Here is a post from the kit tweaking thread which talks about leaving some must out of the barrel for fermenting room ( good idea !) and fruit flavour
Barrel fermenting a wine kit and using small barrels
one of the things that challenges a kit wine maker is the small vollumes and the desire to make more commercialy styled wine.
Small barrels have their challenges , a 23 litre 6 gallon barrel is often what kit winemakers want to use as its sized for one kit.
I belive a 40 litre barrel is the idea size for a kit winemaker because its got a bit more moderate oak to wine ratio but I will write this thread based on a 23 litre barrell and most of the same ideas apply for barrels a bit larger than that.
to barrel ferment a chardonnay (usually used althoug I have done a sauvignon blanc for a fume blanc style that came out well , but try chardonnay first )
what you do is hydrate the kit in your primary as per the instructions . ( I leave out the bentonite) ( I think this is for less sludge in the barrell)
hydrate you yeast by adding the packet to 50ml of luke warm cholrine free water (I just use a britta filter an tap water) and stirr it up.
after 10- 15 minutes add it to your primary full of juice.
stirr the primary well , and fill your brand new 23 litre barrel 2/3 full ( I like hungarian oak , Vadai Barrels are good value for money)
and leave the rest of the must in the primary.
I usually put an airlock or cloth over the bung hole to keep bugs etc out . and cover the primary fermenter or put its lid on.
when you hydrometer tells you the primary is dry ( its a bit tricky to get a sample out of a small barrel so I just use the primary for a guide)
when its dry rack both portions together in carboy and continue as normal.
rince the barrel with clean cold water , and start the process again , you can do another chardonnay , try a sauvignion blanc, viognier or for a twist try a non-skins red kit .
I like pinot noir or rhone vareitals or blends for this .
I usually repeat this 3 times , then the barrel is ready to use for longer term 3 months plus ageing of your other reds.
it will take a few uses untill your barrel gets broken in to the point where you can age a kit in it for a year without over oaking. but you should get progressivly longer times with each use.
the active yeast metabolises buffers some oak compounds durring a ferment and gives it a nice integrated oaking , leaving some of the kit in the primary gives it its fruit back and moderates the oaking too. it also prevents the barrel from foaming over.
its a good way to break in a small barrel , I have seen people soak a small barrel with percarbonate to break it in but that seems like a waste to me.
Last edited by bzac; 04-27-2012 at 11:49 AM.