Oak Supplier

Treatment and handling of your distillate.

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Antler24
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Oak Supplier

Post by Antler24 »

I been buying toasted and charred sticks from an eBay seller for few years now but trying to order a few days ago seems he's disappeared. There's no oak growing in this province, and every hardware store and cabinet maker I ask say everything they have is kiln dried. I age in 1 gallon jugs.

Can anyone point me in the right direction for a supplier or have an abundance of oak lying around (to sell, not looking for handout)? I can toast and char myself!
Swedish Pride wrote:
get a brix reading on said ball bearings and then you can find out how much fermentables are in there
The Baker
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Re: Oak Supplier

Post by The Baker »

Broken barrel staves from a winery?
Have to clean and toast and char, yourself, but they are probably free....

Geoff
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Badmotivator
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Oak Supplier

Post by Badmotivator »

Kiln dried is not a problem. Killing [EDIT: oops. Kilning!] won’t add anything bad to the wood. You should buy some right now, cut it into pieces slightly larger than you like to use, stack it outside in the rain, and forget about it through the winter. Or even better, through a couple of winters. Before you know it you’ll have an ample supply of wonderfully seasoned/weathered oak. Plane off the outer layers, toast and char as you like it.

Just like aging your spirits, you gotta age your oak before use. Get started now and you won’t regret it later.
Antler24
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Re: Oak Supplier

Post by Antler24 »

Badmotivator wrote:Kiln dried is not a problem. Killing won’t add anything bad to the wood. You should buy some right now, cut it into pieces slightly larger than you like to use, stack it outside in the rain, and forget about it through the winter. Or even better, through a couple of winters. Before you know it you’ll have an ample supply of wonderfully seasoned/weathered oak. Plane off the outer layers, toast and char as you like it.

Just like aging your spirits, you gotta age your oak before use. Get started now and you won’t regret it later.
I'm picking some up this week to do just that, ill have plenty for the ffuture, but ive got one batch waiting oak now, and another 2 ready to run. I guess I assumed my oak guy would always be there but he seems to be gone into hiding.
The Baker wrote:Broken barrel staves from a winery?
Have to clean and toast and char, yourself, but they are probably free....

Geoff
I called the only winery within a days drive, they only age in stainless tanks, no wood.
Swedish Pride wrote:
get a brix reading on said ball bearings and then you can find out how much fermentables are in there
OtisT
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Re: Oak Supplier

Post by OtisT »

Badmotivator wrote:Kiln dried is not a problem. Killing [EDIT: oops. Kilning!] won’t add anything bad to the wood. You should buy some right now, cut it into pieces slightly larger than you like to use, stack it outside in the rain, and forget about it through the winter. Or even better, through a couple of winters. Before you know it you’ll have an ample supply of wonderfully seasoned/weathered oak. Plane off the outer layers, toast and char as you like it.

Just like aging your spirits, you gotta age your oak before use. Get started now and you won’t regret it later.
Badmo. I have a lot of old quartersawn oak that has sat dry, in my basement, for 15 years. It’s a couch/chair project I abandoned years ago. Would this need to weather outside too to be considered good quality aging oak?

I’m thinking of taking the thicker material and making a few of your BadMo Barrels with it, as you suggested previously.
Otis’ Pot and Thumper, Dimroth Condenser: Pot-n-Thumper/Dimroth
Learning to Toast: Toasting Wood
Polishing Spirits with Fruitwood: Fruitwood
Badmotivator’s Barrels: Badmo Barrels
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Badmotivator
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Re: Oak Supplier

Post by Badmotivator »

OtisT wrote:
Badmo. I have a lot of old quartersawn oak that has sat dry, in my basement, for 15 years. It’s a couch/chair project I abandoned years ago. Would this need to weather outside too to be considered good quality aging oak?

I’m thinking of taking the thicker material and making a few of your BadMo Barrels with it, as you suggested previously.
I believe it still needs to feel real weather. Hot, cold, wet, dry, wind, fungi and bacteria etc. The tannins haven't gone anywhere in all that time it was sitting in the basement, and there's been no microbial activity to speak of. If you use it now you will give your spirit a harsh, tannic, green-stick flavor.

Hope that helps.
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