For some time I have been making vinegar from my homemade wines. I have been using a 1/2 gallon canning jar and while it seemed like it would be plenty when I started the fact is that it takes quite a while for the vinegar to finish and I never seemed to have enough. I wasn’t crazy about the glass jar either as it meant disturbing the mother whenever I wanted to add or remove vinegar. That and the fear of lead in the crock kept me from using an old crock I have on hand. What I really wanted was an oak vinegar barrel. As luck would have it, I recently found myself with a little bit of Paypal credit and decided to finally take the plunge and get a vinegar barrel with it. While it is more expensive than the glass jar I had been using, the oak barrel will last the rest of my life, keeps the vinegar dark (it likes that) and will allow me to make a never ending supply of awesome wine vinegar. The barrel will also impart its own wonderful flavors to the mix.

It is currently filled with water and is soaking to swell the staves. As per normal with a new barrel there were a few leaks when the water was first introduced. It has been sitting for a couple of hours and already most of the small leaks have sealed up. I will keep the water in there till tomorrow, check it again and if all is dry add my batch of vinegar to the barrel.