There is no secret that oak is the best material for barrels, owing to its ability to give barrel’s contents vanilla and cellulose flavor. Although winemakers sometimes use plastic and steel for storing the wine, these cheaper alternatives won’t substitute the wonderful taste, produced by a wooden cask. More and more brewers come back to the wooden barrels method, leaving behind the stainless still casks, because oak is able to dry out beer flavors and absorb extra sweetness. Wine is kept in the oak barrels, because it has to get rid of the sourness from grapes and the feeling of water presence in it. Vinegar gets its deep taste qualities owing to the barrel, which gives it additional sourness.

There a few standard barrel sizes and different measurements system as for different countries. In the United States volume is measured by gallons. In the Great Britain imperial gallons are used for volume measurement of liquids. The following table includes American, British and metric measurement systems:
Blood tub -40 liters.
Quarter Cask- 50 liters.
ASB (American Standard Barrel) -200 liters
Bordeaux type -59 gal, 49 imp gal and 225 liters.
Burgundy type -60 gal, 50 imp gal and 228 liters.
Hogshead -70 gal, 250 liters.
Puncheons -132 gal, 500 liters.
Cognac type -77 gal, 66 imp gal and 300 liters.
As you see, our barrel doesn’t get in any of these categories and it doesn’t have to. This barrel is for the passionate dabber, but not for the big winery or brewing company.
Traditionally, structure of the barrel looks like that:

2 Chime hoops (outer hoops on the both ends)

2 quarter hoops

2 French hoops

And finally, 1 Bilge hoop in the center.

Did you get interested in the barrel making process and why our barrel is better than others? Then you should continue reading!

Occasionally, the hoops are made from wood. The barrel, which we sell, has metal hoops and that is what makes it elite. Metal hoops are made especially for humidity control, so that your wine or whiskey didn’t turn into vapor. Of course it’s nice to give the angel’s share, but metallic hoops will make the share fair!

We shouldn’t forget about the importance of the next step in creating the cask toasting level. Medium toasting level, like in this 3 liter barrel is good for many red wines, for beer and whiskey. Light toasting level is great for the white wines and high toasting works well for bourbon, corn whiskey and tequila.

There are only two things left to do for the cooper: after diameter is measured, cooper cuts two circles out of the flat wood and to put them over the chime hoops. Finally, we drill a hole in the cask in order to check how our wine is aging and, if we don’t consider the following toughness and licking testing, barrel is ready for active using.

Our barrels are solidly built and we let our customers choose between galvanized and brass hoops. We guarantee that the purchased barrel are solidly coopered and will serve you faithfully for a long time. Enjoy your purchase and make a good use of it!