> > I need to transfer 50 gallons from a 55 gallon plastic drum into an
> > oak barrel (actually from several drums into several barrels.)
> > Gravity racking is a possibility but I'm thinking I could
>
> > a. start the siphon easily, and
> > b. speed up the transfer
>
> > by applying a small amount of vacuum to the barrels. Has anyone
> > already thought of a simple way to do this? My main concern, of
> > course, is not imploding the barrel with excessive vacuum. But surely
> > there's some cheap and reasonable way to regulate things? Anyone know
> > how much vacuum a barrel can take?
I don't get it. what are you thinking? How are you going to apply the vacuum to the receiving barrel (where it has to be) ? If you are siphoning wine from one "barrel" to another, how can you establish a "vacuum" via the bung hole in the barrel that the wine is flowing into ?? Duct tape? Why would you want to try? Use a larger hose, this ain't brain surgery... Wino