Home Distiller

I read in another thread from years ago that there's a sticky with information on sources for White Oak. Please pardon my inexperience; maybe I just don't know how to use the search feature on this forum properly, but I have been searching and searching without any luck. Could someone either point me to that sticky, or sum up good sources please? I don't need, for instance, toasted chips or anything. I have a hatchet, oven, and blowtorch. I just need properly aged wood that's safe to use.

Thanks in advance!

I'm not familiar with a sticky for White Oak.
But I got those results from using HD Google Search above.
Here's how it works:

the most readily avail small quantity of safe wood is at your BBQ supply store. buy ex-bourbon barrel for whiskies and ex-rum for ...you guessed it...rum. they call them "smoking chunks" you can use chips too...lots of guys buy JD chips and like them...me not so much. i think the chunks are way better.
if you are in Canada there is a brand called mcleans that are excellent. they also sell them at a lot of hardware stores in the BBQ section.

you also likely have a guy close to you that imports barrels from the big distillers and sells them out of his garage for people that want barrel furniture or planters....just buy a barrel and cut it up. kijiji or craiglist kinda sellers...

> I just need properly aged wood that's safe to use.

I'm sure my local HBS is similar to every other ... they sell used barrel staves previously used in the make of a variety of spirits: bourbon, rum, tequila, and wine. $4USD gets me a full-length stave. A few minutes with an orbital sander and circular saw and I've got a wealth of oak sticks ready for aging/flavoring my product.

Or look under "shop" then "oak barrels and oak aging" https://milehidistilling.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Look for used half whiskey barrels at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Changnoi, making good spirits is a long game. In addition to getting some used barrel wood now as suggested, do yourself a favor and also buy a few boards of American White Oak to cut up and stack outside now. Six months from now, buy a few more boards and do the same. When they dry out during the dry months, hose them down good then repeat when they get dry again. Keep doing this as needed to keep your supply of seasoned wood going. A year or two from now, you will be thankful you thought ahead. Otis

I buy Tasmanian white oak at my local hardware store, I then toast and char it to get the desired result, lightly toasted for a sweeter fresher taste and more heavier toasted for a darker more full flavor.
I like a blend of both.

I've used Stavin Oak Beans with good results. They're very consistent in what you get so you'll be able to repeat your aging process.

https://www.stavin.com/tank-systems/oak-beans/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

There's plenty of places that retail these beans is different quantities and chars, do a search.. you should find a few.

+1 OtisT

I was on a similar quest not to long ago. Personally, I did not want to do the pre-used staves, chunks, or chips. I know for home use it is really just an infusion, but for it to be considered "bourbon" it has to be aged with an unused white oak barrel. So I wanted unused white oak sticks. I've secured some seasoned white oak from someone who was kind enough to get me going. But for of a long term solution, I researched "saw mills" in the area and found you can buy boards of it really cheap. Just make sure they are not Kiln dried as this process is not good for spirit aging (sometimes includes chemicals). Even if they normally kiln dry their lumber, they'd be happy to sell it to you before they kiln dry it. They may ask what you plan to use it for to help get you the right stuff. Just tell them you plan to age wine or beer, they will know . At first they offered to give me left over chunks of wood. But once they knew I wanted heart wood for aging "wine" they said the left over chunks would not be good as it is mainly sap wood. So I just boards they cut that are mainly heart wood at $2 a board foot. At this point you can season it as OtisT states to get rid of tannins, etc. He walked me through how to get started myself.

Good luck.

PS. There is a seller on eBay named Chef440rt that sells toasted and charred white oak sticks for about $10 1lb plus $4 for shipping. I can't speak to the quality, but he claims he sources the white oak himself from cutting to charring it. If it is legit, seems like a good place to start out until you can season your own.

If you order from that eBay seller make sure you get his mixed pack... I got the charred ones... The sticks are basically pure charcoal.

ydoih8u wrote:If you order from that eBay seller make sure you get his mixed pack... I got the charred ones... The sticks are basically pure charcoal.

I think he also sells just toasted sticks too. If it were me, that is what I would get and char them myself.

Yeah he has charred, toasted, and a combo of both. I'd do the combo and put one of each in.

I emailed the ebay seller. I asked how long he ages his oak before toasting / charring, and if he would sell the wood uncharred. He reported he is currently using a tree he cut in the spring and would only sell it charred or toasted. I am no expert but I've read it takes 2 years minimum of seasoning before you using in a product. This is the time needed to properly rid the wood of tannins, etc.

Thank you all so much for your replies! I'll be trying out a few of these suggestions; I think there's a local company that sells the barrels, possibly staves too. If not the big box stores and online are options.

Sorry I haven't acknowledged your comments before now; apparently I haven't set up any sort of notification system, and forgot to check the thread for replies so I didn't even realize you guys were helping out. I'll get better at this, I promise!

Meanwhile, OtisT that's what I'm talking about! I have been contacting local hardwood suppliers. Most of them either do not stock white oak, or only drop ship it by the hundreds of board feet from a sawmill 2000 miles away. How do you source your boards?

