Oak aging

[Kantuckid]

Your telling a sawmill owner what wood is used for barrels. Ha!
FWIW, I am a life long wood worker, retired tech educator and best described as "wood poor", i.e., I have the stuff laying everywhere. We also own/live among our own timber.

I have zero interest in making a barrel, I'm asking about placing oak in wine during processing.
Your last two sentences are what I was after, thanks! I see oak in some recipes, not others. All about how much tannin taste ones after?

FYI, White oak as a species has closed cell structure which allows a barrel made from that tree alone, to hold liquid well. There are mills in my state, KY, that specialize in sawing stave wood and we do have one barrel plant near me- google "Independent Stave Company" or Morehead Wood products to see whats near me.

 

[sour_grapes]

Your telling a sawmill owner what wood is used for barrels. Ha!
FWIW, I am a life long wood worker, retired tech educator and best described as "wood poor", i.e., I have the stuff laying everywhere. We also own/live among our own timber.

No, if you re-read it, you will see he was explaining some of the processing steps wood goes through on its way to being appropriate for oaking your wine (in the form of barrels). (Which was, I thought, part of your question.) In particular, he was alerting you to the need for the wood to be aged. You referenced green wood, and it wasn't clear in your question whether you were planning to use that, or indicating you knew not to use it.

I am not now sure whether you are still open to advice on processing wood for winemaking, or whether you believe you already know everything you need to know. If it is the former, a body could do worse than this source: https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/documents/OakAgingAndWine.pdf .

 

[Kantuckid]

I read the link in post#22 and found it very interesting, especially given that I'm a wood freak to begin with. It does seem that aging in a barrel is by far, the more profound affect toward the wine than simply throwing in a few chunks, some coarse sawdust or a spiral? Sort of makes me wonder if it matters much compared to barrel aging.
French oak as described sounds like wood that actually doesn't make the best barrel compared to white oak, but may allow the better exchanges that take place with the wine while aging? I'm gonna read about what species it compares to , if any, in the USA. Oak trees here actually cross pollinate (like we humans) thus some are sort of bastard trees it seems. The virgin forest woods had much different characteristics that the 2nd,3rd and 4th growth forest we see today. Some old beams I've had a hard time telling what they were in comparison to newer, same species woods.
I got a kick out of the low cost for USA oak timber vs. French gvt bought trees. Maybe the fact they have so few is a larger factor. Here, the "Hardwood Market Report" is The! source for hardwood prices and basically a supply & demand result, sort of like agri products.
Back to wine, I look forward to learning more here. I'll be off the web a week, then come back to learn more.
The 90 pages or so of Beginners kit making gets waaay too repetitive? I'm left wondering why we have to wade through so many of the exact same pictures over & over again? Not that they aren't great pics and well intended-just asking...

 

[Kantuckid]

Just read a bit- French oak is white oak but a distinct set of species, of course, with differences from regional effect. American oaks vary a great deal over their range from north to south given the growth rate variances. Smaller growth rings in the northern tip of the ranges, much wider in the warmer south.
I'm still left to wonder just how much/if my tastebuds can tell if some few chunks were in the wine a short while?

 

[winemaker81]

Oak can have a tremendous impact on the wine -- the more surface area of the wood vs the volume of the wine, the greater the impact. Wine left on oak too long may be undrinkable. [A relative made a chardonnay that tasted a lot like the bar we were sitting at, totally undrinkable.]

3 oz of oak cubes looks tiny, especially compared to a 5 gallon carboy, but it's enough when left long enough.

I'd like to get a used 5 gallon barrel, one that is neutral (no oak character). It would still provide the evaporation effect, so I'd add oak (chips, cubes, spirals, etc) to provide the oak flavor. I'd get the benefit of the barrel while having great flexibility.

 

[Kantuckid]

As an e.g. of the porosity of barrel oak, in spite of it's being white oak that allows very little escape of liquid: In past years, not now, when barrels are made into furniture etc. more so than planters, I have bought them unaltered,then cut them in half for flowers. I'd 1st let them set in the sun a week or so, then drain the whiskey residual left from the "wood soak" and typically get ~ 1.5 qts of high test juice.
My last nights news a KY bourbon warehouse had ~20,000 barrels that got loose in a bond building that fell apart.

 

[TikiWine]

So with my latest batch I transfered from my secondary to start aging with oak cubes. There seems to be some bubbles at the top that won't go away. And I has good two inches of space. When I open the stopper it seems like it was a vacuum and the wine level rises. And there is no room to add anything. Is this excess co2? Should I be concerned?

 

[sour_grapes]

. And I has good two inches of space. When I open the stopper it seems like it was a vacuum and the wine level rises. And there is no room to add anything.

I'm sorry, but it is very difficult to figure out what you are describing and what you are asking. We'd love to help, but can you try to describe your concern a bit better, please?

 

[TikiWine]

Picture

 

[stickman]

@TikiWine did you get a final gravity? Did you degas? Vacuum? Are you using a stopper with airlock? If you just transferred to secondary, bubbles around the oak cubes would be normal.

 

[TikiWine]

Final gravity was .995, I transfered from secondary and degassed after primary. No air lock, just solid stopper

 

[cmason1957]

Put an airlock on it, you still have gas in your wine. It isn't a big deal to get rid of it, yet. I see this all the time, nothing to worry about.

 

[TikiWine]

Ok yea that's what I thought. Maybe racked the secondary premature. How long should I keep the lock on?

 

[cmason1957]

Ok yea that's what I thought. Maybe racked the secondary premature. How long should I keep the lock on?

I have an airlock on my wines all the time. Never switch, don't own any other type.