thank you @stickman !

If I follow the winemaker's instructions, wine will be sitting in the barrel for 2 years. Any thoughts on evaporation rates? I'd be leaving this at a fairly stable 62 degrees and 50% RH. In Chile they lose about 1/2 a barrel over that same time period.