Oak dominoes / staves

[Birzzz]

Hi,

I am looking to buy some oak dominoes or staves ro age my spirit. So far I have tried with oak cubes from homebrew shop and was totally disappointed by the flavor it gave. I know stilldragon sells them and have goos reviews, but I would like to buy some in Canada. Anyone knows where I could get some?

Thanks in advance.

[kiwi Bruce]

Don't buy anything before you go directly to T-pee's post on his method of aging and how he makes his oak aging staves.
Here's the link...http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =4&t=50348

[Birzzz]

Thanks for the link, very informative. Now, anyone knows where I can source seasoned oak? I would like do the Tpee way, but woupd rather start with already weathered wood. Thanks in advance

[dieselduo]

this is where I get mine http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-Oak-Wood- ... 2749.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[ShineRunner]

Those ones don't appear to be "seasoned" but just air dried. Probably not a big deal but you may want to sit them out in the rain and sun for a while. I know some others have tried alternating cycles of soaking in a bucket and drying to simulate the same effects. Again, not quite the same, but should get you close.

There's another guy on eBay that sells charred and toasted sticks that I have used before. They work pretty well.

I recently bought a used JD barrel/planter from lowes. $40 and enough oak to last me a very very long time. Still waiting on it to age out, but early signs look good. A lot of other guys have used those planters too.

SR

[kiwi Bruce]

Don't know where you live but can you source used bourbon 1/2 barrels ? They are available here (USA) at hardware/plant stores. I'm friends with a local manager who let me have his broken 1/2 barrels for $5 a pop. You can get them on line, it depends how much coin your prepared to throw down.

[Birzzz]

I live in Montreal, Canada. I have never seen any old barrels at our hardware stores. I looked on ebay amd found theese:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/322575437071" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Do you think they will do the job right?

Thanks

[kiwi Bruce]

Have a look at these....http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Used-Re ... SwDmBY5m1D" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
5 X 36" (approx) with shipping $36...still heavy coin. Can you get JD smoking chips of your local Walmart? (or what ever they call themselves in the Great North)

[Birzzz]

The item doesnt ship to Canada. I found this though: http://www.ebay.com/itm/262387003096" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Would that work if it was used for wine? Also, if I understood correctly, I would need to cut it into some sticks, toast them in the oven for 2 hours at 380-400 and finally char them with a torch ?

As for the JD chips, I think walmart do have them but I was under the impression that using chips was not a good idea because they have too much in-grain surface.

Thanks again.

[Pikey]

I used JD chips before I took to chopping me own sticks - they worked ok

[kiwi Bruce]

I have used JD chips...I'm not fond of them and prefer the old bourbon staves, I feel I have more control. If you do use the wine barrel staves look for a post by NZChris I think he had a really good post on charring and using White Oak. Can't get old used Bourbon stave at home either.

[NZChris]

If you do use the wine barrel staves look for a post by NZChris I think he had a really good post on charring and using White Oak.

Wasn't me. I've never had any.

[kiwi Bruce]

Wasn't me. I've never had any.

Sorry about that...now I am going to have to do a hunt.

[Birzzz]

I finally found a place where I can get staves from used whiskey barrel close from where I live. I don't know how many times it has served though. I know there is a limitation as to how many times a barrel can be use. But when using the T-pee technique, does it matter? Will the wood still does its magic?

Thanks all, its really appreciated.

[kiwi Bruce]

Bourbon barrels are a one time use item...that's the Law. Bourbon white dog has to be stored in a new white oak casks. If they are reused, it's by the scotch Industry...don't think we will ever find those here. So...used whiskey barrels are perfect for what we want.

[Birzzz]

I contacted the seller and she had no idea how many times these barrels have been used for. Some are as old as 1950. Also, they are sold mainly for decoration. I think I will have to find somewhere else.

[vg30e]

It depends on how much you will need.

I have bought some from barrel companies but there was a minimum order amount of around 20 lbs and they were all the same toast level. I guess the good thing is, you can probably buy a light toast and add more toasting/charring.

[greggn]

Does a previously toasted stave/domino/cube lose its flavoring potential if unused for a period of time (e.g. a few years) ?

[jb-texshine]

Kinda partial to white oak facerboard ripped 3/4"x3/4"x cigarette pack length. Soaked and dried a few times and good to go. Better than anything else I've tried.

[Stew8]

Unsurprisingly in my neck of the woods in Scotland, there are whisky (scotch) barrels for sale either whole or cut in half as planters. I’ve managed to find someone who is willing to sell me a whole barrel and broken “waste” staves.

I cut my oak to 3/4” so it can fit through a bottle neck.

Once these whisky oak barrel staves are sawn up to size, My question is do I need to bake these “ala T Pee” and then char them or just char them?

[Saltbush Bill]

I couldn't be bothered reading through the entire thread due to the usual misinformation and bullshit.
There is a vast difference between oak staves and dominoes, If you want real dominoes look up Still Dragon supplies.
No I don't have a a vested interest, I just like the product and use it regularly.
On the other hand ,home made sticks will do a great job..just different.

[Single Malt Yinzer]

http://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Barrel" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
http://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Woods_for_aging" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow (This is a work in progress)
http://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Toasting" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow <-- has links to some posts on making dominos/fingers
http://homedistiller.org/wiki/index.php/Charring" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Stew8]

Thanks for the help

[zapata]

I couldn't be bothered reading through the entire thread due to the usual misinformation and bullshit.

Grumpy much? The only thing I've seen here other than questions are people sharing their experiences with various products. If that is "misinformation and bullshit", guess what your own experience with a product amounts to?

Stew8, what you do with used scotch barrels probably depends on what you want to make with them. Probably char it if you want to make something like bourbon. Maybe use it as is for a malt whiskey. Optionally toast it for any spirit. Also know that Scots will use a barrel to death. They may use them once for 2-3 years, or refill them many times for decades, break them down and build bigger barrels, etc. They also use various wine barrels sometimes. A used scotch barrel could range from something that aged bourbon for 2 years and scotch for 3 to something that had 8 years of bourbon, 10 years 1st fill scotch, 10 years 2nd fill scotch, rebuilt into a hogshead and more scotch for another 10 years. If it is a previous wine barrel it will never have even been charred or had bourbon in it. Basically there will be a lot more variation from scotch barrels than from bourbon, but the one thing you can probably expect is less contribution of oak flavors and color, just like you get with scotch whisky. Hell, I imagine a used Islay barrel could offer up more phenolic character than it does oak!

Honestly, sounds like a fun thing to play with and make something unique.

[Stew8]

Thanks for the interesting post ZA; I did not realise the barrels were reused so much.
I’ll experiment and let you know how it goes