Racking Small Barrels - What do you do?

[OldSpye]

Barrel racks for full-size (53 gal) barrels are easy to come by, but I haven't seen any barrel racks for smaller 15 or 30 gallon barrels.

Those who are using smaller barrels, how do you rack them?

[mendodistilling]

http://www.brickpackaging.com/product/330/Powder_Coated_Beige/399/Small_Format_Racks__15_Gallon__BLACK/

[Silk City Distillers]

Western Square racks will fit 15 and 30s

[OldSpye]

Western Square racks will fit 15 and 30s

Gotcha. I'll take a look at those. Trying to do some floor planning, now that the architect has finally got everything right.

Thanks!

[PeteB]

Very cheap barrel racks, see photo

2 thick boards on floor then 2 on top of each row of barrels

I stack 100 litre barrels 3 high then smaller ones on top

offset the rows and you can get at the bungs to sample.

screw ties between the boards and they are slightly easier to handle

[OldSpye]

Brilliant!

[PeteB]

I look at so many distilleries, especially startups, and wonder why they have spent so much money on things they don't really need.

I think one possibility is someone tells you it will cost say $300,000 to set up a distillery of a certain size then you will go looking to spend that money. There are so many new shiny bells and whistles that are not needed for a startup. If you start making a huge profit then re-invest in the shiny stuff like $200 stainless barrel racks and use the $2 worth of second hand timber as fire wood.

[TetonDistillery]

photo.JPG

Very cheap barrel racks, see photo

2 thick boards on floor then 2 on top of each row of barrels

I stack 100 litre barrels 3 high then smaller ones on top

offset the rows and you can get at the bungs to sample.

screw ties between the boards and they are slightly easier to handle

We do roughly the same thing.

You can easily go four high with 53 gallon barrels with this cheap and effective method.