Barrel Evaporates quickly?

[Elmer]

I have a 5.1 gallon american oak barrel. It is now neutral and has its 4th wine residing inside, a barolo.

I have noticed that once a month I have to top up right to the plug, which then over flows when I cork it.

I have read that you loose something like 10% in the first few weeks but it slows down after that. However I am topping up with 1 bottle a month. Is this correct?
Is this normal?
Is there something I should be doing to prevent this or just continue to top up?

Secondly, all the wax I had used to seal the barrel has been pushed out of the barrel (like play-do squeezed through your fingers).
the barrel does not leak, but I was not sure if this was due to shift in pressure and humidity?

 

[berrycrush]

Where did you buy you barrel from?

 

[Elmer]

Where did you buy you barrel from?

I have no idea, my wife snagged it for a holiday gift.
But it may be from American Oak Barrel Company.
But I can not specifically confirm not deny that information.

 

[richmke]

Do you have any teenagers?

 

[Boatboy24]

That sounds about right. Depending on conditions, I can lose between 375 and 750ml in a month.

 

[tonyt]

I top up at least every two weeks to the tune of about 375 per month. 750 per month sounds a bit high to me but I imagine it depends on atmospheric conditions, temp, humidity and so on where your barrel is stored.

 

[Rocky]

After working with these small barrels (6 gallon), I have come to the inalterable conclusion that these so-called "angels" are a bunch of lushes!

 

[richmke]

Wow. If you guys are loosing that much in the barrel, I think I'll stick to glass carboys and oak swirls.

Hmm... if it is evaporating, does that mean the wine is becoming concentrated?

 

[Boatboy24]

Hmm... if it is evaporating, does that mean the wine is becoming concentrated?

Yep.

I had a Carmenere in a 6 gallon barrel for 21 weeks and lost almost a gallon in the process. But it was totally worth it.

 

[geek]

So the Flex tank now comes to mind......hmmmmm

 

[tonyt]

Wow. If you guys are loosing that much in the barrel, I think I'll stick to glass carboys and oak swirls.

Hmm... if it is evaporating, does that mean the wine is becoming concentrated?

Yep. Many of us long for when our barrels become neutral so we get the comcentration without the oaking. I do my oaking as rich says in glass carboys and oak swirls (spirals).

 

[manvsvine]

the smaller the barrel the larger the surface area to wine ratio , so you get faster evaporation.

a 60 gallon winery barrel evaporates (depending on ambient humidity) approximately one bottle a month.

if you are storing your small barrel in a place without much humidity , combined with the small size , you are going to get very high evaporation rates.

 

[berrycrush]

Can you post a photo of your barrel's end? Just want to see how thick the oak staves are.

 

[Elmer]

I top up my barrel this weekend, it only required 1/2 a .750 litre bottle.
So I guess I did not lose as much as I was thinking.

However, while I may be loosing more than I would storing in a glass carboy, The change to the taste is well worth it.
The dreaded KT is all but vanished.

 

[tonyt]

Here you go

 

[berrycrush]

It looks thin to me. What you guys think?

 

[Elmer]

Here you go

Mine barrel is about as thick.

 

[ibglowin]

It's perfectly proportionate to the size of the barrel.

It looks thin to me. What you guys think?

 

[berrycrush]

It's perfectly proportionate to the size of the barrel.

Sorry I thought the picture was of Elmer's barrel. I don't know the size of your barrel, TonyT, so I cannot form an opinion from the picture.

 

[ibglowin]

Tony's is a 23L Vadai Barrel.