top of page
Basic Info

HOW IT WORKS

The Barrel Monkey makes filling barrels easier. Insert the nozzle, press the button, and wait.
Your barrel will fill quickly and the nozzle will shut off at just the right moment, producing perfect top offs each and every time. 

image (1).png

Our Company

Barrel Monkey is a startup winery equipment manufacturer in the heart of the Willamette Valley. Our team has over fifty years experience in the wine industry and with that has seen ways to improve the winemaking process through better tools. Currently, the Barrel Monkey V2 is in use in wineries across the US and in Europe. 

barrel-monkey-resting-side(web).jpg

WHERE
IT'S MADE

Every Barrel Monkey part is machine crafted & assembled in the American Pacific Northwest.

FAQ

Read our FAQ page for more information and questions related to the Barrel Monkey

Development

Development

 

3/19/2023

It has been some time since we've provided a development update so we have quite a lot to share. The Barrel Monkey V2 topping system is in use in wineries across the US and Europe. We've continued to make small improvements to make sure the system is robust and reliable. We have two improvements to the V2 topping system in our current development schedule. The first is a simple LED flashlight on the topping nozzle. This will help the user in dimly lit cellars and tight spaces between barrels. To save battery life, that light will be motion activated which brings us to our second improvement, an integrated tilt and acceleration sensor. First, I'll explain the problem we wish to eliminate. Most of our users take their hand off the nozzle while filling and replace/remove the bungs from the last and next barrel. While doing this, there's a small chance that the nozzle or hose can be bumped, dislodging the nozzle, and causing a spill. We're in the business of eliminating spills so this is a no-go! The integrated tilt/acceleration sensor will be able to detect that the nozzle has been dislodged from the barrel and immediately shut off the flow. Of course, these improvements will be made available to our current lessees. 

​

Next, I'd like to introduce a new product, derived from our topping system, that we hope to release in the next few months. We're calling it the Barrel Monkey Full Flow. We've designed an automated barrel filling nozzle that functions much like our current topping system. You'll be able to place it in a barrel, press the fill button, walk away and a few minutes later have a perfectly filled barrel. We've all had the dramatic barrel overflow moment (usually at the end of a long fermentation season) and this iteration of our barrel topper will eliminate that. Development has been tricky as it's much more complicated than just turning up the flow rate on the current topping system, but we're confident that we'll have it available soon. Please use our contact form if you'd like to receive more updates. 

​

12/6/2021

After receiving the first production models of the machined in the late winter, we spent the spring and summer months developing our anti-foam fill strategy and extensively testing the mechanical operation of the Barrel Monkey hardware. After several months of in-house stress testing and testing in barrel rooms of our partner wineries, we have decided to invest the resources to make the Barrel Monkey battery powered and fully self contained with Barrel Monkey V2. We hope to have Barrel Monkey V2 testing soon and available earlry next year!

​

1/11/2021

We are proud to announce that the first production run of Barrel Monkey top off nozzles are in progress. We expect that part manufacturing will be done in the next few weeks with the first assembled nozzles ready to be delivered to customers in early February. Please reach out if you are interested as we're very excited to share details with potential customers!

​

​

11/14/2020

We're in the final stages of bringing the Barrel Monkey to market. Our pre-production prototype is in it's final assembly and will be tested in barrel rooms soon. Expect videos and photos of the Barrel Monkey in action soon!

​

​

​

​

bottom of page