The use of wooden barrels as containers for beverages is time honored and with respect to alcoholic beverages such as wine, brandy, whiskey and the like, the barrel has several distinct functions. These functions may be summarized as storage, shipping, and aging. Aging will be taken as a complex of processes such as oxidation, extraction of flavor components and other time dependent physico-chemical processes that affect the sensory appreciation of the aged product. Long experience has indicated that this aging process is highly dependent upon the ratio of container surface to container volume, and this ratio is in the order of three square feet per cubic foot for many alcoholic beverages.
CENTURIES OF USE OF THE BARREL HAVE RESULTED IN A CONTAINER THAT IS ADMIRABLY SUITED TO STORING AND SHIPPING. Even though it appears to be a simple and even crude device, the barrel utilizes the rather sophisticated concept of prestressing in order to maintain its shape and prevent leaking at the joints between the staves. As a result of the precision required in forming each piece, the skills required in the cooper's art are notable and require years to develop. As an alternative to this skill, a complex industrial process is necessary.
Since shipping is no longer a necessary function of barrels, the circular cross-section is not mandatory and the present invention is directed toward improving upon the storing and aging functions previously mentioned. While there have been many attempts at producing a non-circular "barrel" or container, those that were simple enough to be commercially acceptable have not worked well, and those that worked well have not been simple enough.