I have oak cubes. I was going to soak in vodka and then place in a mesh bag that was sprayed w k meta and drop in the wine for a while. Anyone do it differently and how long do you usually leave it in--8 weeks? I don't want to over oak.
Sanitizing oak
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Elmer
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I have never sanitize an oak cube. I have never used a bag. I usually just toss them in and leave them for 3 months (usual racking schedule).
I dont see how soaking in Vodka will hurt.
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My wife makes me spritz oak cubes with kmeta, but other than that just toss them into the carboy and leave until the next racking. Over oaking isn't that big of a deal. It fades somewhat over time.
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I do pretty much the same as Elmer.
The only down side to soaking in vodka is that you might be diluting the oak. The high alcohol make for a very good solvent and may take too much out of the oak when you soak it.
I would recommend just a quick rinse in k-meta (more to just rinse off any sawdust then to sterilize) and then pop them straight into the carboy.
I spritz with kmeta a put them in a mesh bag.
wineforfun
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I will actually put vodka in a container with oak and wait a month or so and add the strong oak flavored vodka to the wine.
I have done it both ways - either way it seems to work out.
I have done it both ways - either way it seems to work out.
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Place the bag and the chips in a bucket with some sulfite and place a strainer above the sulfite. Place the chips and the bag in there for approx 20 minutes with the lid on the bucket and you will be fine. It is the fumes that will sanitize not soo much the liquid.
Great idea, thanks. Are you saying fill a bucket w sulfite solution and place the bag of oak cubes on a strainer above the liquid so that bag doesn't get wet at all?
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I will answer for vacuumpumpman - that is exactly what he is suggesting. In a bag suspended above k meta. The fumes are what do the sanitizing, not the liquid.
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Thanks Craig !!
Awesome guys. Great idea.
Can you also help me w dosing rate? I have medium toast French oak cubes and I'm reading anywhere from 1 to 3 ounces per 5 gallons? That's a big range!
I don't have a scale but morewinemaking says an ounce is 34 cubes--sound right?
Can you also help me w dosing rate? I have medium toast French oak cubes and I'm reading anywhere from 1 to 3 ounces per 5 gallons? That's a big range!
I don't have a scale but morewinemaking says an ounce is 34 cubes--sound right?
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It is what many of us do for corks and oak. My wife still wants me to spritz them and since (SWMBO) I usually do both, but just the fumes are fine.
IMHO, oak is porous, so spritzing/soaking or gas chamber will only take care of what is on the surface. Also, the nature of the oak surface means lots of little air pockets, further reducing the effectiveness of spritzing/soaking.
Maybe gas chamber for an extended period of time.
Maybe gas chamber for an extended period of time.
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OK, I see your concern.
Depending on the strain of MLB you use, most can survive up to, say 25 or 30 ppm.
So, hove you already added kmeta to your wine? If so, how much.
What I mostly do is make up a bucket of weak k-meta solution, dump the cubes in, then fish them out into a strainer by hand, leaving as much of the "Saw Dust" behind as possible. The amount of kmeta that is absorbed by the wood, after being diluted in water, is negligible.
If you have not added any k-meta to your wine (so far), I would add the rinsed cubes into the wine, stir, wait about an hour, then add the MLB.
No worries.
Thanks guys. No k meta in the wine. Started MLF yesterday w vp41.
The amount of oak is giving me fits. Morewinemaking recommends 2-2.5 oz per 5 gallons. I went with 2 simply by counting out the cubes. My scale is sayings it's less but whole knows. It says 2 oz/5 gallons is 68 cubes per 5 gallons. So I have 272 cubes for 20 gallons...sound right?????...I put them in a mesh beg(to allow easily extraction) and the whole thing is soaking in vodka. After 24 hours I would think the vodka would soak into the cubes and kill all bacteria and I will do what vacuum pump man recommended with the k meta fumes in a bucket to sanitize.
So I'm going to use a little bit of everyone's ideas.
What do you think of the amount of oak?
The amount of oak is giving me fits. Morewinemaking recommends 2-2.5 oz per 5 gallons. I went with 2 simply by counting out the cubes. My scale is sayings it's less but whole knows. It says 2 oz/5 gallons is 68 cubes per 5 gallons. So I have 272 cubes for 20 gallons...sound right?????...I put them in a mesh beg(to allow easily extraction) and the whole thing is soaking in vodka. After 24 hours I would think the vodka would soak into the cubes and kill all bacteria and I will do what vacuum pump man recommended with the k meta fumes in a bucket to sanitize.
So I'm going to use a little bit of everyone's ideas.
What do you think of the amount of oak?
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Bartman
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I chuckle to myself a little bit when I see these occasional discussions of the appropriate way to prepare oak cubes/spirals/staves for use in wine. What microbes are we worried about here? If these are purchased from a reputable LHBS and kept dry in their original packaging, what contamination are we afraid of? A fermented wine should have at least 10% ABV, so a visibly clean oak cube should have an exceedingly unlikely chance of contaminating that wine with a microbe that could survive the alcohol present. For the record, I have never done anything to prepare my oak spirals/cubes for use in my wine, other than to keep them in their original packaging until I was ready to use them, including taking one oak spiral out and leaving the other one for a month or more. And I've never had a contamination problem.
My main concern would be that the unnecessary handling and moistening of the oak prior to use would introduce or encourage growth of microbes that would otherwise not have a chance on a clean dry piece of toasted oak.
My main concern would be that the unnecessary handling and moistening of the oak prior to use would introduce or encourage growth of microbes that would otherwise not have a chance on a clean dry piece of toasted oak.
You probably chuckle w good reason--oak has some intrinsic anti microbial property so all this is probably not necessary. However,
I never put anything in my wine that isn't sanitized, and am very uncomfortable with wood that although made by Stavin has been repackaged by my local store--I have no idea how they were handled. To me soaking in vodka will kill any microbes and I don't think k meta fumes will hurt. Plus the mesh bag has to be clean. I figure the vodka plus k meta fumes will take care of that too. A dip in star san would work also as that shouldn't affect MLF but will assure a clean bag and cubes. Just some thoughts.
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