So my cheapy 30 liter Portuguese oak barrel continues to have an oozing
problem between a couple of staves. I thought the initial swelling with
water had tightened it up, it even went through a cider fermentation without
a lot of problem. Then in the last day or so (the cider was still in it),
it seemed to start oozing again, the outside of the barrel below was quite
wet all over, as was the surface underneath.

What would make it start doing that again when the wood has been in constant
contact with liquid?

Is there anything I can safely apply to the outside of the barrel to seal it
up?

Brian

You can try to tighten the hoops by pounding them (carefully) down on
the perimeter, or use a little wax (like parrafin). Do you have
pressure in the barrel?

Joe

"Brian Lundeen" wrote in message ...
So my cheapy 30 liter Portuguese oak barrel continues to have an oozing
problem between a couple of staves. I thought the initial swelling with
water had tightened it up, it even went through a cider fermentation without
a lot of problem. Then in the last day or so (the cider was still in it),
it seemed to start oozing again, the outside of the barrel below was quite
wet all over, as was the surface underneath.

What would make it start doing that again when the wood has been in constant
contact with liquid?

Is there anything I can safely apply to the outside of the barrel to seal it
up?

Brian

"Brian Lundeen" wrote in message ...

Is there anything I can safely apply to the outside of the barrel to seal it
up?

I had a cheap 50 litre portuguese barrel too, fermented some
chardonnay in it... it leaked out the head, even after I'd swelled it
with some warm water... I ended up using parrafin wax to seal it...
seemed to have done the job.

"Brian Lundeen" wrote in message ...

Is there anything I can safely apply to the outside of the barrel to seal it
up?

I had a cheap 50 litre portuguese barrel too, fermented some
chardonnay in it... it leaked out the head, even after I'd swelled it
with some warm water... I ended up using parrafin wax to seal it...
seemed to have done the job.

I've heard of a garlic and chalk mixture working in a stave crack.

"Brian Lundeen" wrote in message
...
So my cheapy 30 liter Portuguese oak barrel continues to have an oozing
problem between a couple of staves. I thought the initial swelling with
water had tightened it up, it even went through a cider fermentation
without
a lot of problem. Then in the last day or so (the cider was still in it),
it seemed to start oozing again, the outside of the barrel below was quite
wet all over, as was the surface underneath.

What would make it start doing that again when the wood has been in
constant
contact with liquid?

Is there anything I can safely apply to the outside of the barrel to seal
it
up?

Brian

I've heard of a garlic and chalk mixture working in a stave crack.

"Brian Lundeen" wrote in message
...
So my cheapy 30 liter Portuguese oak barrel continues to have an oozing
problem between a couple of staves. I thought the initial swelling with
water had tightened it up, it even went through a cider fermentation
without
a lot of problem. Then in the last day or so (the cider was still in it),
it seemed to start oozing again, the outside of the barrel below was quite
wet all over, as was the surface underneath.

What would make it start doing that again when the wood has been in
constant
contact with liquid?

Is there anything I can safely apply to the outside of the barrel to seal
it
up?

Brian

"Joe Sallustio" wrote in message
om...
You can try to tighten the hoops by pounding them (carefully) down on
the perimeter, or use a little wax (like parrafin). Do you have
pressure in the barrel?

No pressure, it had an airlock on it. But I like the wax idea. Can I apply
it while its still oozing or do I have to wait until I've emptied the
barrel, and the stave area has dried out some?

Brian

I guess it depends on how bad the leak is; but I would not pack it in
with wine present on thesides of the leak. That could end up being
something ugly sooner or later. If it's a decent leak, can you roll
the barrel to clean it up and dry it while still filled? It's only 50
liters so maybe I would empty it, clean it well, dry it with a heat
gun and pack it the wax while the barrel was hot, that way you have a
better chance of caulking the leak deeper. Just mark the area with a
pencil so you know how far to go.

Joe

"Brian Lundeen" wrote in message ...
"Joe Sallustio" wrote in message
om...
You can try to tighten the hoops by pounding them (carefully) down on
the perimeter, or use a little wax (like parrafin). Do you have
pressure in the barrel?

No pressure, it had an airlock on it. But I like the wax idea. Can I apply
it while its still oozing or do I have to wait until I've emptied the
barrel, and the stave area has dried out some?

Brian

I guess it depends on how bad the leak is; but I would not pack it in
with wine present on thesides of the leak. That could end up being
something ugly sooner or later. If it's a decent leak, can you roll
the barrel to clean it up and dry it while still filled? It's only 50
liters so maybe I would empty it, clean it well, dry it with a heat
gun and pack it the wax while the barrel was hot, that way you have a
better chance of caulking the leak deeper. Just mark the area with a
pencil so you know how far to go.

Joe

"Brian Lundeen" wrote in message ...
"Joe Sallustio" wrote in message
om...
You can try to tighten the hoops by pounding them (carefully) down on
the perimeter, or use a little wax (like parrafin). Do you have
pressure in the barrel?

No pressure, it had an airlock on it. But I like the wax idea. Can I apply
it while its still oozing or do I have to wait until I've emptied the
barrel, and the stave area has dried out some?

Brian

"Joe Sallustio" wrote in message
m...
I guess it depends on how bad the leak is; but I would not pack it in
with wine present on thesides of the leak. That could end up being
something ugly sooner or later. If it's a decent leak, can you roll
the barrel to clean it up and dry it while still filled? It's only 50
liters so maybe I would empty it, clean it well, dry it with a heat
gun and pack it the wax while the barrel was hot, that way you have a
better chance of caulking the leak deeper. Just mark the area with a
pencil so you know how far to go.

