My new toy

[LoveTheWine]

My 20L white Oak barrel

 

[mjrisenhoover]

Congratulations, hope it works well for you!

 

[DirtyDawg10]

Nice!!!!!!

 

[Runningwolf]

She's a beauty, have fun!

 

[tonyt]

Congrats. Where's the cigars?

 

[Rocky]

LTW, nice looking barrel. May I ask where you purchased it? Also, I cannot see any hoop nails. Are there any?

 

[LoveTheWine]

LTW, nice looking barrel. May I ask where you purchased it? Also, I cannot see any hoop nails. Are there any?

Thanks everyone

I got it here: http://www.barrelsonline.com/ShowProduct.aspx?ID=30

There are hoop nails only in the top. If you look really close in the picture you can see them. The only thing I dislike is that the bunghole is tiny, but I will probably just drill it bigger and use a silicone bung.

 

[Runningwolf]

LTW, nice looking barrel. May I ask where you purchased it? Also, I cannot see any hoop nails. Are there any?

Not all hoops have nails, even on the large barrels.

 

[robie]

Take care of it and it will provide great oaking qualities for many batches and continue on to help improve your wine in other areas for many years to come.

 

[ibglowin]

Nice looking. Keep us posted on how it works out. How you like it.

 

[Grancru]

Got this little guy, just don't have enough juice to fill her this year. I only have 27 gals of must fermenting right now. Maybe end up with 23-24 gals. Soooo, for now it will serve as a bar in my dining room.

 

[LoveTheWine]

Got this little guy, just don't have enough juice to fill her this year. I only have 27 gals of must fermenting right now. Maybe end up with 23-24 gals. Soooo, for now it will serve as a bar in my dining room.

wow that is a lot of capacity!

 

[Gmichaelcellars]

Thinking about purchasing from same company so Id like to get your opinion on barrel so far..thanks

 

[LoveTheWine]

Finally got around to re-hydrating the barrel ready to be filled this week.
Because I had left it so long, the barrel was not very tight to say the least!
After soaking the heads and inside with hot water for a few hours, all the water was drained and filled with cold water for two days.

Seems to be nice and sealed now so In went the first wine: Fresh picked Blackberry, dry as can be (fermented with a few kilo's of Zinfandel skins thrown in)

After this my Old Vine Zinfandel batches will be cycled through :>

 

[LoveTheWine]

Thinking about purchasing from same company so Id like to get your opinion on barrel so far..thanks

The barrel held only 19L not 20L like it was supposed to. I've heard this is common as the barrel swells it may be smaller then thought.

The hole for the bung was really small to so I drilled it to a #8 size stopper and bought a silicone one. The spigot is a nice extra for taking small samples without a wine thief. It also comes with a handy oak stand.

I believe the strips of wood used to make it are a bit thinner than most barrels keeping the cost down. At $110.00 shipped to Canada this is probably the best bang for the buck that you are going to find.
Hoping the quality of the wood is nice. It smells nice and sweet resembling a Jack Daniels smell.

 

[Gmichaelcellars]

Thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and ordered one which should arrive within 3 weeks.

 

[LoveTheWine]

Thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and ordered one which should arrive within 3 weeks.

Good choice. Keep us posted on if you like it or not.
Which size did you go with?

 

[Gmichaelcellars]

I purchased the 20l barrel..cant wait!

 

[harleydmn]

I just got one from my sons for Christmas!!! What type and size drill bit did you use to enlarge the bung hole?

 

[LoveTheWine]

I just got one from my sons for Christmas!!! What type and size drill bit did you use to enlarge the bung hole?

I used a spade bit... boy let me tell you I wouldn't recommend it! had to take out a file to make a tight seal! I ended up with a #8 size which ended up perfect.

I would buy a suitable silicone bung first and then search for a tapered bit that will drill it to exactly that size.