Okanagan American Oak Casks

Fully imported American oak barrels now available in Australia....latest shipment has arrived.

Handcrafted from the finest tight grain KENTUCKY & MISSOURI AMERICAN OAK in sizes to suit the small scale winery or hobbyist:

At this point in time we import Sizes 23 and 46 litre (the two barrels on the far left of the above image) for the hobby/Home winemaker and spirit maker.

23 litre.......$475.00 incl gst

46 litre ..... $585.00 incl gst

Very tight grain oak Ideal for spirit maturation.

Galvanised steel hoops, wood is natural finish.
bung supplied.
no tap or stand supplied.
Each barrel stamped 'Okanagan Barrel Works, Oliver, Bc Canada
American Oak Missouri, Medium Toast,'

for a quote for goods delivered, or information please contact info@ibrew.com.au

Trish and Cal Craik, owners of Okanagan Barrel Works

Why choose an Okanagan barrel?

Okanagan American Oak Barrels are made of stave wood from the Mid-West region of the United States, specifically the Missouri and Kentucky areas.

The oak species is Quercus Alba.The oak is naturally air dried for a minimum of 24 months before being skilfully shaped into staves and raised into barrels. The weather cycles of rain, snow , wind and sun serve to wash out the heavier tannis and "mellow" the wood. The wood is then graded and passed through a dry kiln, not to dry the wood more, but to even out the moisture content of all the pieces.

The wood is selected on grain tightness and uniformity, giving the finished barrels a wonderful complexity.

All barrels imported are toasted to a MEDIUM toast rating which will offer the qualities of vanilla, caramal. spice and butterscotch.

Heads and Staves are all toasted.

Other ratings include Light, Medium Plus and Dark and are available on special orders only.

Manufacturing process:

Staves are 3/4" thick for 23 litre barrels and 1" thick for 30, 50, 100 and 225 litre barrels. The staves are raised in a steel hoop and placed over an oak fire to be heated for bending (20-30 minutes at 170 degC.) Initial moisture content is +/- 8%. Once bent into shape, the barrel is back over the oak fire for around 40-45 minutes for toasting. Temperatures reach 220 deg C.The barrels are finished with galvanized hoops, pressure tested with air and water, drained, sanded, and gassed with S02 (to prevent bacterial growth)

Welcome to the next level of winemaking!

Oak alters the flavour of wines in two ways. Firstly, the wine dissolves and absorbs a complex of aromas and flavours from the oak. Tannins, vanillins and sugars are a major part of this extraction, but there are a myriad of trace factors which differ with the various oak species, where the trees were grown and how the wood was dried and coopered. Secondly, oak is a porous material through which air can pass and into which liquid can penetrate. Wine stored in an oak cask is subject to very slow oxidation which gives wines their maturity.

Okanagan Barrels are imported by DrinkART Pty Ltd and sold through the Bett-A-Brew retail outlet at Parkwood on the Gold Coast or online here at www.ibrew.com.au

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for a quote for goods delivered, or information please contact info@ibrew.com.au