Yeah, I'm just in the midst of some barrel fermentations right now, so it's
no big deal to wait until this one has to be racked out. The oozing isn't
that bad. I'm noticing a second stave below the original one is also
starting to ooze. This makes me wonder....

With these consecutive barrel fermentations (I'm on number two of a planned
three), could the upper portion not in contact with liquid be drying out,
and this is causing the staves to open up a bit? Perhaps once I fill it
completely for aging, the staves will fully swell again and the problem will
go away. Is that possible?

Brian

"Joe Sallustio" wrote in message
m...
I guess it depends on how bad the leak is; but I would not pack it in
with wine present on thesides of the leak. That could end up being
something ugly sooner or later. If it's a decent leak, can you roll
the barrel to clean it up and dry it while still filled? It's only 50
liters so maybe I would empty it, clean it well, dry it with a heat
gun and pack it the wax while the barrel was hot, that way you have a
better chance of caulking the leak deeper. Just mark the area with a
pencil so you know how far to go.

Yeah, I'm just in the midst of some barrel fermentations right now, so it's
no big deal to wait until this one has to be racked out. The oozing isn't
that bad. I'm noticing a second stave below the original one is also
starting to ooze. This makes me wonder....

With these consecutive barrel fermentations (I'm on number two of a planned
three), could the upper portion not in contact with liquid be drying out,
and this is causing the staves to open up a bit? Perhaps once I fill it
completely for aging, the staves will fully swell again and the problem will
go away. Is that possible?

Brian

"Brian Lundeen" wrote in message
...
:
: "Joe Sallustio" wrote in message
: m...
: I guess it depends on how bad the leak is; but I would not pack it in
: with wine present on thesides of the leak. That could end up being
: something ugly sooner or later. If it's a decent leak, can you roll
: the barrel to clean it up and dry it while still filled? It's only 50
: liters so maybe I would empty it, clean it well, dry it with a heat
: gun and pack it the wax while the barrel was hot, that way you have a
: better chance of caulking the leak deeper. Just mark the area with a
: pencil so you know how far to go.
:
- Yeah, I'm just in the midst of some barrel fermentations right now, so
it's
- no big deal to wait until this one has to be racked out. The oozing isn't
- that bad. I'm noticing a second stave below the original one is also
-starting to ooze. This makes me wonder....

-With these consecutive barrel fermentations (I'm on number two of a
planned
-three), could the upper portion not in contact with liquid be drying out,
- and this is causing the staves to open up a bit? Perhaps once I fill it
-completely for aging, the staves will fully swell again and the problem
will
-go away. Is that possible?
-
-Brian

I've barrel fermented a number of times and I have never known this to cause
leakage. Even when I have used American oak barrels of questionable
cooperage. The top staves usually stay somewhat wet (probably due to
condensation). I once had a leaker that sounds similar to yours. The leak
was slow enough that it eventually plugged up. I'm not entirely sure how,
but it took about 2 months before it stopped leaking (I would blot the leak
almost daily). I've now had the barrel for about 4 years with no further
leakage.
Tim

"Brian Lundeen" wrote in message
...
Yeah, I'm just in the midst of some barrel fermentations right now, so
it's
no big deal to wait until this one has to be racked out. The oozing isn't
that bad. I'm noticing a second stave below the original one is also
starting to ooze. This makes me wonder....

With these consecutive barrel fermentations (I'm on number two of a
planned
three), could the upper portion not in contact with liquid be drying out,
and this is causing the staves to open up a bit? Perhaps once I fill it
completely for aging, the staves will fully swell again and the problem
will
go away. Is that possible?

Not too likely. You might consider stirring a slurry of bentonite into that
barrel. That'll tend to plug any slow leaks.

The last time I had a leaker I isolated the *exact* place it was leaking
from, which turned out to be a small pore at the end of one of the staves.
I jabbed it right there with an ice pick and hammered a tank spile (a piece
of wooden toothpick would have worked too) into the hole I'd just created.
That did the trick.

Another possibility is to clean and dry the area where the leak is and apply
some Elmer's wood glue to the area. That won't work unless the leak is
really slow.

Tom S

"Brian Lundeen" wrote in message
...
Yeah, I'm just in the midst of some barrel fermentations right now, so
it's
no big deal to wait until this one has to be racked out. The oozing isn't
that bad. I'm noticing a second stave below the original one is also
starting to ooze. This makes me wonder....

With these consecutive barrel fermentations (I'm on number two of a
planned
three), could the upper portion not in contact with liquid be drying out,
and this is causing the staves to open up a bit? Perhaps once I fill it
completely for aging, the staves will fully swell again and the problem
will
go away. Is that possible?

Not too likely. You might consider stirring a slurry of bentonite into that
barrel. That'll tend to plug any slow leaks.

The last time I had a leaker I isolated the *exact* place it was leaking
from, which turned out to be a small pore at the end of one of the staves.
I jabbed it right there with an ice pick and hammered a tank spile (a piece
of wooden toothpick would have worked too) into the hole I'd just created.
That did the trick.

Another possibility is to clean and dry the area where the leak is and apply
some Elmer's wood glue to the area. That won't work unless the leak is
really slow.

Tom S