I’ve been a (grape) home wine maker for 7 years. Every year, I put my wine in non-permeable stainless steel kegs and leave it there for the next 12 months. I rack it 2-3 times to clean the lees of the bottom. And then I bottle it, right before the next harvest. This is pretty standard stuff, I imagine many many others adhere to a similar protocol. I’m looking to upgrade my winemaking, and age in an oak barrel. Of …

I have an old 5L oak barrel that has been used in the past for aging rum. It hasn't been used in a long time so I am I the process of swelling the wood again by adding boiling water but when the barrel overflowed there was a wax like substance coming out. Does anyone know what this is? Second question, is boiling water enough to clean the barrel? I am going to use I for flavoring cider.

I am wondering if it is possible to barrel ferment white grapes/wine. I can only find information on the web about red wines. In regards to this process I have some questions and assumptions; I hope someone here can help me with this. Am I correct to assume that barrel fermenting also adds color to the end product? Do people here know of commercial wines that do this? And if it is possible, what are the steps to go from …

A friend gave me a 20l (5 gal) wooden barrel. It had bourbon before, and was emptied two or three days ago. My friend said the barrel needs to be prevented from drying so that the wood doesn't contract and the barrel becomes leaky. I don't have anything to put in the barrel, and I cannot brew till in 2 weeks. My friend recommended putting it in shrink wrap, but that'd look ugly. (The barrel looks nice as is and …

I'm planning to revive in my family one of regional traditions of Poland. It goes like this: Serve wine from a wooden (usually oaken) barrel during baptism party of your child. After the party, fill it with vodka and bury it in soil. Dig it out when the child is getting married and serve vodka from it during the wedding party. I didn't find any tips in the web and I've never talked to somebody that has tried this. I …

I recently made some cider, but when the day finally came to try it there was no carbonation (evidently due to a slight hole at the top of the pressure barrel). I am planning on transferring the cider into a new barrel but not sure the best way to go about this. Do I need to add more sugar and allow time for secondary fermentation, or can I just inject CO2 and start drinking?. Any advice greatly appreciated.

I'd like to know what the effect of trying to bottle 35 pints of a light ale that's already been primed in a barel would be? Presumably there is still yeast floating about that would be able to convert a new dose of priming sugar for bottling? Might two lots of priming affect the taste? This is a hypothetical question... for now :)

I recently brewed a Tom Hardy's old ale recipe, that i screwed up and planning on doing it again. and looking for advice, when i get it correct. in the directions, it says "once the fermentation has abated, to rack to a barrel and add a sachet of wine yeast to it and stash it somewhere and forget it for 3 months. " I understand the barrel aging of it, but don't quite understand why the wine yeast is added …

I was recently given a 5L oak barrel from Oak Barrels Ltd. and I've never used such a thing before and have some basic questions. The barrel came with a great little instruction guide which talks about basic barrel prep, sanitation, and storage (among other things). Also on their website they link to this article by Terry Terfinko from 1995 titled, Oak Barrel Experiment, which answers a lot of questions about beer making with barrels. However there are a few …

I am flavoring my first beer in a new, 5 gallon oak barrel. This batch is a full 5 gallon batch, but is it ok to put smaller sizes in it? For example, can I put 2.5 gallons in without any harmful effects? I'm thinking the oak flavors will flavor the beer fairly quickly (i.e., 2 to 5 days), so having more surface exposed to oxygen will not be a huge problem.

I have just finished building my mash tun using an insulated plastic barrel. Everything works great but when I pour hot water into the barrel and put a lid on, pressure builds up inside and eventually "blows up" the lid. My question how do you deal with this? Do you let the steam slip away (make a small hole or something like that) or do you just fix the lid so it won't budge?

I have 200 litres of cider which was racked yesterday into 2 x 100 litre oak barrels. Before racking, the cider was still fermenting at a rate of about one bubble (through the airlock) per two minutes. This was due to cool weather here since October and the recent addition of a heater to the brewing room about a week ago. Both barrels have been stoppered with a cork bung with no airlock. Can anyone tell me if this is …

I have a very old oak barrel that was given to me that used to have rum in it. It has been empty for about 10 years but I would like to clean it to store cider. What is the best way to clean it so it is safe for next use? I cannot guarantee that it has been treated properly in the past and it has been exposed to air since it has been empty.

I've been brewing wine for a few years now but only just recently turned to beer. I've just finished (as in "consumed") my first brew and have now got my second one on the go. Both of my brews are extract/hops type brew. I've done a lot of reading around the subject and dipped into various forums and I think I pretty much understand the whole hopping process and such... however there are a few things I can't find clear …

Our club now has three oak barrels, and while at least one is going to be dedicated to a solera, we'd like to try a couple other brews before we resort to two more soleras. Barrels are known to let oxygen in, good for the bacteria we'll have in our sour, but is this simply a flaw in every other regard, or does it contribute to any desired characteristics?

I may be able to get my hands on a oaken barrel that I'd love to age a Scottish ale in. What can I do to sanitize it adequately and minimize oxygen exposure?

Our club acquired a 65 gallon American oak wine barrel that we want to age beer in. With the holidays upon us it will be a few more weeks before we can organize a club brew and the barrel is standing upright, dry in my garage. How should I store the barrel until we can get some beer in it?