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THE CARE AND FEEDING OF YOUR NEW OKANAGAN BARREL... Welcome to the next level of winemaking! Oak alters the nature of wine in two ways – the wine dissolves and absorbs a complex of aromas and flavours from the oak. Tannins, phenols, vanillins and sugars are a major part of this extraction, but there are a myriad of trace elements which differ with the various oak species, where the trees were grown and how the wood was dried and coopered. Secondly, oxygen is introduced into the barrel through the joints between the staves. Thus, wine stored in an oak cask is subject to very slow oxidation and that is what gives wine its maturity. Smaller barrels provide each litre of wine with a great deal more oak character than a larger barrel due to the ratio of surface area to wine volume. Because of this the same degree of flavour change may be observed in a far shorter period of time, perhaps only a few weeks. Wine in a small barrel requires constant monitoring to ensure it does not become over oaked.
HYDRATION There are almost as many ways of hydrating barrels as there are barrel users. All have their pros and cons but we have found the best results using the following method: 1. Unwrap the barrel 2. Put approximately 20 liters of water in the barrel (or about 10% capacity) 3. Roll the barrel around to wet the entire inside surface area 4. Stand the barrel on end for 1-2 hours 5. Flip the barrel over to swell the opposite head 6. Drain the barrel Any minor leaks (if there are any) should have stopped by the end of this process. Generally any leakage problems with barrels will occur around where the head seats in the croze or within about 6 inches of the stave ends. The above procedure takes care of this area. If this process fails to tighten the barrel, call Okanagan Barrel Works.
USING YOUR OKANAGAN BARREL FOR THE FIRST TIME A brand new barrel, particularly a smaller one, will add a lot of oak very quickly to your wine. Some winemakers prefer to soften this initial impact in the following manner: Fill the barrel about 50% with very hot water, bung tightly and rotate the barrel. Leave the water overnight then empty. You can do this as often as you wish and it is a good way to avoid over oaking your wine while the barrel is still young. Now that you are ready to fill your barrel with wine, go right ahead. Just make sure you fill the barrel completely to avoid any air space (ullage) inside. If necessary, top up with a finished wine from a previous batch or (Heaven forbid!) with some store bought product.
CLEANING BETWEEN WINE FILLS A barrel that is being refilled repeatedly with wine will do just fine with a thorough rinse between fills as follows: 1. Rinse with hot water under pressure to break up and tartrate crystals and to remove any residue. 2. Rinse again with cold wate At times, however, despite one’s best efforts a barrel will require a chemical rinsing for stubborn tartrates or some slight “off” odours. Sodium Percarbonate is a food safe, oxygen based, granular cleaner available under a variety of trade names. We haven’t found anything that works as well as this product. 1. Rinse the barrel and fill half way with cool water. 2. Dissolve Sod. Perc. in a container of warm (not hot) water (see table) and add to the barrel. 3. Fill the barrel with cool water and loosely bung. 4. Let stand for 24 hours, rinse several times and empty 5. Use a bit of citric acid in the last rinse to neutralize. 6. Add wine or prepare barrel for storage.
STORING AN EMPTY BARREL The very best way to maintain a wine barrel is to ensure it is never empty of wine! However this is not always possible so something must be done to keep the barrel sweet. An untreated empty barrel will quickly begin to produce moulds and bacteria. Replacing the air in the barrel with an atmosphere high in SO2 will effectively eliminate this problem. Make sure the barrel is tight. Rinse the barrel well and drain, bung down for 24 hours. Use one of the following methods to ensure bacteria free storage: Method 1 – Sulphur Sticks These should be burned in a device that will collect any drips of molten sulphur. Place the stick in the burner which is suspended from the bung. Light the stick, place it in the barrel and allow it to burn completely. Re-sulphur every 6-8 weeks. Quantity: 225L Barrel approx. ¼ - 1/3 stick 100L Barrel approx. ¼ stick < 100L Barrel approx 1/8 stick Method 2 – Sulphite Solution 1. Make up a 2% KMS solution and place a small amount (about 10% of barrel capacity) in the barrel. 2. Replace the solution every 6-8 weeks. SOLUTIONS TABLE Potassium Metabisulphite 2% solution 100 grams per 4L water or 16 tsp per Imperial Gallon 100 ppm Solution 6 grams per 23L water or 1 tsp per 5 Imperial Gallons Sodium Percarbonate Standard Cleaning Solution 2/3 – ¾ cup full 225L barrel 1/3 - ½ cup full 100L barrel ¼ cup full 46-50L barrel 1/8 – ¼ cup full 23 or 25L barrel Citric Acid 3 cups full 225L barrel 1.5 cups full 100L barrel 2/3 cup full 46-50L barrel 1/3 cup full 23 or 25L barrel
For other small American oak barrels in sizes 5, 10 and 15 litre and American oak chips click here

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF YOUR NEW OKANAGAN BARREL...

Welcome to the next level of winemaking! Oak alters the nature of wine in two ways – the wine dissolves and absorbs a complex of aromas and flavours from the oak. Tannins, phenols, vanillins and sugars are a major part of this extraction, but there are a myriad of trace elements which differ with the various oak species, where the trees were grown and how the wood was dried and coopered. Secondly, oxygen is introduced into the barrel through the joints between the staves. Thus, wine stored in an oak cask is subject to very slow oxidation and that is what gives wine its maturity.

