by yeastmeister » Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:02 pm
4 barrels should fit on a pallet. Pallets are not shipped by weight, they are shipped by pallet. 2450 lbs can fit on a pallet for the same price as 10 lbs.
That price doesn't seem too bad considering the distance from Louisiana. We pay approx $150 for the grain pallets which includes a fuel surcharge, and a call before delivery charge.
Be aware of a few things. A new 59 lb oak barrel weighs approximately 120 lbs empty. A full barrel weighs almost 600 lbs. Thats a lot of beer to fill a barrel. Not sure how we could fill that much, or where we could store it. I can definitely find space to store at least 1 barrel, but not sure about 4. I'm betting they would each need to be mounted on a separate pallet, with some sort of mounting to keep them from rolling. And they a fork lift would be required to move that sucker.
If barrels are not kept wet, they need to be rehydrated to use. That takes 24 hours of continuous submersion. When they are dry, they leak water out faster than you can fill it.
Not saying no, just be aware of the size of the task your thinking about undertaking.