On Jan 16, 5:10 am, wrote:
> 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 ofoakto wines and
> > > meads, such as barrels,cubes,chips, liquid essence, and powder.
> > > There are also numerous choices inoakvarieties, 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 withoakand what variety do you like
> > > the best.
>
> > I prefer Frenchoak, 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 Americanoak. I have little
> > experience with Hungarianoak. My spouse and I refer to the flavor
> > characteristic of Americanoakas 'plank', and it takes several years
> > for that flavor to age out to the point at which it is enjoyable.
> > Frenchoakis 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 upoak....while still wet, put it in a sandwich
> bag and freeze it till next time you've got the grill going....put theoak(minus the plastic bag ) in a foil pouch and put it in the
> grill for excellent smoke flavor.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
"I think I'm starting to get ahead of the MI5 Persecution guy. :-)

Greg"

I do hope so, I already have several 'outlook express rules' running
to filter the poor soul out...

I was going to post a fresh thread but thought you might not mind me
jacking this one to ask a tangential question or two...

I live in the UK (yes its UK Jim again with his 'Little Britain' tales
of woe ) And I find it hard to get some products here which I would
like to try. I forgot to ask my American dwelling friend to bring
some over for me when he visited recently so....

1) Do any of the UK wine-makers who visit this group know where I
might get oak beans, spirals, cubes or staves in the UK? Oak chips
and liquid oak seem to be the only types available on the internet or
in shops here. I have tried oak-chips and they seem to do the job ok,
though I have under-oaked so far.

2) I have read a few past entries in this group saying that it is hard
to tell much difference between some oak styles and methods. DO y ou
need a very advanced nose to tell much difference between the French/
Hungarian/US oaks and size of oak pieces (chips/beans/etc)? If not,
maybe I should stop mithering and just use oak chips or try liquid
oak.

3) If you use larger oaking pieces such as cubes, staves or spirals;
can you really dry them out, toast them and use thedm again? I
wouldn't try doing that with the oak chips, though I could throw them
onto the barbecue next summer...

Many thanks for any info offerings, Jim in the UK (mostly harmless)