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Buying Oak Barrels

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Barrel Char Wood Products
I think Oskaar has used barrels, hopefully he'll chime in. I would say larger is better, lower oak levels, lower oxidation (although I don't think this is a huge deal with proper management), longer extraction time, etc.
 
Bob1016 said:
I think Oskaar has used barrels, hopefully he'll chime in. I would say larger is better, lower oak levels, lower oxidation (although I don't think this is a huge deal with proper management), longer extraction time, etc.
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i dont see myself making a batch bigger than 5 gallons for awhile, should i just stick with chips and staves then?
 
You could do a single barrel solera if you want. I'd still suggest a larger barrel, say 30gal, make a few batches to fill it, let it sit for a year, then draw off say ~5gal for bottling, and make another 5gal batch to top it off. The oak flavor will eventually fade, but you'll get the benefit of microoxygenation and a very nice mature mead.
I'd still suggest a larger barrel either way, but again, I don't have a lot of barrel experience (none first hand).
 
mannye said:
Only your WIFE can kill you. Do it now before she gets the 007 license. :D Wait! Unless your wife doesn't know about your GF....? :rolleyes:
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shhhhh-secret.jpg
 
Smiley's home distilling

Would be a place I would trust to supply a good quality oak barrel. I am going to get a 5 gallon one after the personal moratorium on all superfluous expenditures until tax liability is ascertained and paid.
 
McJeff said:
Ive always used oak chips or staves to oak with so using a barrel is all new to me. First off is this even a good value and how would you use a barrel? Obviously you age in this, how long would you age? After racking the mead out, do you just rinse it down with water?

http://morewinemaking.com/products/vadai-hungarian-oak-barrel-20l-53gal.html?site_id=8
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That's a perfect size... and a great price for a barrel...Vadai is apparently a company in California, and I haven't been able to find a deal even approaching that yet over here.

Here's another one in USA...
http://zemplenbarrels.com/barrels/

They sell fruit presses at a reasonable price too.... but shipping is from California
http://www.vadaiwinebarrels.com/winepresses.html
 
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I have a small ..maybe 3 liter one. Depends on the batch and the freshness of the toast. You need to taste every couple weeks. Tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

Sent from Arthur Dent's towel smothering a volume of Vogon poetry, some of which just leaked out.
 
GntlKnigt1 said:
I have a small ..maybe 3 liter one. Depends on the batch and the freshness of the toast. You need to taste every couple weeks. Tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

Sent from Arthur Dent's towel smothering a volume of Vogon poetry, some of which just leaked out.
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The way it works with barrels is that the smaller the barrel the faster the aging. It has to do with surface area vs volume. A 5 gallon barrel will age, or rather, infuse the contents with it's oak beech or whatever wood flavoring exponentially faster than a 50 gallon barrel. For example, whiskey aged in large barrels takes 7 to 12 years minimum but a 5 gallon barrel will garner a similar effect in as little as 6 months. SO if you use a 5 gallon barrel you do have to taste often to avoid the danger of over-oaking. You might also want a gallon of clear mead to top up as between the tasting and the angel's share you're going to lose some volume.
 
Laphroiag Distilleries uses this method in their Quarter Cask bottlings. Historically they used quarter casks so that the whiskey could be loaded onto mules and taken through backwoods trails to avoid the English excise men. Laphroiag duplicated these barrels to capture the flavour of those days. The whiskey is aged in regular barrels for 3 years and then spend another 18 months in quarter casks where I would say that cumulatively you get the effect of 7-8 years of aging in 4.5 years. The 10 y.o. aged in regular casks is still my favourite though.
 
Honeyhog said:
Laphroiag Distilleries uses this method in their Quarter Cask bottlings. Historically they used quarter casks so that the whiskey could be loaded onto mules and taken through backwoods trails to avoid the English excise men. Laphroiag duplicated these barrels to capture the flavour of those days. The whiskey is aged in regular barrels for 3 years and then spend another 18 months in quarter casks where I would say that cumulatively you get the effect of 7-8 years of aging in 4.5 years. The 10 y.o. aged in regular casks is still my favourite though.
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Yep. My very uneducated opinion is that even though a small barrel will "age" (I think infuse with flavor is a better term) liquor much faster, there's a certain "something" that can only come with time.
 
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