For these last few years it has been very difficult to source used bourbon barrels as the US distillers have developed long-term contracts with European distillers to sell their used barrels, which has made it difficult for independent cooperages like us to get hold of them in decent volumes. We have been able to get […]

In our cooperaage about half of the work we do is producing new barrels and half is refurbishing used barrels – when it comes to new barrels the quality of the oak and workmanship should be readily apparent, but the used barrels world is far more opaque. In this article we are going to look

in this post we are going to look at the reasons for seasoning oak before it is used to make barrels. Here at our cooperage we used to have our own saw mill to cut the oak into planks, but this work is now done to specialist saw mills. So we buy our wood as

STR casks are used red wine barrels that are rejuvenated so that they can be used again by distilleries to make some interesting flavours and make some considerable savings. Here at Luso Barrel we have been investing quite heavily in new machinery to enable us to increase our production of STR casks to meet growing

We supply our new and used barrels all round the world and there are a few precautions that need to be taken when transporting and storing them before filling. Here we are going to look at how best to look after your barrels to prevent leaks and damaging the flavour profile. Perhaps the most important

Oak is expensive and there is a limited amount available, so why are the vast majority of barrels made from oak rather than some other kind of wood? Here in this post we will not consider the different kinds of oak (you can read about the benefits of American oak vs French/ European oak for

For two or three years now the premium alcoholics drinks sector has been struggling with a shortage of both new and used barrels. Initially it looked like a Covid problem, compounded by the war in Ukraine, but it is becoming clear that there are more deep-rooted issues that are causing these supply issues. At its

Here at LusoBarrel we specialize in supplying used Madeira and Port barrels, which makes sense as these are the two most famous kinds of fortified wine from Portugal, where we are based near the Port wine growing region. We also make new barrels and supply used sherry barrels (as well as some other more unusual

All the barrels that leave our cooperage have been tested for leaks, which means we fill them and leave them to sit for a few hours. However after transport there can be some problems with leaks when they arrive at our clients’ facilities – this is typically either a stave has broken in transport; the

The first thing to say is that all the barrels that leave our cooperage (new or used) are pressure tested before they leave the premises. This means that we put water in them and let them sit for a while (and turn them) and check to see if there are any leaks. So when they