Wine seeping out the bung overnight

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

VSR-Rich

Junior
Joined
Oct 7, 2018
Messages
14
Reaction score
4
Hey guys,

I just racked my wine into a 5 gallon barrel yesterday. This morning the area around the bung was really red and moist, which means the wine was seeping out of the bung hole.

- Should I rack out of barrel, degas, then put back into barrel?

- Any concern if I left wine in barrel and used an airlock bung instead of a solid bung?

- How do I sanitize the barrel exterior and around the bung hole that has exposure to wine?

- Is there an easy way to clean up / rid of the red stain on the barrel exterior?

Appreciate any advice. I plan to take action tonight after I get home from work.

Photo of barrel: ignore the lighter red stains past the bung because I overfilled the barrel initially, which stained the exterior. I need your help to troubleshoot the deep red seepage.

IMG_6880.JPG
 
Hey guys,

I just racked my wine into a 5 gallon barrel yesterday. This morning the area around the bung was really red and moist, which means the wine was seeping out of the bung hole.

See answers below in red.

- Should I rack out of barrel, degas, then put back into barrel?
NO
- Any concern if I left wine in barrel and used an airlock bung instead of a solid bung?
No, you can use a standard airlock or a waterless vented silicone bung, I personally prefer the latter.
- How do I sanitize the barrel exterior and around the bung hole that has exposure to wine?
I keep a little spray bottle full of sulfite solution for just this purpose, spray it around and on the bung, it'll sanitize the area and will clean up the red staining as well.
- Is there an easy way to clean up / rid of the red stain on the barrel exterior?
See above.
Appreciate any advice. I plan to take action tonight after I get home from work.

Photo of barrel: ignore the lighter red stains past the bung because I overfilled the barrel initially, which stained the exterior. I need your help to troubleshoot the deep red seepage.
Just answered this in another thread, but your situation is similar, when you fill up entirely and jam a solid bung into the hole, you create pressure in the barrel. This can also occur as the atmospheric pressure changes. Since fluid doesn't compress, it finds the easiest way to relieve the pressure which, in your case, appears to be seeping out around the bung. It's no big deal, happens to my barrels all the time with solid bungs
 
Oh my god you guys are amazing, I feel so much better now. I got a bung with airlock which I will replace the solid bung tonight.

Wow I feel relieved. :)

Cheers!
 
Oh my god you guys are amazing, I feel so much better now. I got a bung with airlock which I will replace the solid bung tonight.

Wow I feel relieved. :)

Cheers!

You don’t have to abandon the solid bung, a little spraying with sulfite solution keeps things pretty tidy and sanitized. This barrel has had wine in it for a year, topped up 8 - 10 times.
FA914D02-B3E1-480C-9366-B3C13691F351.jpeg
 
You don’t have to abandon the solid bung, a little spraying with sulfite solution keeps things pretty tidy and sanitized. This barrel has had wine in it for a year, topped up 8 - 10 times.
View attachment 52495

LIES! There is clearly no wine in there!

I bet you could tell me the exact mileage and amount of gas in your truck without looking too.
Just try and go easy on the young kid at work the next time he places the right-handed tinsnips back in the wrong tool drawer. lol
I’m all seriousness- I appreciate reading along and seeing your high standards (as well as many others on WMT). It’s a nice motivation factor to see and strive for—-while staying within my own comfort level of course.
 
LIES! There is clearly no wine in there!

I bet you could tell me the exact mileage and amount of gas in your truck without looking too.
Just try and go easy on the young kid at work the next time he places the right-handed tinsnips back in the wrong tool drawer. lol
I’m all seriousness- I appreciate reading along and seeing your high standards (as well as many others on WMT). It’s a nice motivation factor to see and strive for—-while staying within my own comfort level of course.

Ahhhh, therein lies the beauty my friend, to each his / her own, the barrel produces the same wine inside regardless of the outside look. For me, there’s only one way to do things, but I try not to subject others to my OCD tendencies.

For the record, the only reason I know roughly what my truck mileage is, is because I can make one more round trip to the property before it’s time for an oil change....LOL.
 
Here is my 2 cents:
A toasted barrel has a layer of charred wood inside, including the wall of the bung hole. If the barrel is nearly full, wine escapes through this charred layer via capillary effect. I sand off the toasted layer in the hole to cut the capillary off. It works.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top