Hi,

I received a 20L wine barrel as a gift & plan to use it soon. It's
just like this one:

http://morewinemaking.com/view_produ...3d03d17fcfeb3d

It came with a wooden spigot and spigot hole pre-drilled. Has anyone
used one of these wooden spigots?

Is it safe or could I come home to find a big ol' puddle of wine?

Seems like you have to hammer it in but I wouldn't know how hard etc.
Am I better off plugging the spigot hole with a cork and just
siphoning out of the bung hole? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thx,

Ange

Whether it is "safe or not" to use the spigot is one question, but the
first question would be why use a spigot? We have several barrels
with chrome spigots on them and keep them shut. The only time we use
them is to rinse them. Since using a siphon is the better option for
racking, it seems like you should just not risk the spigot and go
ahead and plug it. If you ask me, plug it with a rubber bung if you
can. The corks weep and grow mold. I should say that I've never
plugged it with a rubber bung so I can;t tell you how hard it is, or
isn't. I'm sure someone else on this board could comment on that.



On Oct 28, 5:55 pm, Jumbalaya wrote:
Hi,

I received a 20L wine barrel as a gift & plan to use it soon. It's
just like this one:



http://morewinemaking.com/view_produ...SESSID=e3690d9...

It came with a wooden spigot and spigot hole pre-drilled. Has anyone
used one of these wooden spigots?

Is it safe or could I come home to find a big ol' puddle of wine?

Seems like you have to hammer it in but I wouldn't know how hard etc.
Am I better off plugging the spigot hole with a cork and just
siphoning out of the bung hole? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thx,

Ange

On Oct 28, 5:55 pm, Jumbalaya wrote:
Hi,

I received a 20L wine barrel as a gift & plan to use it soon. It's
just like this one:

http://morewinemaking.com/view_produ...SESSID=e3690d9...

It came with a wooden spigot and spigot hole pre-drilled. Has anyone
used one of these wooden spigots?

Is it safe or could I come home to find a big ol' puddle of wine?

Seems like you have to hammer it in but I wouldn't know how hard etc.
Am I better off plugging the spigot hole with a cork and just
siphoning out of the bung hole? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thx,

Ange

That's a pretty good price for a french barrel; that sounds like a top
of the line barrel. I wouldn't use the spigot either but I would try
to find an oak or silicone plug. If your barrel looks like that link
but isn't that link, you may have cause for concern. I have a 5
gallon untoasted barrel that is next to worthless. I hate everything
about it. It imparted a very green tannin to the wines stored in it.
Never store wine in an untoasted barrel.

Joe

Joe - do you use barrels that small? Seems to me that they're hardly
wirth the $, what with leakage and the relatively short barrel time
without overoaking.


On 2007-10-29 10:07:53 -0700, Joe Sallustio said:


That's a pretty good price for a french barrel; that sounds like a top
of the line barrel. I wouldn't use the spigot either but I would try
to find an oak or silicone plug. If your barrel looks like that link
but isn't that link, you may have cause for concern. I have a 5
gallon untoasted barrel that is next to worthless. I hate everything
about it. It imparted a very green tannin to the wines stored in it.
Never store wine in an untoasted barrel.

Joe

i'd been told that the best way to plug said orafice is from the inside...
in my case ( hand me down, leaky in general, with spigot hole, gifted
barrel) , it took almost 6 months for the staves to dry & shrink enough for
the hoops to loosen to open the other end to get *in* to the damn thing. A
PITA of monumental proportion! If you have or know someone who has cooperage
skills, then by all means try to plug from the inside; in hindsight, i wish
i'd have just accepted the leakage at the spigot hole as part of the cost
of doing bidness & saved the aggro. I ended up selling the damn thing as
planter material 'cause it weeped from the cracks after that. No good deed
goes unpunished, I guess...
Suggestion: If there's a Vocational School in your area & it has a metal
fab program, check with the instructor(s) and see if they'll make for you a
galvanized drip tray ( length x width x 1 inch tall) to fit under the
barrel. Then buy a quality bung plug & a wooden mallet to finesse the hole
.... hope this helps, regards, bob



wrote in message
ups.com...
Whether it is "safe or not" to use the spigot is one question, but the
first question would be why use a spigot? We have several barrels
with chrome spigots on them and keep them shut. The only time we use
them is to rinse them. Since using a siphon is the better option for
racking, it seems like you should just not risk the spigot and go
ahead and plug it. If you ask me, plug it with a rubber bung if you
can. The corks weep and grow mold. I should say that I've never
plugged it with a rubber bung so I can;t tell you how hard it is, or
isn't. I'm sure someone else on this board could comment on that.



On Oct 28, 5:55 pm, Jumbalaya wrote:
Hi,

I received a 20L wine barrel as a gift & plan to use it soon. It's
just like this one:



http://morewinemaking.com/view_produ...SESSID=e3690d9...

It came with a wooden spigot and spigot hole pre-drilled. Has anyone
used one of these wooden spigots?

Is it safe or could I come home to find a big ol' puddle of wine?

