RJ Spagnols Kieselsol,chitosen,oak,f-pac

[Ricky]

Question to everyone, I have 2 kits going of the black forest port "style" going ,one is in the primary bucket almost ready for step feeding of 2 lbs of corn sugar.The other is racked into a 3 gallon carboy with a pound of raisins...when I rack it off the raisins,into a clean CB,with k-meta ,add the kieselsol,then chitosan...should I oak it then?(Hungarian cubes)say for 3 months, rack it off the chips, ....then add the f-pac ...tannins...will the clearing agents interfere with the oak? the instructions say ....add the f-pac with the clearing agents, doing it this way,could this cause the f -pac not to marry with the base?....Thanks

 

[SouthernChemist]

I personally would hold off on any oak and tannins and see how the flavor, which is basically chocolate cherry, stands and develops with the f-pack added. You can always add the oak cubes at any point during bulk aging, and you might not feel it needs any tannin additions. You'll have plenty of time to see where it stands and decide what you want to add to it.