On Jan 12, 9:46 am, mail box > wrote:
> On 1/10/2008 10:13 PM, wrote:
>
>
>
> > There are a bunch of choices for adding a bit of oak to wines and
> > meads, such as barrels, cubes, chips, liquid essence, and powder.
> > There are also numerous choices in oak varieties, such as French,
> > Hungarian, and American.
>
> > I'm curious what are the favorite methods employed by members of this
> > forum. How do you prefer to age with oak and what variety do you like
> > the best.
>
> I prefer French oak, medium toast. I add it by the fluid cup measure to
> my wines and meads, Stavin beads. One cup per 5 gallons of red wine,
> less for meads or white wines. More for very sturdy red wines. I very
> much enjoy the character, much more so than American oak. I have little
> experience with Hungarian oak. My spouse and I refer to the flavor
> characteristic of American oak as 'plank', and it takes several years
> for that flavor to age out to the point at which it is enjoyable.
> French oak is vanilla and soft and flavorful right from the start.
>
> > I think I'm starting to get ahead of the MI5 Persecution guy. :-)
>
> > Greg
>
> Good luck with that.
> May I suggest a kill file?
>
> Cheers,
> Ken

Here's one for used up oak....while still wet, put it in a sandwich
bag and freeze it till next time you've got the grill going....put the
oak (minus the plastic bag ) in a foil pouch and put it in the
grill for excellent smoke flavor.