Ebay barrel What do you think?

[rshosted]

Hey, I'm thinking of getting a small barrel. Has anyone ever heard of these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/5-Gallon-Oak-Wood-Wine-Barrel-with-Spigot-By-Sella-NEW_W0QQitemZ270065618151QQihZ017QQcategoryZ38172QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[smurfe]

Wow. $95.00 shipping for a 5 gallon barrel. Don't that seem extremely high? I could see a40 or 50gallon costing that, but not a 5 gallon.


Smurfe

 

[grapeman]

Yeah $95 is high. I looked at the listing and it ships ground mail from Turkey. I think I would wait for a cheaper place to get onefrom myself.

 

[smurfe]

One other thing I noticed I didn't like about that barrel would be the metal spout. Is there any chance it could emit a metallic taste into the wine? I guess they have stainless steel tanks holding wine so maybe I am dwelling over nothing. It just seems every barrel I have seen has a wood spout or no spout on it and the wine is racked from the bung opening. The ones George sells appears toaccept a wood spout as well.


http://www.finevinewines.com/Home-Wine-Making-Equipment-Oak-Barrels.asp


Smurfe

 

[rshosted]

I agree the barrels are Expensive (note the capitol "E"). That's one reason I was thinking of going to another vender so far away. I don't really care that it would take a long time to get here, I would just consider it a practice for my patients.

I could check on what type of material that spigot is and find out if I would want it... good point.

I wonder what type of oak it is from Turkey? I've never purchased a wine that says "aged in turkish barrels for a year.....)

I have been toying with making a port that I can age for a long time (trying to let 'angelshare' occur). Plus barrels just look fun.

 

[PeterZ]

My reading indicates that ageing in a 5 gallon oak barrel will impart excessive oak to the wine. It's a function of how much oak surface area vs the volume of wine. The smaller the container, the greater the surface area to volume ratio. I could work up the math if someone could give me the approximate dimensions of the 5 gallon and standard 225 liter barrels. Length X middle or end diameter would be close enough.

 

[smurfe]

My reading indicates that ageing in a 5 gallon oak barrel will impart excessive oak to the wine. It's a function of how much oak surface area vs the volume of wine. The smaller the container, the greater the surface area to volume ratio. I could work up the math if someone could give me the approximate dimensions of the 5 gallon and standard 225 liter barrels. Length X middle or end diameter would be close enough.

Peter, from all I have read I have to agree but didn't want to discourage someone from blazing their own path. I will add that many of the "experts" advise not to use barrels under 20 US gallon capacity for the exact reason you posted. There must be a market and use for these smaller barrels though or no manufacturer would produce them. Of course the claims by the "experts" could be misinformed as well.


I personally do not know anyone who has used these smaller barrels that could give an honest opinion, but then again to, at times it is hard to get an honest, negative opinion on an expensive product as a person does not want to look stupid for spending tons of money on an inferior product.

Smurfe

 

[Dean]

Smaller barrels will give too much oak, but only to a certain point. One could store water in the barrel for a time to extract a good amount of the oak and then just get a more subtle oak profile from the barrel. Or, you could limit "visits" in the barrel for 3 weeks at a time until the oak profile is softer. After that, I'm sure that bulk aging will start to give the benefit of concentation and micro-oxygenation (the Angel's share), and make the wine better and NOT over-oaked.

However, if one was not concerned with oak flavor, you could buy used "neutral" barrels, get the benefit of the barrel aging process and use oak spirals/staves/beans to get the oak flavor and change it up between french, american, canadian, or hungarian.

Just a few things to think upon. However, I would also look for a good local cooper in case something goes wrong with the barrel. Shipping back to Turkey for a fix is a little excessive.

 

[bmorosco]

You can get used barrels from Fox Run vinyards for 75 bucks each the only thing is you have to pick them up..These barrels are the large ones not sure maybe 20-30 gallon barrels..We talked to the owner when we were there for our wine tour....

 

[smurfe]

You can get used barrels from Fox Run vinyards for 75 bucks each the only thing is you have to pick them up..These barrels are the large ones not sure maybe 20-30 gallon barrels..We talked to the owner when we were there for our wine tour....

If you decide to buy a barrel from them, just be sure to do some research before you would buy one for wine making. Most winemaking texts cover this. I was reading Jeff Cox's From Vines To Wines last night. It covers this pretty good.Wouldn't want to ruin a good wine buy buying a contaminated barrel.


Most wineries sell their old barrels for the purpose of cutting them in half and making planters out of them. If they are ethical though, they would tell you if the barrel is worthy of continued winemaking or not.


Smurfe

 

[Funky Fish]

Small barrels are fine - you just have to have enough wine on hand to swap wine out after 2 - 3 weeks, then again after 3 - 5 weeks, then again after 6 - 8 weeks, and so on, to avoid overoaking any wine. But don't just fill it with water to get rid of some of the oak! After all, you've paid a lot for that oak!


Personally, I would pass on this barrel. Most times, if you buy a barrel from a reputable seller and the barrel has problems (like it has a leak that doesn't seal), you can return it for replacement or get some sort of assistance in fixing the leak. I'm not sure you'd get that same guarentee off of e-bay.

 

[rshosted]

Cool I appreciate all your input. I found this barrel ebay againl

It's a little more expensive but about half of what market value is going for.

I found the store online too.... I'm growing weak and my bankcard is starting to feel warm......

 

[rshosted]

Thought I would give you all an update... And thank you all for your input. The link I provided above, I called the company and learned they re-finished one year wiskey barrels. They sounded very nice and provided only heavy toast. I was looking to get a medium toast (just from what I have tasted in california wineries).

So rather than buy a used/rebuild barrel I decided to go to
https://www.thebarrelmill.com/barrels.html

I purchased one for 170 plus shipping. I have been using thier staves from george for some time so I felt confident in them. Also they provided good information on things one should pay attention to (ie wood, build, char, etc).

I have a few batches ready to cycle out. I figure I will do the 2-3 week, then 4-5 week, then 6-8 week, and re-determine from then.
Feel free to remind me if I don't follow up with this post and there are questions.

 

[Wade E]

Very nice site and nice looking barrels. Maybe someday I'll make a wine worth putting in there!