Oak cubes

[Jim P]

I racked a 5 gallon batch of dewberrey , and a 6 gallon batch of mustang grape this past weekend , and plan on bulk aging them for a month or two.
I purchased2 bags oftoasted american oak cubes from the local homebrew supply , and was told that I could just toss them in right out of the bag. I did exactly what I was told , now I am worriedbecause I didn't sanitize them first.
What effects could this have on my wine , or what should I do.


I have also read that you need to taste your wine every two weeks while you are oaking. How do you get a true taste when you are drawing the wine from the top , where the oak cubes are floating. After drawing wine out to taste , do I top back up with water , or another wine .

 

[JimCook]

The oak cubes should not need to be sanitized before addition to the carboy. To try to reach a more homogenous state of the wine when tasting, you may want to gently stir each day that the wine is on oak. I feel that a two week gap between tastings may be too long - depending on the type of oaking you want in the wine (American oak can be more aggressive than European oaks) and depending on the number of ounces in each bag of cubes, you will likely want to taste more frequently than that.


Also, as the oak cubes soak up the wine, they will start to sink (or float somewhere in the middle of the carboy, which is pretty funky looking in a white wine). If your carboy is topped up within two inches from the top, you shouldn't have to worry about replacing that much wine, unless your taste is more like a full glass.

If you do need to top up, try to do so with a like wine (red for red, white for white, etc.) instead of water.


If you put in a standard 3 ounce bag of cubes, the 5-gallon carboy should show the oak a bit faster than the 6-gallon batch just based on the volume to surface area ratio. In the beginning, take a taste after a week and then adjust from there.


- Jim

 

[Jim P]

Jim


Thanks for your quick reply to all of my questions , and I do feel a lot better now.


I didn't realize that the oak cubes could change the taste of the wine that quickly. I was thinking that it would take months for the oak to give the wine an oak flavor , and will take your advice and taste weekly. I added 2oz to the 5 gallons , and 2.5oz to the 6 gallons.

 

[JimCook]

Jim,


All of this is a matter of personal taste - if you like lots of oak, then more exposure will be needed. If you don't like lots of oak, you can use less cubes or a shorter exposure time. In my experience,3 ounces of cubes in a 6-gallon carboy took somewhere around 4-10 weeks to reach the right level depending on the wine and oak choice. The most important thing is to just be aware of your wine as you are smelling and tasting it.The oak flavor will fade a little with time, but you don't want to wait a couple months and find out that youhave a wine that tastes like a plank of oak.


It can take months for the oak to reach the right level of intensity in larger barrels because of the increased volume of wine compared to surface area of wood. That's how wineries are able to have a wine on oak for up to almost three years in some cases.


For more information, there's an article in George's newsletter about oak alternatives at this link.


- Jim

 

[Wade E]

I agree with JimCook and he has given very sound advice here.