That is the question.

I went ahead and bought a French Merlot kit by Brew King. The person I
talked to at Morebeer.com recommended 1oz of French Oak Cubes to add to the
primary fermentor and to transfer to secondary. He said I would get more
tannin and character by doing this. But when I called back to get
clarification as to whether this was in addition to or in place of the oak
dust that comes in the kit the new guy I talked to said that I might "over
oak" the wine and to make the kit as is. So now I'm confused. I'm thinking
of splitting the difference and only adding the cubes to the primary and
then racking off of them and the dust.

Has anyone made this kit and have recommendations for adding oak or anything
else that might help. I'm not a wine drinker so I can't really test by taste
since I really don't know what to look for but I don't want a bland final
product.

Mark

I've found the oak supplied with Brewking's kits to be sufficient.
Steve
Mark Garwatoski wrote in message ...
>That is the question.
>
>I went ahead and bought a French Merlot kit by Brew King. The person I
>talked to at Morebeer.com recommended 1oz of French Oak Cubes to add to the
>primary fermentor and to transfer to secondary. He said I would get more
>tannin and character by doing this. But when I called back to get
>clarification as to whether this was in addition to or in place of the oak
>dust that comes in the kit the new guy I talked to said that I might "over
>oak" the wine and to make the kit as is. So now I'm confused. I'm thinking
>of splitting the difference and only adding the cubes to the primary and
>then racking off of them and the dust.
>
>Has anyone made this kit and have recommendations for adding oak or
anything
>else that might help. I'm not a wine drinker so I can't really test by
taste
>since I really don't know what to look for but I don't want a bland final
>product.
>
>Mark
>
>

I like oak in my reds wines, so I do add more in addition to the powdered
oak that comes with the kit. I haven't made the merlot you're doing now,
but with similare reds I've added about 1.5 oz. more oak during
fermentation, and transfer it to the secondary - so I don't think the 1 oz.
is too much unless you don't like oakiness. However, if you do add more, it
will definitely take longer for the flavors of the oak to be integrated with
the wine, so if you're hoping to drink this wine soon (i.e., you're not
willing to age it for about a year) I wouldn't add more.

Ed

"Mark Garwatoski" > wrote in message
. com...
> That is the question.
>
> I went ahead and bought a French Merlot kit by Brew King. The person I
> talked to at Morebeer.com recommended 1oz of French Oak Cubes to add to
the
> primary fermentor and to transfer to secondary. He said I would get more
> tannin and character by doing this. But when I called back to get
> clarification as to whether this was in addition to or in place of the oak
> dust that comes in the kit the new guy I talked to said that I might "over
> oak" the wine and to make the kit as is. So now I'm confused. I'm thinking
> of splitting the difference and only adding the cubes to the primary and
> then racking off of them and the dust.
>
> Has anyone made this kit and have recommendations for adding oak or
anything
> else that might help. I'm not a wine drinker so I can't really test by
taste
> since I really don't know what to look for but I don't want a bland final
> product.
>
> Mark
>
>

I was thinking as a first batch of wine we would let it age about 4months
and give it as gifts to a few people(my father mostly) and have them try a
bottle every couple months to see how it ages. I'll keep about 6 bottles for
myself and give about a dozen or so to my Dad and sister-in-law.

Thanks for the comments. I think I'll throw the cubes in for the duration.

Mark


"Ed Marks" > wrote in message
...
> I like oak in my reds wines, so I do add more in addition to the powdered
> oak that comes with the kit. I haven't made the merlot you're doing now,
> but with similare reds I've added about 1.5 oz. more oak during
> fermentation, and transfer it to the secondary - so I don't think the 1
oz.
> is too much unless you don't like oakiness. However, if you do add more,
it
> will definitely take longer for the flavors of the oak to be integrated
with
> the wine, so if you're hoping to drink this wine soon (i.e., you're not
> willing to age it for about a year) I wouldn't add more.
>
> Ed
>
> "Mark Garwatoski" > wrote in message
> . com...
> > That is the question.
> >
> > I went ahead and bought a French Merlot kit by Brew King. The person I
> > talked to at Morebeer.com recommended 1oz of French Oak Cubes to add to
> the
> > primary fermentor and to transfer to secondary. He said I would get more
> > tannin and character by doing this. But when I called back to get
> > clarification as to whether this was in addition to or in place of the
oak
> > dust that comes in the kit the new guy I talked to said that I might
"over
> > oak" the wine and to make the kit as is. So now I'm confused. I'm
thinking
> > of splitting the difference and only adding the cubes to the primary and
> > then racking off of them and the dust.
> >
> > Has anyone made this kit and have recommendations for adding oak or
> anything
> > else that might help. I'm not a wine drinker so I can't really test by
> taste
> > since I really don't know what to look for but I don't want a bland
final
> > product.
> >
> > Mark
> >
> >
>
>