Barrel
The Barrel is where a fully-fermented drink gets matured, turning a wash into an aged drink over time. It comes in all 6 wood types, and holds up to 16000mb (16 buckets).
Each wood type is crafted with 5 matching Logs and 2 Iron Ingots.
Maturing needs two things: the Barrel has to be sealed, and it can't have a tap attached. Sealing is a toggle button in the GUI, and is fully reversible.
Only a fully-fermented drink (one that's already been through both fermentation steps in a Vat) can mature. The arrow between the tank and the ingredient area shows what's going on:
- While actively maturing, it shows progress and time left.
- If the Barrel isn't sealed, it shows a warning that it needs sealing.
- If it has a tap attached, it shows that maturing is paused - having a tap on stops maturation completely, even while sealed.
Maturation timings work the same as everything else on the Vat page - each fluid has its own maturing time, changeable per-fluid by a server admin through the Config.
Topping the Barrel up with more of the same fluid dilutes its progress proportionally rather than wiping it out completely, but draining it dry resets progress back to zero. Breaking or picking up a Barrel keeps its fluid, seal state, and tap intact in the item itself, so a maturing batch can be moved without losing progress.
A Barrel is filled from another block's GUI rather than by right-clicking it directly - hold the empty Barrel and use it in a fluid-transfer slot, like the Vat's Fill/Drain slot, the same way you would a bucket. It'll only accept fluid this way while unsealed - sealing it blocks any fill attempt, so make sure it's unsealed first.
There's no way to drain the Barrel back out through the GUI though - that's what the Tap is for. Craft one with 5 Iron Ingots (makes 8), then right-click it onto an untapped Barrel to attach it, the tap can be removed by breaking the barrel.
Once tapped, right-clicking the Barrel with any fluid container pours a bucket straight into it, with the tap visibly swinging open for a second. Remember that having a tap attached pauses maturation completely, even on a sealed Barrel, so it's best left off until the batch is actually ready to drink. Breaking a tapped Barrel drops the Tap separately so it can be reused elsewhere.