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.
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.
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.
Are you trying to make oaked vodka?
If I spray the bag and oak w k-meta won't that sulfite hurt my MLF bacteria? I'm adding oak and ML culture at the same time
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.
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.
If I spray the bag and oak w k-meta won't that sulfite hurt my MLF bacteria? I'm adding oak and ML culture at the same time
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.
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