Foudrerie François

Cask Preparation

Oak casks and vats can dry during transportation. For an oak vat, we advise you to add 15-20 cm of water in the bottom of the product on the first day. For an oak cask, we advise you to add water to the bottom of the front door.

Be careful, it is important to use clean, filtered and un-chlorinated water.

The following day, fill entirely the oak cask or vat with water and sulfur (0.5 liter of SO2 with a concentration of 6%, per cask or vat). This step enables the oak cask or vat to swell and ensure the waterproofness. It is necessary to look after storage of the water. The water might remain clean.

Sometimes, it is preferable to wait a few days and check if the appeared leaks vanish. Once the leaks disappeared, we advise you to tighten the stainless steel accessories by half a turn.

Then, you can empty the oak cask or vat. It is ready to be used.

Cask Maintenance

After vinification, use a steam generator such as “Barriclean” for 2-3 minutes per HL to descale the oak casks or vats. Then, rinse with clean water.

Be careful, do not use high pressure cleaner. This kind of material can damage the wood fibers.

If the oak cask or vat is not used for a few weeks or months, let it dry with the upper manholes, front doors, valves opened, in order to enable good ventilation. This step is very important because a good drying process will avoid mold proliferation.

The use of chemical products is formally not recommended. You could risk damage to the sides and stainless steel accessories of your oak casks or vats. However, you can use an alcohol solution such as “brandy” to sterilize your oak casks or vats.

Olfactory and visual controls might be regularly done. Regular checks can detect if mold proliferates.
Furthermore, never remove the stainless steel accessories directly fixed to your oak casks or vats. You could cause leaks when the accessories will be fixed again.

Some recent François Foudrier customer references