Bottle aging vs bulk aging

[Bmd2k1]

Getting mesh bags into and out of a carboy is more difficult than you may realize.

I'm using stainless hops cylinders whenever I use chips in primary...works great with wide mouth Speidels I have. (Carboys...not so much)

Cheers!

 

[winemaker81]

II don't understand why you would use bourbon soaked chips. Seems to me that would impart a bourbon flavor to the wine.

That is the aim. Bourbon barrel aged reds is common these days, and for most home winemakers this is tough to emulate, as bourbon barrels are normally 53 gallons.

@Daytona249, I've seen chips, cubes, etc. made from used bourbon barrels, so they should have charred edges and bourbon flavor deeply embedded in the wood. If you can get some of these, it's more likely to produce a better flavor than merely soaking chips in bourbon.

 

[Daytona249]

Thanks winemaker81, that definitely is my goal. This is my first time experimenting with bourbon,i have both chips and cubes from bourbon barrel, will try chips this time and perhaps cubes next time around. You are right about bourbon flavours becoming quite popular,at least here in Canada (Brithish Colombia) iam not sure about the USA as i havent been there since the pandemic

 

[winemaker81]

not sure about the USA

I see enough reds "aged in bourbon barrels" to think of it as a trend. And everyone jumps on the marketing trend: