Types of Oak - what's good?

[Boozehound]

I've been looking for some oak to age stuff. At this early stage I've got two options:

1.) Kiln dried American White Oak from a timber yard. Is this stuff safe? Is it what I need?

2.) Wood (I guess it's oak) from some old whiskey barrels. I'm not sure what type of whiskey. They're pretty old and I'm not sure the guy will let me have one, so before I start hassling him would it be worth it? I'd break it up because I'd never make enough to fill it.

Cheers.

[Slow & Steady]

Some wood is dipped in a fungicide right after sawing so that it doesn't "sticker stain". I'm not sure white oak gets dipped or not. Once it leaves the sawmill your are going to have a hard time finding out if the White Oak has been treated. If you get some fire wood that has been seasoned for 18 to 24 months you could use any White Oak you found, that is if you found any White Oak, most of the Oak that I get in my fire wood is one of the thirteen species of Red Oak. The barrel staves have the benifit of carry over flavor from the previous contents. Recharring the staves will renew the stave if you are looking for a pronounced flavor such as bourbon. It isn't impossible to get untreated air dried White Oak but you will want to purchase it from the sawmill or a well informed supplier.Remember it should be air dried for a year or two before you use it to age your spirit. You could purchase some toasted Oak from a brew & wine supplies shop if time is of the essence.

S&S

[Tater]

I use white oak from local tree. I cut it in size i want 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 8 to 10 in .Then I air dry.It will dry much faster this way.

[blanikdog]

I use oak from old wine barrels and it seems to work OK for me. We just don't have oak trees around these here parts. I also use air dried Pear wood quite successfully.

blanik

[FarSideStill]

I use white oak from local tree. I cut it in size i want 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 8 to 10 in .Then I air dry.It will dry much faster this way.

How long does it take at this kind of size?
Can you oven dry it at that kind of scale?
I know nothing about this side of working with wood.

[HookLine]

I use oak from old wine barrels and it seems to work OK for me.

Me too.

[Hawke]

I'm using wood from a red wine barrel. (cut in half and sold as planters here in the states)
The red wine will give a good color and a bit of a fruity nose. Gives my UJSSM a bourbon-ish flavor.

[CletusDwight]

How long does it take at this kind of size?
Can you oven dry it at that kind of scale?

One of my other hobbies is woodturning. I usually turn wood 'green' straight from the tree so I have some experience on drying.
The rule of thumb in seasoning wood is 1 year for every inch of thickness. But that's so that the wood doesn't warp and split.
You don't care about that.
Not only that, you're probably going to toast and char it anyway,
Just get rid of the bark layer, split it down to 1/2 inch thick sticks and put it in an oven, it'll be fine. Might steam a bit.
You can also microwave-dry wood and paradoxically, you can boil it to dry it. (The hot wood dries out much faster when it's taken out of the water because some of the sugars are leached out - you probably don't want to do that.)

[FarSideStill]

Thanks Cletus

You can also microwave-dry wood and paradoxically, you can boil it to dry it. (The hot wood dries out much faster when it's taken out of the water because some of the sugars are leached out - you probably don't want to do that.)

No, probably where the flavour comes from ... I don't know anyone that fanatical about dry drinks .

[Boozehound]

O.K. The problem I find with the timber yards is that they simply don't know if it's fine for wine (that's what I tell them it's for). Nice enough people but that's not what their wood is for.

I'm English; I live in the English countryside and I have oak trees growing all around me (English Oak). Yew trees, cherry trees, elderberry trees, loads of trees. Can I get "wet" wood, dry it in the oven and use it for ageing soon? Otherwise should I get the sticks from the trees (no problem at all) and dry them for a year or so? It seems a very long time to wait.

Is there a safe method for the drying wood straight from the tree? How can you tell when they're ready?

Cheers guys, I need some help on this one.

[CletusDwight]

in the English countryside and I have oak trees growing all around me (English Oak). Yew trees, cherry trees, elderberry trees, loads of trees. Can I get "wet" wood, dry it in the oven and use it for ageing soon?

You have to be a little careful. Yew is quite poisonous. I've an idea that elderberry wood also contains toxins although fruit and flowers are edible.
In general, hardwoods, (deciduous trees) will be OK I would but stick to Oak and fruitwoods (cherry, apple, pear).

Wood in a tree is exactly the same stuff as wood in furniture. The only difference is the furniture wood is dry(er).
As a tree grows, the central woody structure is laid down as the dead remnant of the cambium layer (the green layer between the wood and the bark). Once it's been 'made' it remains unchanging, It contains a lot of water simply because there's nowhere for it to escape through the living layer. Although it's cells are dead the sapwood still plays a part in growth because it acts as a static water conduit but the heartwood is dead and inert as stone.

You can dry the wood any way you please. As it dries, it shrinks. The fibres full of water simply get thinner. Since the outside dries faster, the wood tends to develop radial fissures. That's bad news if you want it for furniture so the drying has to be done slow and careful. Simply not the case for us. Cut off a branch, strip it, split it, dry it in the oven and toast/char it.

Trunk, bole or branch makes no difference. I don't know if the heartwood has different flavour from the sapwood. Maybe more sugars in the latter.

Hmmm. Have to figure out how to load pictures. Ah, here you go.

Bowl being roughed out

Bowl being hollowed

Finished bowl

[ammo man]

Nice bowl Celtus. I did turning wood a few years back for a year or so. Good hobby, but you can't drink your finished product.

Bert (ammo man)

[CletusDwight]

Thinkin' about turnin' up a barrel. Five litres should be possible maybe.

[Boozehound]

Excellent. I'll go out and get some wood today and start drying it. I'll do a bit more research on the forum and make my choice. I just didn't know it'd be that easy.

Thanks guys.

[Barney Fife]

It really is that easy, but with one caveat: don't use the sapwood, unless you want really, really bitter flavor. The sapwood in a freshly cut log(log here being used to describe wood that is still in the round, like firewood before splitting) is easy to spot by looking at the ends. You'll notice the first inch or so is a slightly different color, and if you just cut the log, you'll notice it is also more wet. This is the live part of the tree, and you don't want to use it for aging. Just split it off, taking an extra 1/4" or more off to be sure you are clear of it. If your log is small, like, maybe a section of a branch, then the sapwood layer will be much smaller, but again, it will be very easy to spot, if not at first, then after a day or two of being cut.

If the wood is green(IE: fresh cut), just split it into one inch or so sticks, and lay them on a grill or over some other sticks so that air can flow around them. Full sunshine will have them dry in a day, or go ahead and toast or char them right away; won't matter.

[Boozehound]

O.K. No sapwood, just the core stuff. Thanks again.

I wish I'd done this a few months ago when all the trees had fruit and leaves on them Still, I know my area and the trees. I'll get cherry wood, crabapple wood and English oak.

I know the oak that's normally used is American White Oak, so is good old English Oak any good? Surely before all you guys jumped on the boats to the New World we had to use something over here in our barrels?

Cheers.

[Barney Fife]

It'll be fine.

[diesel4ever]

I live in Eastern Oregon and the White oak that grows out here is VERY slow growing. A tree 6" in diameter is around 80 years old. 4 years ago I logged off 9 acres of trees for fire control and stacked them up for future firewood. I have probably 100 cords of seasoned white oak that's on the average of 200 year old trees. I know this is a stretch but if anyone's willing to pay for shipping I'd mail you out a chunk of heartwood. I know it sure made awesome whiskey in a very short time out of my last two runs. See "Newbee" section on my reciepe for awesome whiskey.