Recent content by BBiggi

Interesting, I purchased 2 30 gallon bourbon barrels from a distillery that was used once and dumped then sold. The oak and bourbon flavor is outstanding. I recently sent my wine samples to a lab for Total and Free SO2 readings and when they came back I opened it for the additional SO2 additions...

Good point Bernard, I looked into this further and I found that the humidity should be between 65 and 75%RH for barrels. I placed a humidifier in there and I still lost wine but it took awhile to get acclimated I think. I had tests done on free SO2 and I will complete this within 3 weeks. That...

I understand, do I top it off every time and should I be concerned if it's too low

I have a 30-gallon barrel with Italian Amarone wine ageing in it. I test it every 2 weeks and it is coming along nice. What should I expect in evaporation loss? I've been experiencing about 8 Oz's. every 2 weeks. I fill it up to the bottom of the bung hole every time. My question is how much I...

Last night I made this wonderful recipe along with Lebanese rice for my family of 11 and it was outstanding. Thank You for sharing it.

I am BBiggi and I've been making wine from juice for over 20 years and now I want to go to barrels. I used to help my grandfather in the mid 60s and too young to remember barrel maintenance and so on. I'm starting with a 30 gallon bourbon barrel used 1 time and I'm fermenting 5 buckets of...