Is there anything that I can do about it while it is full?
My wife bought me a 23L Vadai barrel for Christmas. It came a little late --mid January. I preped it early February and it sealed up well.
I've done two back-to-back Chardonnay barrel ferments in at two weeks each with it no problems.
After the second barrel ferment, I went straight to my Red Mountain Cab, no downtime.
But now after aging my Red Mountain Cab for 8 weeks, I found a gummy puddle of wine under the barrel. And I can see a very slow drip on one side (like 1 drip/hour). It appears to be leaking somewhere about 2/3-3/4 between staves at one end of the barrel. I don't think that this has been going on very long because until recently, I've stored my wine thief and hydrometer under the barrel, so I would notice if they had been sitting in a pool of wine.
Is this kind of sudden leaking common? What causes it to leak after being sealed so well for so long? Do I need to empty the barrel to deal with the leak? Or can I address it while it is full?
I only have a couple more weeks of barrel time planned for the RMC, so it wouldn't kill me if I had to empty it to properly seal it before barrel aging a Stags Leap Merlot.
My wife bought me a 23L Vadai barrel for Christmas. It came a little late --mid January. I preped it early February and it sealed up well.
I've done two back-to-back Chardonnay barrel ferments in at two weeks each with it no problems.
After the second barrel ferment, I went straight to my Red Mountain Cab, no downtime.
But now after aging my Red Mountain Cab for 8 weeks, I found a gummy puddle of wine under the barrel. And I can see a very slow drip on one side (like 1 drip/hour). It appears to be leaking somewhere about 2/3-3/4 between staves at one end of the barrel. I don't think that this has been going on very long because until recently, I've stored my wine thief and hydrometer under the barrel, so I would notice if they had been sitting in a pool of wine.
Is this kind of sudden leaking common? What causes it to leak after being sealed so well for so long? Do I need to empty the barrel to deal with the leak? Or can I address it while it is full?
I only have a couple more weeks of barrel time planned for the RMC, so it wouldn't kill me if I had to empty it to properly seal it before barrel aging a Stags Leap Merlot.