# liquid oak



## alley rat (Jan 12, 2007)

anybody out there had any luck with oak extract? Same principle as
liquid smoke used for cooking, I suppose. Gets right down to it, both
could be looked at as cheating. All things being relevant, I'm
considering a bottle. Any feedback regarding these type products, pro
or con, would be greatly appreciated.


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## sangwitch (Jan 12, 2007)

welcome alley rat! I never heard of that product. Where did you see it? 
If you try it, please let us know the outcome


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## PeterZ (Jan 12, 2007)

Alley rat, I used that in my first foray into wine making 20+ years ago. Seemed to work OK, but with the kits I will use what they supply. For a roll-my-own I would probably try it again, especially with fruits.

For those who have not run across it, I think it is just heavily toasted oak extracted in ethanol. You could make your own by mixing the oak with Everclear for a few months in glass and then vacuum distill it (with the goal of reducing - distilling off - the alcohol) and retaining the oak essence.


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## finnie (Feb 16, 2007)

Hello All, 

I have been been watching this forum for a while and have gotten answers to a lot of my questions just by reading thru the posts. This is the first time that I have responded since joining. I do have a question about aging wine. I have a 5 gallon batch of Welches concord / cranberry bulk aging at this time. At the next racking I plan to add a small amount of oak, and somewhere I read about adding vanilla beans to wine during the aging process. Does anyone have experience with adding vanilla?


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## Wade E (Feb 16, 2007)

Masta does. I think he splits it and scrapes it out but Im sure hell chime in and give you specifics.


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## finnie (Feb 16, 2007)

Thanks Wade,

I'd like to get some background before trying something like this.


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## jsmahoney (Feb 17, 2007)

finnie, Iadded some oak chips, raisinand vanilla beans on one of my Shiraz kitwines. I purchased the vanilla beans off the Internet at thevanillashop.com. These vanilla beans came cut in small pieces and wrapped in a small pouch. I took them out of the small pouch and addedthem during fermentation; after siphoning added another oneto the carboy (6 gallon). Followed the instruction of the kit, except for an extra racking. The extra racking was due to tiny black specks that came from the vanilla bean, but it did finally clear. Bottled 12-17-07. At first taste during bottling I thought I had added to much vanilla, but as it has aged, just this small amount of time, it has become very nice. I do let it breath in the decanter for at least one hour before drinking. *Edited by: jsmahoney *


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## masta (Feb 17, 2007)

I have used vanilla beans in mead but never wine and I split the beans length ways, scrape the inside with your knife and then add everything to the secondary.


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## finnie (Feb 17, 2007)

js,

Thanks for the info, and the source for the vanilla beans. I priced some locally and they seem to be kinda pricy. I belive that I am going to split this batch of wine up into smaller vessels and experiment with this vanilla thing.

Thanks again, finnie


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## jsmahoney (Feb 17, 2007)

finnie, I agree that they are pricey! Yet, put good quality product into something and it does make a difference. I use real vanilla when baking, and it just adds that much more flavor to something than the cheap imitation vanilla. Again, it is a person's taste too!


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## PeterZ (Feb 17, 2007)

I buy all my spices from Penzey's (www.penzeys.com) and they are top quality. If you want to buy vanilia beans from them you will have to decide what type. I have learned from their website that many things (black pepper, vanillia, cinnammon, basil, oregano, etc.) have varieties, just like red wine grapes.


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## Wade E (Feb 17, 2007)

Hey JS, can I use that time machine you used to bottle your wine? I would like to see next weeks lottery #'s,


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## jsmahoney (Feb 18, 2007)

Sorry Wade, next weeks lottery numbers are already taken, as you can see, I'm already in December. As far as the winning numbers, I'm still looking, but if I find them, I'll surely let you know! I'd share!


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## Wade E (Feb 18, 2007)

I hope you got all your Christmas shopping done AGAIN!


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## jsmahoney (Feb 18, 2007)

Arggggg! Christmas AGAIN!


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## jcnoren (May 9, 2008)

LIQUID OAK. New to me. 


Liquid Oak... any idea quantities one would use? OR when to add it? 


JC


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## smurfe (May 9, 2008)

PeterZ said:


> I buy all my spices from Penzey's (www.penzeys.com) and they are top quality. If you want to buy vanilia beans from them you will have to decide what type. I have learned from their website that many things (black pepper, vanillia, cinnammon, basil, oregano, etc.) have varieties, just like red wine grapes.




Didn't see this post in the beginning. I agree with Peter. Penzey's is a fantastic source for all types of spices. We order most of ours there as well. 


In regards to the question, I have used Oak extract. It was OK but not my cup of tea. I found it to leave a somewhat bitter after taste that sort of coated my tongue. Almost a "sawdust" taste sensation.I didn't care too much for the flavor. I did use some in a blueberry wine that was pretty decent though. I have only used it a few times in some experimental one gallon batches of fruit wines. 


As for vanilla, I have used it a few times as well. I have had mixed results with it as well. I did a Vanilla Raspberry that I didn't care for but I did come out a bit high on alcohol content and the wine didn't balance. I did have great success with it in a blueberry and fantastic results in a Joe M's Mead variation. The Kumquat Mead I brought to Winestock both years had a Penzey's Vanilla bean in it and I thought it gave a fantastic, subtle vanilla flavor and aroma. 


I will add though that I have had better results by simply adding high quality pure vanilla extract to wines though. One fantastic blackberry wine I made I soaked my American Oak cubes in vanilla extract for a week prior. I obtained a fantastic vanilla flavor from that experiment.


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## JWMINNESOTA (May 9, 2008)

Soaking the oak in vanilla extract sounds like something Id like to try. Smurfe was there a certain amount of extract/cubes, or did you just soak all the oak for the batch on a time bases?


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## smurfe (May 10, 2008)

JWMINNESOTA said:


> Soaking the oak in vanilla extract sounds like something Id like to try. Smurfe was there a certain amount of extract/cubes, or did you just soak all the oak for the batch on a time bases?




I just soaked all that I used in a batch.


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## Oneo Teras (May 11, 2008)

I have been reading a book on modern wine making techniques and it discusses oaking in depth. One suggestion that is made is to soak oak in vodka for a few weeks to create an 'oak extract' that you can add directly to aging wine to the intensity level you desire. Cuts some of the guess work out as you can add varying levels during taste tests before you oak the entire batch. Haven't tried it but sounds logical.


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## Okie1 (May 13, 2008)

Thats a thought Oneo!




I like oak so much, I might oak and then drink the vodka?


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