Seems like you have to hammer it in but I wouldn't know how hard etc.
Am I better off plugging the spigot hole with a cork and just
siphoning out of the bung hole? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thx,

Ange

It was a gift; If I bought a barrel I would be looking in the 15 to 30
gallon range, probably Hungarian. 15 gallons would be fine since i
could probably keep wine in it year round.

I like beans and chips so right now it's not on my short list. An AO
setup is though...

Joe

Joe Sallustio wrote:

It was a gift; If I bought a barrel I would be
looking in the 15 to 30
gallon range, probably Hungarian. 15 gallons
would be fine since i could probably keep wine
in it year round.

I like beans and chips so right now it's not on
my short list. An AO setup is though...

Joe


Mine too. Let me know when you get your AO, where
from and how you like it.

Paul

I bought my AO set up from MoreWine and use it almost all the time. The
only criticism I have is the strength of the pump. I want to keep
shopping and see if I can get a slightly stronger air pump that still
fits the current tubing.

On my "wish I had list" ... an ebulliometer ...



On 2007-10-30 14:31:33 -0700, Joe Sallustio said:

It was a gift; If I bought a barrel I would be looking in the 15 to 30
gallon range, probably Hungarian. 15 gallons would be fine since i
could probably keep wine in it year round.

I like beans and chips so right now it's not on my short list. An AO
setup is though...

Joe

On Oct 30, 3:42 pm, Ric wrote:
I bought my AO set up from MoreWine and use it almost all the time. The
only criticism I have is the strength of the pump. I want to keep
shopping and see if I can get a slightly stronger air pump that still
fits the current tubing.

On my "wish I had list" ... an ebulliometer ...

On 2007-10-30 14:31:33 -0700, Joe Sallustio said:



It was a gift; If I bought a barrel I would be looking in the 15 to 30
gallon range, probably Hungarian. 15 gallons would be fine since i
could probably keep wine in it year round.

I like beans and chips so right now it's not on my short list. An AO
setup is though...

Joe- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Ric:

- How long does a test take on average?
- What's the shelf life for the reagents?
- I don't remember the details but I think there was a pre-titration/
neutralization step involved - do you have to do this every time you
do a testing session or can you store the prepared solution for later
use - if yes, for how long?

Thx,

Pp

Thanks everyone for the advice.

It's a medium toast French barrel by Tonnellerie Allary (not paraffin
wax lined).

It was a gift although 20L is probably all I can handle as I make on
average 120 liters per year. I wish the barrel had not been drilled
for a spigot though... The first year might be a bit hairy as I
understand 2-3 weeks might be enough time & i would need to rotate the
wines to keep it full.

I have a 54L of Syrah & 54L of Pinot Noir this year, I'm looking
forward to trying this out... I've only previously dealt with oak
chips.

BTW, what's an AO?

Cheers,

Ange

AO = Aeration Oxidation ... the process by which you can determine the
levels of free (or total) SO2 in your wine. If you care about
maintaining SO2 at near precise levels, it is a must have.
Alternatively, you can simply err on the high side and maintain a
scheudle of sulfite additions according to the pH.

Essentially, you pull (or push) air through an acidified sample of
wine, then bubbling the released air through an acid-neutralized sample
of H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) for a defined period of time. Then titrate
that solution to determine the level of SO2. The SO2 is released from
the wine due to acidification and agitation (bubbling). As it passes
through the neutralized H2O2, sulfuric acid is created. By titrating
that, you can determine how much SO2 was released.

Most of the kits are pretty expensive because they use a vacuum pump.
But you can reduce the cost a lot by pushing air rather than vacuum
pumping it. The difference is in the integrity of the tubing and
closures. If you are pushing air through, those tubes, couplings, and
closures have to be perfect - or else you will get a false low reading.
Vacuum pumping is arguably more efficient and less prone to error - but
it costs more. Two years into it, and I'm still fiddling with improving
tube couplings - but my SO2 measurements are plenty accurate enough (as
verified by lab sampling). I use it religiously as I wish to maintain
SO2 at the lowest possible levels - but with enough to keep the wine
from harm.

Truth be told - I have more variance in my pH measurements than I do my
SO2 measurements. I am using a Hanna hand-held meter, now on my second
or third probe, and still find it to be less than stable. I keep it in
storage solution, and perform two-point calibrations prior to use - but
still get variant readings. I am considering investing in a more
expensive table top pH probe.



On 2007-10-30 20:58:17 -0700, Jumbalaya said:

Thanks everyone for the advice.

It's a medium toast French barrel by Tonnellerie Allary (not paraffin
wax lined).

It was a gift although 20L is probably all I can handle as I make on
average 120 liters per year. I wish the barrel had not been drilled
for a spigot though... The first year might be a bit hairy as I
understand 2-3 weeks might be enough time & i would need to rotate the
wines to keep it full.

I have a 54L of Syrah & 54L of Pinot Noir this year, I'm looking
forward to trying this out... I've only previously dealt with oak
chips.

BTW, what's an AO?

Cheers,

Ange