[duboman]

Well, based on everyone's input I'll need to reevaluate my budget and desire because I'm not willing to drop 150 on a 20L barrel......

[Joe Sr.]

I think $150 is a little high, particularly for pick up.

There's a guy in Milwaukee or Madison who had some he'd ship that came in around that price.  Last time I checked was maybe a year ago.

For the price, I'm sticking with chips and plan to use some cubes or maybe a spiral as well.

Koval is walking distance from me, but they only have much larger barrels than I could use.

15 gallons is not to much to fill if you try.  Double batch it with a concentrated wort and then top up.

[a10t2]

Don't forget the price of the whiskey you'd need to fill it with first...

[Joe Sr.]

Farmhouse Brewing Supply is the place I talked to (I searched my old e-mails).

He had rum barrels at the time that were $110 for a 5gal and 150 for a 10 gal.  $17 to ship to Chicago for a 5.

This was 2012, so maybe $150 is fair these days.

The Balcones barrels are supposed to be a good deal.  If you can work out a pallet shipment to Chicago, I'm in.  I've never had a good response from them (or from my LHBS) but others have.

[Stevie]

Last time I called balcones they were asking about $90, maybe it was $75, to pickup a barrel. Only issue is they operate on bankers hours and are closed on the weekends. I am only down that way Friday nights or on the weekend. They had rye and rum, but the empties are constantly rotating and often not available at all.

[duboman]

Don't forget the price of the whiskey you'd need to fill it with first...

ya but they're selling the whiskey for profit already so the overhead is paid for and since they use the barrels more than once(I believe) it's already been paid for even if it was only once

[Stevie]

Don't forget the price of the whiskey you'd need to fill it with first...

ya but they're selling the whiskey for profit already so the overhead is paid for and since they use the barrels more than once(I believe) it's already been paid for even if it was only once

It's all the demand. 15 years ago fast food places paid somebody to take their frier oil away, now the sell it.

[dkfick]

I would add that not all barrels are created equal. The cheap barrels from Balcones are quite thin and allow a lot more O2 transfer. I picked up some from Journeyman and they are about twice as thick. About the same thickness as a full size barrel is made from. I am much more happy with this.  Though I will say I am happily still using my Balcones barrel as well.

[euge]

And don't some of these barrels end up with Scotch whiskey maturing in them over thar in Scotland? Gotta be a huge demand with the homebrewers picking around the edges of the market (leftovers).

However, I'm a little shocked actually at the price for the 20L.

[Jeff M]

Don't forget the price of the whiskey you'd need to fill it with first...

ya but they're selling the whiskey for profit already so the overhead is paid for and since they use the barrels more than once(I believe) it's already been paid for even if it was only once

Im afraid thats not the way capitalism works;)

[ynotbrusum]

Don't forget the price of the whiskey you'd need to fill it with first...

ya but they're selling the whiskey for profit already so the overhead is paid for and since they use the barrels more than once(I believe) it's already been paid for even if it was only once

Im afraid thats not the way capitalism works;)

Recovering costs from sales of byproducts - every industry tries to do this, plus it could be argued that the bourbon makers are adding value to the barrel, since bourbon barrels are highly sought after by other users.  I am happy with my sole Balcones Barrel.  I hope it will serve my souring needs for quite a while.  Interesting to hear about relative thickness and varying porosity between barrels, I never thought that much about it.  Guess these coopers have quite a skilled trade going...

[reverseapachemaster]

Balcones is probably the cheapest, but not by much, but I believe they are only selling by the pallet these days.

[morticaixavier]

Don't forget the price of the whiskey you'd need to fill it with first...

ya but they're selling the whiskey for profit already so the overhead is paid for and since they use the barrels more than once(I believe) it's already been paid for even if it was only once

Im afraid thats not the way capitalism works;)

Recovering costs from sales of byproducts - every industry tries to do this, plus it could be argued that the bourbon makers are adding value to the barrel, since bourbon barrels are highly sought after by other users.  I am happy with my sole Balcones Barrel.  I hope it will serve my souring needs for quite a while.  Interesting to hear about relative thickness and varying porosity between barrels, I never thought that much about it.  Guess these coopers have quite a skilled trade going...

You can alleviate some of the extra o2 concerns by coating the outside of the barrel. I used bees wax but paraffin would work.

If you coat all but the heads it is supposed to be similar to a large barrel. I haven't sampled my sour in a couple months. It's about due.

[reverseapachemaster]

And don't some of these barrels end up with Scotch whiskey maturing in them over thar in Scotland? Gotta be a huge demand with the homebrewers picking around the edges of the market (leftovers).

However, I'm a little shocked actually at the price for the 20L.

Tequila distillers also use those used barrels.

I don't think homebrewers are the ones driving up the price on used barrels anywhere near as much as commercial brewers. It seems every start up is going directly into a barrel program even before they have a core line up established.

[denny]

Keep looking around and you never know what you'll find.  A guy in our club contacted a distiller in well-known Kentucky.  They not only gave us 2 60 gal. barrels, they also paid the shipping from Kentucky to OR.  Of course that's not going to happen every day, but you never know what you might find.