131: Cider Barrels with a Cooper, a Maker & Thierry Lemaire

Cider Barrel Maintenance The craft of making an oak barrel is called "cooperage" and the person who applies this craft is called a "cooper". The skills of this trade have been passed down through the centuries. The tree and the wood chosen to become a barrel has to meet specific criteria, such as having a tight grain and flavor profiles that lend the tannin qualities often sought in a cider barrel. From the classic wide belly barrels to oval shaped vessels, the shape of wooden barrels have changed very little over time. Quality control over the wood used and the intricacies of heat, stave bending, and maintenance of cider barrels continues to evolve. This episode 131 was recorded in Saint Catharine, Ontario during a dinner chat with Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider, Thierry Lemaire of Nuance Winery Supplies and Louis of Radoux, a cooperage based in Santa Rosa California and France. All three men have extensive knowledge on barrel use with wine. As the cider market continues to grow and both the consumer's and cidermakers interest in ciders fermented or stored in oak increases, barrel maintenance is undoubtedly a hot topic and a key market for these specialist in the art of oak barrel cooperage and fermentation. As we enjoy a bottle of Ryan's FieldBird cider over dinner the four of us discuss oak barrel selection and maintenance, which in short narrows down to the broader topic of Barrel Skills. Whereas the wine industry has been working with oak barrels for centuries, cidermakers particularly in the US and Canada, are only now gaining speed with cider post Prohibition. Key topics in this chat: Finding the right oak barrel for your cider Barrel Maintenance: Cleaning a barrel Storing a barrel - wet or dry storage - burning a sulfur disk Leaky barrels - mechanical (cooperage) or maker mismanagement? Using Wax on a barrel to stop evaporation Buying a new barrel Contact Info for the guest in this episode Thierry Lemaire Website: Nuance Winery Supplies eMail: mailto:[email protected] Address: 15 Lloyd Street St Catharines, ON L2S 2N7 - Canada Telephone: +1 905-225-0114 Louis Zandvliet Website: Radoux Address: 480 Aviation Blvd. Santa Rosa, CA 95403 Telephone:  (707) 284-2888 Ryan Monkman FieldBird Cider Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fieldbird.cider/ Please Help Support Cider Chat Please donate today. Help keep the chat thriving! Find this episode and all episodes at the page for Cider Chat's podcasts. • Listen also at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher (for Android), iHeartRadio , Spotify and wherever you love to listen to podcasts. Follow on Cider Chat's blog, social media and podcast Twitter @ciderchat Instagram: @ciderchatciderville Cider Chat FaceBook Page Cider Chat YouTube Ask for the following ciders - By supporting these cidermakers, you in turn help Cider Chat Kurant Cider - Pennsylvania : listen to Joe Getz on episode 14 Big Apple Hard Cider - NYC : listen to Danielle von Scheiner on episode 35 Oliver's Cider and Perry - Herefordshire/UK ; listen to Tom Oliver on episode 29 Santa Cruz Cider Company - California : listen to Nicole Todd on episode 60 The Cider Project aka EthicCider- California Albermale CiderWorks : listen to Chuck Shelton on episode 56 Cider Summit : listen to Alan Shapiro founder of this cider fest on episode 75. Ramborn Cider Co. Luxembourg. Big Fish Cider Co. Virginia Tanuki Cider Co. Santa Cruz California episode 103 Ross on Wye Cider and Perry, UK Process and Analytical NMR Services - John Edwards provides analytics of cider - stay tuned for his Chemical Fingerprints workshop coming up on Cider Chat Ironbark Ciderworks, Claremont, California Join the #ciderGoingUP Campaign today!