Can I age my spirits with solid white oak hardwood flooring

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aquasport
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Can I age my spirits with solid white oak hardwood flooring

Post by aquasport »

I want to age my spirits with some white oak. I have some unfinished 2 1/2" X 3/4" X 10 " solid white oak hardwood floor planks. My question - Is this wood safe to toast/char for aging? Do the hardwood floor manufactures use some kind of chemical to treat the wood.

Thanks in advance
ThomasBrewer
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Re: Can I age my spirits with solid white oak hardwood flooring

Post by ThomasBrewer »

No idea, but following!
seamusm53
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Re: Can I age my spirits with solid white oak hardwood flooring

Post by seamusm53 »

You need to talk with manufacturer. Read below of hidden risk.

https://www.buildinggreen.com/news-arti ... ood-floors
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Re: Can I age my spirits with solid white oak hardwood flooring

Post by NormandieStill »

In addition to the risk of hidden preservatives, oak for flooring has likely been kiln dried and will be tannin-rich compared to the oak staves that have been aged outside, with the rainfall washing out some amount of the tannin. You may find that your spirits get very "dry" quite quickly.
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OtisT
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Re: Can I age my spirits with solid white oak hardwood flooring

Post by OtisT »

Agree with the advice above, and will add that another issue with that wood may be that it is not all heartwood. If you do use the flooring, only use the heartwood from it. The outer rings of an oak tree are lighter in color and I believe have a lot more tannins in it than heartwood from the center of the log.

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aquasport
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Re: Can I age my spirits with solid white oak hardwood flooring

Post by aquasport »

After read that artical, I think I'll just go purchase some white oak from my reputable brewers shop. Thanks again for the input.
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still_stirrin
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Re: Can I age my spirits with solid white oak hardwood flooring

Post by still_stirrin »

aquasport wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 8:20 pm After read that artical, I think I'll just go purchase some white oak from my reputable brewers shop. Thanks again for the input.
Stateside these are great: https://midwestbarrelco.com/collections ... ood-chunks#

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Re: Can I age my spirits with solid white oak hardwood flooring

Post by hawkwing »

I have some unfinished white oak hardwood flooring scraps that I'm trying out. So far so good. I'm not sure it matters if it is kiln dried unless you are using thick pieces. The thin strips I cut are probably basically kiln dried after charring. Only thing I've noticed so far is one rum looks kind of pinkish when put in a glass but it's early in the process. The rest seem good for color.
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