Seasoning a new port barrel

[Bradgc]

I've ordered a new port barrel made in mexico, these barrels are made for tequila and whiskey.
They are american oak and the inside is "medium charred".
I hear that new barrels need to be seasoned so im just wondering how i do this? Its only a 2L barrel so i hear that they can get really oaky really fast.
Also, is it possble to buy small amounts of young tawny or less oaky flavoured port from bottleshops? Ive seen the flagons of mcwilliams fortifieds, is it possible to get a good result from these?

[daz]

Search the site using, "barrel" as a keyword. There are a number of discussions that from memory include firstly filling with water for a while to swell the wood a bit, ensure the seal is tight, before filling it with a cheap version of your preferred tipple. I've a brother with a similar-sized cask who's mostly used Penfolds 2 litre casks in his. The result is ok but as with any quality wine, what goes in the barrel determines the quality of what comes out of it though time in barrel does seem make for some improvement.

Cheers, welcome to the forum

daz

[Cloth Ears]

From a friends' recommendation, you probably shouldn't use water. Depending on what you're going to put in it (cheap or expensive), you buy something one step down and also add 1% of a reasonable cognac (or brandy, if you prefer) - so 20ml for 2 litres. Leave it for 'a few weeks' and have a taste. You may find the barrel taste is not to your liking for the first time, in which case you can empty it and put in your actual forified that you're intending to use it for. Otherwise, you can start on it straight away and start adding your preferred as you eat into the original contents.

My friend used to add a small amount of a good cognac every time he'd gone through the contents (so, for each 2 litres drunk, add 20ml - or add 10 ml with each new bottle). This takes a while to go through the barrel, so you'd need to leave it a couple of weeks after each recharging.

Also, even if you're not drinking any of it - you will lose a small amount to evaporation (through the wood). In Scotland (for Scotch) this is called the angels share. Also, do not let the barrel get to less than half full (preferably not less than 2/3rds full) or you may find the barrel could develop splits in the wood. These are essentially unfixable.

[bacchaebabe]

Need to offer some advice here. Read this thread first: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6782&hilit=muscat+barrel

It has many experiences in it but most are with larger barrels designed for Port and Muscat. 2 litres is really not very big and the fact that it's charred, makes me think you might be better off with Tequila or Whiskey. Although if it's only two litres, you can afford to experiment a fair bit as you're not going to ever waste too much.

To season the barrel, you DO need to fill it with water first but only for 24 hours. It will leak initially and this process swells the wood to stop this. Then pour in what you want to drink. I strongly suspect it would get very oaky and with such a small size, I'd be inclined to fill it with a very cheap port or muscat and leave it for a week and pour off the intitial fill back into bottles for quaffing or cooking and then pour new material into the barrel and go with that. You may even want to do this twice due to the small size of the barrel.

Don't put any brandy into it. It's already fortified so you don't need to do it. The winemaker has already done this. You're not making the port, just maturing it. And for a barrel that size, you'd only put in a drop, if you were really intent on it but it's just not necessary.

If you're going for a port barrel, I'd be inclined to just use cask or flagon port the first couple of times. Then move to a classic level port or muscat when you think it's seasoned and the oak has toned down. If you're going to drink a lot, you can order bulk port and muscat from many wineries. Certainly almost all the Rutherglen ones sell bulk port in 5, 15 and 20 liter containers for this exact purpose. It's usually around $10 a litre so it is much cheaper than buying 750ml bottles and the quality is high despite it being bulk. Stanton and Killeen definitely sell this way. See http://www.stantonandkilleenwines.com.a ... ch2012.pdf

Hope this helps. And good luck, it's quite rewarding.