Hi Everyone - As a newbie at winemaking I really appreciate all the
info in this group - I'm on my first shiraz batch and plan on doing as
instructed without adding anything. However, the next batch I want to
start adding oak - I've read many of the postings concerning oak and
have decided to add it pre fermenting. I wonder if anyone has
experimented with letting the must (with 1/2 cup of toasted oak chips)
sit without adding yeast for a couple of weeks and then adding the
yeast? Also I was thinking for the third batch instead of racking to a
carboy I would like to try an american oak barrel - have any of you
done anything like this ? Thanks

Eric T

"Eric_T" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Everyone - As a newbie at winemaking I really appreciate all the
info in this group - I'm on my first shiraz batch and plan on doing as
instructed without adding anything. However, the next batch I want to
start adding oak - I've read many of the postings concerning oak and
have decided to add it pre fermenting. I wonder if anyone has
experimented with letting the must (with 1/2 cup of toasted oak chips)
sit without adding yeast for a couple of weeks and then adding the
yeast?

You can do this, but if it's a kit wine there's no point in it. OTOH, if
you're fermenting fresh fruit it won't sit still for a couple of weeks
unless you were to refrigerate it to 40°F or so to prevent spontaneous
fermentation.

Also I was thinking for the third batch instead of racking to a
carboy I would like to try an american oak barrel - have any of you
done anything like this ?

Many of us have done that, but as someone new to this I'd recommend that you
ferment on oak chips first and see how that goes.

FWIW, ½ cup of chips is a pretty light dose for ~5 gallons of wine -
especially if you like oak flavor. I suppose you can add more later in
carboy though.

Tom S
www.chateauburbank.com

Hi Tom - Sounds good - I'll try using chips first and adding more than
1/2 a cup - thanks for the info.