Japanese Oak

[magnetic_tarantula]

Anyone have idea where to pick up some Japanese Oak? I looked at a couple woodworking supply stores and couldn't find any there.

[magnetic_tarantula]

I spoke with the former master distiller of Suntory(largest Japanese whiskey maker) last week. I asked him about the availability of Japanese Oak. He said no way you'll get it this side of the Pacific. I did find a large slab of Japanese Oak that I could buy for about $600 and then cut up into small sticks to use for aging.

I'll just throw it out there is there any interest in that?

[magnetic_tarantula]

I found a company outside Birmingham in the UK that sells Japanese Oak. If anyone is from that area let me know, maybe we could figure out a deal.

[GuyIncognito]

There is a good article by Suntory & ICBD scientists where they evaluate the flavor impacts from using japanese oak casks. The nut of it, is that the unique contributions of japanese oak don't become very prominent until the casks have aged ~20 years, and then they add "well-ripened pineapple", "melted butter & cinnamon" and "japanese shrine & temple" aromas. Japanese oak casks are also seasoned with oloroso sherry for a year before using them with whiskey.

Be wary if you are buying it, what's commonly called Japanese Oak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_oak) isn't what you want, you want Quercus mongolica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercus_mongolica

[magnetic_tarantula]

There was a good article in Whiskey Magazine a couple months ago about it.

[Boda Getta]

I don't know guys. Sounds like a little hype to me. IMHO, good Missouri white oak is hard to beat; relatively inexpensive and readily available.

BG

[HolyBear]

Boda, don Forget good ol Arkansas when talkin bout White Oak. Ifn you'll look at a map, you'll see we got more of tha Ozarks then Missouri. Though I will say, they got tha North slope so to speak, and on the North side is where yer hardwoods like to grow. Missouri has flatter ground to log. Arkansas has much steeper ground. Our White oaks are majestic, deserving of honor, considering some of em where here when Columbus landed, and will prolly be here when tha Lord comes back... tipping my jar to tha White Oak...

[magnetic_tarantula]

about $400 for a 1"x6"x6' board shipping to California from the UK. Hard to believe I could only find one place in the world that sells it.

I would probably pay a little extra, but that is a lot extra for 1 board just to be experimenting.

[HolyBear]

From doing a little research trying to find out about my newly acquired axe head, it seems that, Japanese white oak is used in making the handles for them. Hmmm, we typically use hickory...

Edit: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =7&t=33068

[magnetic_tarantula]

A lot of that type of wood is treated with chemicals isn't it??

[Boda Getta]

Wacabi1

"Boda, don Forget good ol Arkansas when talkin bout White Oak"

Actually, I use Alabama +200 year old white oak that blew down on my GGrandfathers farm for my homemade charring sticks and don't see how it could be better.
I am a big fan of Gibbs keg and said Missouri because I mistakenly was thinking Gibbs were in Missouri. After your post I looked them up and found they are, indeed, in Arkansas.
I stand corrected. I just pulled 3 gals of SF from my Gibbs and it was beautiful; I have it on glass now for an additional 8-9 months. I re-filled the keg with UJSSM for the same cycle plus 1 month.

BG