Anyone using oak barrels?

[Tom]

yea didnt think its a good idea...

 

[BarrelMan]

If I were working with an old barrel I bought for furniture I would mark all the staves and then take it apart and grind out the inside down to clean wood then put it back together without one end and then take some white oak chips and build a fire, after the chips were burning good I would throw them inside the barrel laying down, I would roll the barrel around and move the burning chips around until the whole inside of the barrel were charred again, then I would close the barrel and use it.

 

[JohnT]

John,i do the same as your plan so i dont have a problem with it.2nd i use an airlock then go over to a rubber cork that fits your barrel.You will want to be able to check your wine and keep your barrel full at all times.What kind of oak is your barrel?What kind of toast?and how many gallons is it?
Good Luck to you!!

It is american oak, 59 gallons, and medium toast. Since it is an old barrel, I do not think that I will get any wood flavor, but we will see.

 

[JohnT]

If I were working with an old barrel I bought for furniture I would mark all the staves and then take it apart and grind out the inside down to clean wood then put it back together without one end and then take some white oak chips and build a fire, after the chips were burning good I would throw them inside the barrel laying down, I would roll the barrel around and move the burning chips around until the whole inside of the barrel were charred again, then I would close the barrel and use it.

When I say furnature, I mean that I bought it at my wine supply store. It was marked down several times. My intent was to use it as a table when I bought it. It was not finished and was being sold for use in winemaking.

TAKE IT APART??? Boy, you have a lot of faith in me! I am just mastering the art of getting the thing swelled back up so that it holds water!

 

[JohnT]

Hey John,wine barrels are expensive,90bucks yea you just use for flower pots.Barrels should always be filled,www.morewine.com has instructions on barrel management.I have 2- 30 gallon re generated barrels french oak,1 brand new 30 gallon french oak and a 15 american oak and share 1 with my brothers,who also have barrels of their own.Its diffently more work cleaning and when racking is also alot of work but well worth the out come.If your interested you should try maybe a recoop or regenerated barrel,but keep in mind make sure you clean and sanitize like you would normally,you will love the wine that you get,and always keep your barrel filled.

This barrel was on "double mark down". It normally costs much more.
I want to keep an open mind and give it a try. Depending on the results, I may very well turn the cask into a couple of flower pots. We'll see.

 

[JohnT]

One last question

How often should a cask be checked/topped off?

Also, how high do you fill your casks? I imagine that you should fill them as full as possible.

 

[Flame145]

barrel cleaning

does anyone know if you use sulfur sticks between rackings. I have 53 gallons of red in a white oak medium toast barrel. after racking and you clean the barrel out with fresh water, do you need to burn a sulfur stick prior to putting the wine back into barrel ????? Sorry if that was a stupid question. I read the treatment of oak barrels from more wine but no one talks about what to do for treatment at rackings other than wash your barrel out.

 

[Wade E]

Not needed unlss you think there is a problem. Just make up a S02 solution of 3 tbls per gallon along with 3 tbls of citric acid and let tyat sit in the barrel for a day swishing it around and youll be good to go.

 

[rodo]

The barrel always needs to be dry before burning the sulfur.

 

[MFC]

yea didnt think its a good idea...

Just an FYI my grandfather made his wine in whiskey barrels. Tasted awesome. A smokey flavor but awesome. Try fortisimo wine it's that type of flavoring.