A&K Cooperage

A&K Cooperage was established in Higbee, Missouri in 1972 as a keg business by D.L. Andrews and his son-in-law Dale Kirby.[3] They initially produced 5- to 20- gallon kegs but began concentrating on manufacturing 59-gallon American white oak barrels.[3] In 1988 they were involved in a court case and hired a New York attorney before they could collect $23,000 for a shipment of 200 barrels from a client who failed to make payment.[4]

Andrews died in 1996, leaving Dale Kirby and son, Matthew, to run the business. As a major supplier to Silver Oak Cellars, a top winery in northern California producing Cabernet Sauvignon, in 2000, A&K Cooperage formed an agreement with Silver Oak who bought out half the company.[3][5] They also purchased several hundred acres of timberland to maintain production.[3] Today the company produces about 3000 out of some 5000 barrels annually exclusively for Silver Oak.[3] In the 2000s, the company has aimed to expand its clientele to smaller and mid-sized wine producers, and since 2007 has used lasers to etch winery logos on the heads of the barrels they make.[3] The barrels have been used by several successful wineries who have won national and prestigious industry awards for their wines and have attributed A&K Cooperage in aiding the quality of their wines, including Silver Oak Cellars.[6][7]

For over 25 years, A&K Cooperage has been producing 60 (59) gallon barrels, but they also make 30, 48, and 70 gallon barrels of both American and French oak.[8] They are made in the European tradition, treating the American oak wood with a process known as fire bending, toasted over an oak fire, which renders the wood more pliable.[3][8] The barrels are then air-dried for approximately 18 to 24 months, but up to 36 months.[3][9] The source of the oak is the forests in northern Missouri and Kentucky.[3] The barrels typically have eight galvanized hoops and can be free of char due to the mild slow burning process of barrel making.[10] Shipments are then sent to their clients, which in 1982 was stated to be with minimum orders of 25 barrels.[10]