Smaller barrels provide each litre of wine with a great deal more oak character than a larger barrel due to the ratio of surface area to wine volume. Because of this the same degree of flavour change may be observed in a far shorter period of time, perhaps only a few weeks. Wine in a small barrel requires constant monitoring to ensure it does not become over oaked.

HYDRATION

There are almost as many ways of hydrating barrels as there are barrel users.
All have their pros and cons but we have found the best results using the following method:

1. Unwrap the barrel
2. Put approximately 20 liters of water in the barrel (or about 10% capacity)
3. Roll the barrel around to wet the entire inside surface area
4. Stand the barrel on end for 1-2 hours
5. Flip the barrel over to swell the opposite head
6. Drain the barrel

Any minor leaks (if there are any) should have stopped by the end of this process.

Generally any leakage problems with barrels will occur around where the head seats in the croze or within about 6 inches of the stave ends. The above procedure takes care of this area. If this process fails to tighten the barrel, call Okanagan Barrel Works.

USING YOUR OKANAGAN BARREL FOR THE FIRST TIME

A brand new barrel, particularly a smaller one, will add a lot of oak very quickly to your wine. Some winemakers prefer to soften this initial impact in the following manner:

Fill the barrel about 50% with very hot water, bung tightly and rotate the barrel. Leave the water overnight then empty. You can do this as often as you wish and it is a good way to avoid over oaking your wine while the barrel is still young.

Now that you are ready to fill your barrel with wine, go right ahead. Just make sure you fill the barrel completely to avoid any air space (ullage) inside. If necessary, top up with a finished wine from a previous batch or (Heaven forbid!) with some store bought product.

CLEANING BETWEEN WINE FILLS

A barrel that is being refilled repeatedly with wine will do just fine with a thorough rinse between fills as follows:

1. Rinse with hot water under pressure to break up and tartrate crystals and to remove any residue.
2. Rinse again with cold wate

At times, however, despite one’s best efforts a barrel will require a chemical rinsing for stubborn tartrates or some slight “off” odours. Sodium Percarbonate is a food safe, oxygen based, granular cleaner available under a variety of trade names. We haven’t found anything that works as well as this product.

1. Rinse the barrel and fill half way with cool water.
2. Dissolve Sod. Perc. in a container of warm (not hot) water (see table) and add to the barrel.
3. Fill the barrel with cool water and loosely bung.
4. Let stand for 24 hours, rinse several times and empty
5. Use a bit of citric acid in the last rinse to neutralize.
6. Add wine or prepare barrel for storage.

STORING AN EMPTY BARREL

The very best way to maintain a wine barrel is to ensure it is never empty of wine! However this is not always possible so something must be done to keep the barrel sweet.

An untreated empty barrel will quickly begin to produce moulds and bacteria. Replacing the air in the barrel with an atmosphere high in SO2 will effectively eliminate this problem.

Make sure the barrel is tight.
Rinse the barrel well and drain, bung down for 24 hours.
Use one of the following methods to ensure bacteria free storage:

Method 1 – Sulphur Sticks

These should be burned in a device that will collect any drips of molten sulphur. Place the stick in the burner which is suspended from the bung. Light the stick, place it in the barrel and allow it to burn completely. Re-sulphur every 6-8 weeks.

Quantity: 225L Barrel approx. ¼ - 1/3 stick
100L Barrel approx. ¼ stick
< 100L Barrel approx 1/8 stick

Method 2 – Sulphite Solution

1. Make up a 2% KMS solution and place a small amount (about 10% of barrel capacity) in the barrel.
2. Replace the solution every 6-8 weeks.

SOLUTIONS TABLE

Potassium Metabisulphite

2% solution 100 grams per 4L water or 16 tsp per Imperial Gallon
100 ppm Solution 6 grams per 23L water or 1 tsp per 5 Imperial Gallons

Sodium Percarbonate

Standard Cleaning Solution 2/3 – ¾ cup full 225L barrel
1/3 - ½ cup full 100L barrel
¼ cup full 46-50L barrel
1/8 – ¼ cup full 23 or 25L barrel

Citric Acid 3 cups full 225L barrel
1.5 cups full 100L barrel
2/3 cup full 46-50L barrel
1/3 cup full 23 or 25L barrel

For other small American oak barrels in sizes 5, 10 and 15 litre and American oak chips click here