Oak Uprights

I inherited a few, and am somewhat familiar with them, but thought I would reach out to other Rats.

How do you maintain them? Store them for inactive periods? Prep them for harvest? Sanitize them?

do they have the fancy stainless tops or lids? If so treat like a big barrel. We would fill the tank with a foot or so of ozonated water (i know) and add citric and SO2. Change frequently. Im not sure how it worked in the long term because I left the company not to long after harvest.

Cleaning was just like with a normal tank, accept you have to get in and use a brush, your fingernails, or whatever to get the tartrates off the wood. You can probably never have enough ozone or paracetic acid when prepping them for grapes. Oh and enjoy pounding those hoops!

No luck selling them huh?

I’ve used them in the past and have 1 ton upright fermenters right now. I leave them filled with water at about 200ppm SO2 and citric. I drain them at the end of the month and rinse them with ozone and then fill them up again before harvest. If you keep them wet, they are much easier to deal with than letting them dry out. I give them a few minutes of steam before the first grapes go in, and they are no problem. The one tons are a joy to ferment in, beautiful kinetics and great wines.

Actually, the ones I wanted to sell went quickly. Within a week. I have a few more I want to play with to discern whether I really like them.

I feel I’d rather keep them wet…some of my friends store SB in them just to keep them from drying it before bottling around this time, and then do the KMBS/acid thing. Interestingly, they all mentioned that they use tartaric rather than citric? I suppose due to concerns about the different microbial pathways that can be accessed via consuming citric? I seem to recall something about this in micro but it’s been a while.

My pet peeve is water. I’d prefer to avoid draining and refilling every month, as it seems like a huge waste and, of course, comes with a wastewater cost. Any reason I absolutely have to replace the water that often? If I keep up the SO2 level?

I wouldn’t use citric in oak. I have in the past, but won’t anymore. Last year I was washing out a glass carboy. A good water rinse, proxycarb, rinse again, citric/so2, rinse again. Before putting it away, I put some citric/so2/water at the bottom…not a lot but enough (rather than dump it down the drain). I intended to dump it out the next day, but didn’t get back to the winery, and forgot about it after that. Went to use it several months later and the water had stuff growing in it…I assume from the citric.

Molds can grow in some pretty inhospitable places. I have seen mold growth in plain water as well (what were they eating?). I certainly wouldn’t trust not changing the water.

I’ve used them in the past and have 1 ton upright fermenters right now. I leave them filled with water at about 200ppm SO2 and citric. I drain them at the end of the month and rinse them with ozone and then fill them up again before harvest. If you keep them wet, they are much easier to deal with than letting them dry out. I give them a few minutes of steam before the first grapes go in, and they are no problem. The one tons are a joy to ferment in, beautiful kinetics and great wines.

BTW, Brinkman, I was looking through the records on a few of these, and guess whose name was on the PO? Blast from your past…

I’m trying to imagine what a 1T, 300-gal upright looks like? Not so much “up” I’m guessing? A Verne Troyer version of what I’ve got here…exactly 1/8 the size.

I saw your thread title and my brain registered “upright wood” and I clicked eagerly, only to be disappointed. Tease [gheyfight.gif]

Yeah, I was going to mention that I took care of them that way when I was there, but I was trying not to go stumbling down the road to my dark, checkered past. Absolutely gorgeous property, and great fruit.

The one tons are pretty short, not necessarily mini-me short, but close enough! I actually love them, and am buying 3 more this year.

Nate,

At least you purchased oak uprights rather than ovals! When I was a cellar rat at Joseph Phelps, they were used for wine storage at the original winery. A pain to empty–due to the concave bottom!–plus they leaked like a sieve if left unfilled for several months. Do your uprights have stainless doors? Have you ever worked with the old ones that require paraffin to make a seal? I think that everyone should

Also, while Citric Acid does have its plusses, I worry about it being a potential substrate for nasty bugs like our good friend, Brettanomyces.

Why not just circulate ozone through the water each week to keep it clean?