WithOrWithoutU2 that's what I'd like to be able to do, source directly from the sawmill! Any suggestions or specific mills you've found? Thanks in advance!

Also we have a lot of Quercus garryana around here, and I've been trying to find neighbors who have lost a tree to storm blowdowns. I'd be happy to go over there with a chainsaw and earn my wood that way, but I'm still not finding anyone.

Changnoi,

I can get it easily from a few local fine wood stores for artisan wood workers. These places sell all sorts of exotic and common woods used by wood turners and artisan craftsman. I don’t buy it unless I can confirm the specials/source from the buyer. They charged somewhere around $8-$9 a board foot for the QS Am White Oak.

More recently I have had luck on Craigslist. I search for “quartersawn oak” and go from there. I use the quartersawn because I make and sell badmo style barrels. Last summer I found 100 board feet of 1” thick American white oak that was sitting in a guys storage unit for 35 freakin years. Had to drive 3 hours, one way, to get it. It was rough sawn so I jointed, planned, and cut into merin width boards before stacking outside to season. That’s half the wood in my pic.

Also through Craigslist I found a guy in a timber town 2 hours away with his own mill and solar kiln. He had 1000s of board feet of 1” QS Oregon Oak. Oregon Oak can’t be commercially harvested/sold but private land owners can cut and sell. I have been using Oregon Oak for a few years with some success so decided to bit the bullet and get 100 board feet of that. It similar to European Oak as far as grain and chemical characteristics. That’s the other half in of the wood in my pic.

Both Craigslist purchases were for $4.50 a board foot.

I’m set for a while. A local brew shop also buys my barrels and the toasted scraps left over from barrel making.

Otis

Thanks for the great information, OtisT! I've been checking around a bit with local hardwood supply stores with limited success, but I'll keep doing the legwork until I hit pay dirt. Meanwhile I've been having a lot of fun using Bigleaf Maple and wild cherry that I felled a couple years ago and has been aging stacked in a couple different woodsheds since then.

I may have just connected with a local farmer that had a blowdown oregon oak last year, and had to fell one that split in last week's windstorm.. So if I can keep them from wandering away from the conversation, I may be able to get some 1yr aged oregon white oak. All I gotta do is go buck and split the wood, and keep the heartwood, age it, etc. Like you said, this is a long game. I'm trying to do as much as I can to source everything from local supplies. What got me into this was "what do I do with all this fallen fruit besides feed it to the livestock?" and deciding to start making brandies from apple, pear, and plum. I have a lot of that aging on cherry and maple that I mentioned above.

Speaking of which, the maple I'm using came from a tree we felled 2 years ago. Before that, I used to tap this tree and make maple syrup. I still do that to several of my own trees and a neighbor's trees. It's fun to be able to share maple syrup and maple-infused spirits with friends and family. I'm really enjoying this hobby, and I am eternally grateful for you advice and help. Cheers!

Good news! I went over to a neighbor's house and spent 3 hours splitting rounds of Q. garryana. This tree split in October 2017 during a windstorm so they had to have an arborist fell it. The contractor felled it, transported the rounds to an out-of-the-way place, and left them in a pile. So they've been weathering outdoors in the rainforest for 15 months. I've already chopped, split, and am currently toasting enough to do a quick nuclear aging test to see how the tannin level is. Meanwhile they have invited me to come back and haul off the rest of the big rounds.
So after splitting for a few hours, hauling and stacking the sapwood near their firewood shed, I ended up with 3 banana boxes full of heartwood, and a minivan full of the biggest rounds I could lift by myself:
Once I got home and unloaded the rounds, I took a couple wedges of heartwood to the chop saw, nipped off the dirty ends, and cut them into lengths that will fit into quart mason jars:
Using a hatchet and mallet, I split them into approximately half-inch wedges. Then using a knife and hammer, I split them to half-inch the other way. This I placed into the oven at 350F, where it's now been for 2.5hrs. Planning to go another half hour, then put some into jars and nuclear age them!
I already have several jars of Bigleaf Maple (raw, toasted, toasted and charred) and Cherry (same treatment) to compare this wood to. Might have to take it to a different thread!

I'm really looking forward to comparing this with the other woods:

Changnoi wrote:
WithOrWithoutU2 that's what I'd like to be able to do, source directly from the sawmill! Any suggestions or specific mills you've found? Thanks in advance!

The local mill that I found doesn't ship. It would be way to expensive. Your best bet is to google "Sawmill Near Me". When you call, just ask if you can buy white oak board that has not been kiln dried.

But it looks like you found a source near you and are processing your own. Good luck. OTis is the man if you have questions about how best to season your new supply of oak.

Thanks WithOrWithoutU2, that's what I figured. Otis gave me some suggestions on sources of white oak and I'll be getting some when I have a chance. Meanwhile yup, I got a grip of oregon white oak and it's already mostly seasoned. Just gotta keep working on it. So far great results!