Production of prototype lab-scale oak barrel analogues using additive manufacturing

Experiments involving the maturation of wine or spirits in oak barrels are economically challenging to undertake, especially when there is a need for extensive replication to account for the compositional variability of oak wood. Barrel maturation is also difficult to emulate at a laboratory scale...

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Main Authors: Hugh Holds, Kerry Wilkinson, David Jeffery, Frances Jack, Sue Bastian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: International Viticulture and Enology Society 2025-01-01
Series:OENO One
Subjects:
Online Access:https://oeno-one.eu/article/view/8082
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author Hugh Holds
Kerry Wilkinson
David Jeffery
Frances Jack
Sue Bastian
author_facet Hugh Holds
Kerry Wilkinson
David Jeffery
Frances Jack
Sue Bastian
author_sort Hugh Holds
collection DOAJ
description Experiments involving the maturation of wine or spirits in oak barrels are economically challenging to undertake, especially when there is a need for extensive replication to account for the compositional variability of oak wood. Barrel maturation is also difficult to emulate at a laboratory scale due to the significant increase in surface-area to volume ratio when working with smaller barrel formats. Cost-effective methods that provide a semi-permeable environment for oxygen transfer and modelling of barrel maturation environments while maintaining a more realistic surface to volume ratio would therefore be valuable for researchers. This preliminary research study investigated a novel use of additive manufacturing (3D printing) to fabricate cost-effective laboratory-scale maturation vessels that required less volume to fill but still achieved a surface-area-to-volume ratio of oak contact closer to that of a conventionally sized barrel. Experimental vessels and 28 L commercial casks were filled in replicate with grape distillate and aged for two years. Vessels were weighed at the completion of maturation to ascertain evaporative losses and extraction was measured using colour absorbance at 430 nm. Seventy eight percent of the experimentally produced vessels successfully held maturing spirit for the duration of a two-year maturation study. The vessels showed statistically significant improvements in the ratio of evaporation and extraction (both p < 0.0001) when compared to small format 28 L commercial sourced casks and accepted industry values for more common 220 / 300 L casks.
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spelling doaj-art-9d6852353dca47f097780267d97e77ca2025-01-23T11:10:31ZengInternational Viticulture and Enology SocietyOENO One2494-12712025-01-0159110.20870/oeno-one.2025.59.1.8082Production of prototype lab-scale oak barrel analogues using additive manufacturingHugh Holds0Kerry Wilkinson1David Jeffery2Frances Jack3Sue Bastian4School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, and Waite Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, South Australia 5064, Australia.School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, and Waite Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, South Australia 5064, Australia.School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, and Waite Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, South Australia 5064, Australia.The Scotch Whisky Research Institute, Edinburgh EH14 4AP, UK.School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, and Waite Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, South Australia 5064, Australia. Experiments involving the maturation of wine or spirits in oak barrels are economically challenging to undertake, especially when there is a need for extensive replication to account for the compositional variability of oak wood. Barrel maturation is also difficult to emulate at a laboratory scale due to the significant increase in surface-area to volume ratio when working with smaller barrel formats. Cost-effective methods that provide a semi-permeable environment for oxygen transfer and modelling of barrel maturation environments while maintaining a more realistic surface to volume ratio would therefore be valuable for researchers. This preliminary research study investigated a novel use of additive manufacturing (3D printing) to fabricate cost-effective laboratory-scale maturation vessels that required less volume to fill but still achieved a surface-area-to-volume ratio of oak contact closer to that of a conventionally sized barrel. Experimental vessels and 28 L commercial casks were filled in replicate with grape distillate and aged for two years. Vessels were weighed at the completion of maturation to ascertain evaporative losses and extraction was measured using colour absorbance at 430 nm. Seventy eight percent of the experimentally produced vessels successfully held maturing spirit for the duration of a two-year maturation study. The vessels showed statistically significant improvements in the ratio of evaporation and extraction (both p < 0.0001) when compared to small format 28 L commercial sourced casks and accepted industry values for more common 220 / 300 L casks. https://oeno-one.eu/article/view/8082Barrel maturation3D printingDistillationSpirits
spellingShingle Hugh Holds
Kerry Wilkinson
David Jeffery
Frances Jack
Sue Bastian
Production of prototype lab-scale oak barrel analogues using additive manufacturing
OENO One
Barrel maturation
3D printing
Distillation
Spirits
title Production of prototype lab-scale oak barrel analogues using additive manufacturing
title_full Production of prototype lab-scale oak barrel analogues using additive manufacturing
title_fullStr Production of prototype lab-scale oak barrel analogues using additive manufacturing
title_full_unstemmed Production of prototype lab-scale oak barrel analogues using additive manufacturing
title_short Production of prototype lab-scale oak barrel analogues using additive manufacturing
title_sort production of prototype lab scale oak barrel analogues using additive manufacturing
topic Barrel maturation
3D printing
Distillation
Spirits
url https://oeno-one.eu/article/view/8082
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AT davidjeffery productionofprototypelabscaleoakbarrelanaloguesusingadditivemanufacturing
AT francesjack productionofprototypelabscaleoakbarrelanaloguesusingadditivemanufacturing
AT suebastian productionofprototypelabscaleoakbarrelanaloguesusingadditivemanufacturing