Bought a wine barrel today

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bubbachunk

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Me and a guy I work with just picked up a used cab sav barrel from napa valley for 100$. We are going to clean it up, make up a batch of show mead and then experiment with different fruits and secondary items after oak aging. If you have any ideas to input throw them out there as this is an ongoing project.

Now just need to find a 55 gallon drum of honey :tank:
 
Me and a guy I work with just picked up a used cab sav barrel from napa valley for 100$. We are going to clean it up, make up a batch of show mead and then experiment with different fruits and secondary items after oak aging. If you have any ideas to input throw them out there as this is an ongoing project.

Now just need to find a 55 gallon drum of honey :tank:
Not a bad price. Locally to me, I can get a French oak barrel (used once) for about £70. Not sure if it's the same size though, at 225 litres (about 50 imp gallons or nearly 60 US gallons). I reckon to use about 3 to 3.5lb honey to a gallon, so what ? between 150 and 175 lb of honey.......

Might have to think about that one......
 
there is a place here that sells 55 gallon drums--which weight ~600lbs each when full--for a bit over $1500. single source, varietal honey that hasn't had anything done to it. so, a drum would last you three to five batches, and net between 1200 and 2000 750ml bottles. does that math look right to you guys?
 
there is a place here that sells 55 gallon drums--which weight ~600lbs each when full--for a bit over $1500. single source, varietal honey that hasn't had anything done to it. so, a drum would last you three to five batches, and net between 1200 and 2000 750ml bottles. does that math look right to you guys?

That is probably good for varietal, but when you add in shipping to me which would probably run ~200-300 dollars it jumps from 2.25$/lb to ~2.65$/lb.

Gotta find a place that does give a good discount for bulk buys and can freight.
 
Yeah, it is an expense. Me and a few friends have been contemplating getting licensed to make and sell mead, and the only way I've found to control your costs significantly are to have your own hives. But, to have enough hives to actually make a profit means at least ~ten acres plus $20k for appiary related equipment.

So, I'm still dreamin and working on 3-5 gallon recipes :D
 
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