What do you guys think about this product? http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Raichlen-Best-Barbecue-Barrel/dp/B000ENYX9W My thoughts are to use them in an aging sour. My original idea was to use a small wine or whiskey barrel, but have read about the smaller barrels having too much surface area contact. I know alot of people use oak chunks or chips in the brewing process, seems like these used wine stave chunks would work, like aging in a wine barrel.
Looks like a decent buy, I'm interested in your results with this.... although a local brew pub near me has a relationship with a near by winery, they have used barrels from both reds and whites to age in, so I don't see why you couldn't try barrel aging yourself...Let us know how it goes
I have cubes of Med Toast French Oak that were previously used at a winery to revive old barrels that I got for free. I have pounds upon pounds of them, and they work great in my sours. If you can find a winery and make friendly with them, you might be able to get some of the ones they use for free instead of paying for the Amazon ones.
My questions/concerns: How are they packaged? If they are just in a box, wouldn't much of the wine flavor dissipate? Are they treated in any way? What effect would the cut edges have (where wood is exposed) on the flavor?
I think you are better off just getting some regular cubes or spirals and soaking them in the wine of your choice. The product you linked to is primarily for smokers so they have been dried so that they don't mold or grow anything while they sit on the shelves. That is to say, you aren't going to get much wine character from using them in beer, plus that Steven Raichlen guy is kinda douchey in my opinion.
These are quite a bit cheaper (as far as I can tell) than the oak I buy at my homebrew shop. Why not get these, AND soak them yourself? I hope not if we are supposed t cook with them.
Those don't appear to be toasted. The oak cubes have specified toast levels (medium, medium plus, heavy) in american, french, and hungarian, so you have a bit more specificity and repeatability.
True. Not sure how concerned I am with some of those factors when I am using wine or whisky soaked oak...but that is just my opinion.
I took some oak blocks from my LHBS- soaked them in port wine for a few months, then threw out the port and added the blocks to secondary to my RIS. Great port flavor shining through on the finish of the RIS. Very noticible and very smooth.
so i would use fresh pieces from the barrel or just soak the oak chips. what is a good length in time to soak chips? Is it good to add some wine in with the chips when i introduce it to the fermentation?
winemakers use french or american oak barrels at different levels of toasting, light, medium, heavy, as nathan said. The inside is toasted by burning with a torch to desired level, then wine is stored for desired length. -using pieces from a barrel has toasting and remnant wine/bourbon/etc. already... just use as is.. -oak chips.. feel free to get creative, toast and soak as you see fit, but by god don't put wine straight in that carboy!!!!
