Port Barrell q's

[laxation]

My wife was thinking of getting me a tawny barrell for christmas, but not sure what size to get...

does anyone have one or have any idea what size to get?

the barrell itself is pretty dam expensive, but to go from a 5l to 20l is only like 70 bucks difference

Is 20l ridiculous?
Is there any downside to having something too big? Does the port last forever once it's in there?

 

[mstrelan]

I have a 15L bought online from Tubbies. The longer you leave it the better it tastes, therefore bigger is better. 20L is not ridiculous at all. You can buy 10-20L drums quite cheap from Peter Lehmann, Grant Burge, Seppeltsfield etc.

 

[mstrelan]

https://seppeltsfield.com.au/shop/cellar-home/barrels-2

 

[laxation]

I have a 15L bought online from Tubbies. The longer you leave it the better it tastes, therefore bigger is better. 20L is not ridiculous at all. You can buy 10-20L drums quite cheap from Peter Lehmann, Grant Burge, Seppeltsfield etc.

Do you mean drums of bulk port or the actual oak barrell? Seppeltsfield's barrells were pretty expensive from what I can remember..

 

[barls]

burge hasn't been as good since it was sold last year and they sold off all their old stock.
i have two wooden barrels and one stainless.
they are two 2L and a 5L which i pick up from dans cheap as it didn't have a tap or bung.
my last lot of port was from buller and was quite reasonable for the price of it.

 

[mstrelan]

Do you mean drums of bulk port or the actual oak barrell? Seppeltsfield's barrells were pretty expensive from what I can remember..

Plastic cubes to fill your barrel.

 

[Kingy]

I have a 20 litre it came full from st Anne's winery for $600. I drink directly from the keg and go through about 20-30 litres a year. I used to buy from Seppeltsfield it worked out about $6 a litre to buy in bulk. Now I get it from Draytons I think it's around $10 a litre.
I've had mine for 5 years now and I'd rather drink my stuff any day over the store stuff.
My dad has 2x9 litres and a 20litre.
He drinks from them except for a 9 litre one which he gets out on special occasions or when he goes away. And that is amazing to drink from.
I reckon if you don't drink that much of it go the 20litre. But if you going to go through it get the 9 litre as port ages quicker in those.
I've often thought of getting another one (9litre) and drinking from that and topping up from the 20litre but for the price I'm leaning towards getting another 20litre instead.
If you buy 20litre cubes full of port from Seppeltsfield you get a free no chill cube [emoji106]

 

[mstrelan]

Some of the more expensive barrels look a bit nicer, but it's hard to go past $380 for 20L. http://www.tubbies.com.au/black-hoops/

 

[laxation]

Have found a 20L for $370 from Basedown Winery in Barossa. They also have bulk tawny for $5 a litre, which I remember being quite good...

Thanks all for your help

 

[Grott]

I have a 10l barrel and as I don't drink port regularly, cheap port matures into such a top drop you could pour onto ice cream. I also have a 5l one which I fill from the 10l, thus topping it up to keep it well aged. I like to drink port as a beer chaser and the results of which I generally can't remember.(reason for not drinking regularly, ha)
The 10l barrel is a handy size, easy to move and a great "feeder" to the smaller barrel

 

[RobW]

I bought a new 20l barrel which one of the wine merchants in Melbourne (Crittendens I think, but it was back in the 90s) filled with brandy for a couple of weeks to pull some of the oak and then replaced that with port.
After that I would just top it up with a couple of litres when required so it became a slowly evolving blend.
I finished up draining it and it was never refilled.
Currently sitting full of Starsan and waiting for a RIS if I ever get around to brewing one.

 

[Grott]

"Draining it", hope that was by drinking. I put a strong stout in mine about 4 years ago, still have a few bottles left and was/is tops. Left it in for 7 days.

 

[RobW]

Not a drop wasted!

 

[Jase]

Some of the more expensive barrels look a bit nicer, but it's hard to go past $380 for 20L. http://www.tubbies.com.au/black-hoops/

Have anyone used one of these 20l for beer storage? Looking at starting with a couple of these for sour beer storage.

Cheers,
Jase

 

[laxation]

@JB was yours done in a barrel?

 

[Garfield]

There is a little known advantage of a smaller size oak barrel... Surface area.

Ports in barrels are reductive which means they evaporate and thicken with age. To give you an idea, some Porto E'deuro barrels are aged so long that its thicker than molasses and requires cutting open the barrel and scooping out the nectar.

In terms of the homebrewer, a smaller barrel with a favourable surface area ratio has the effect of faster maturing due to the evaporation. How fast? Well it's exponential. A wine maker once compared a 300L commercial barrel to a 3L home barrel. The result was a drop essentially maturing at a rate of one year in one week. Hence, a year in the 3L mimics 50 years in the big one!

I'm sorry I don't have the science behind all this but I can vouch it's truth. Wine making is 50% art anyway.

I personally solera in a 6L aged oak barrel. The results are amazing.

Hope this helps

Garf