Soaking oak chips

[Tomy]

Why do the instructions say to soak my french oak chips in water for 12 hours. If its because the unsoaked oak will color the wine like it is the soaking water I don't really care, as I am a bit color blind any way?

 

[Wade E]

Im not really sure on this but I will take a stab and say that they dont want the chips to soak up all the wine like a sponge. Im guessing giving it just a little time to soak up a little liquid will prevent it from soaking up a lot of wine and that short time may help get rid of a little of the color that you are talking about, this way you are just getting what you want-the extra tannins and oak profile.

 

[grapeman]

Some of the bags say to soak in water 12 hours so they will sink to the bottom easier. If not soaked, they sit on top for hours and can cause problems with the airlock. Believe me I had that happen once. The fresh unsoaked oak chips were added to a carboy that was still slightly fermenting. They rose to the top[ and clogged the airlock intake. I noticed some oozing and went to take the airlock off and it blew like acan of beerthat was dropped. If I hadn't seen it I am afraid it would have blown the carboy up!Never a good thing with red wine. Just soak them!