Leaving Oak cubes in carboy

[Berry Juice]

How long can I leave oak cubes in the carboy?
Any harm with leaving them in there for 6 months or 1yr?
I've got some bottles that's it's been in there that long...

 

[GreginND]

No problem leaving them in there. After they give up their flavor, they will just sit happily until you rack.

 

[tjgaul]

The manufacturers and resellers say the oak gives up all it has to give in 6 weeks, but I think longer is better. I agree that there should be no harm in leaving it in longer.

 

[Berry Juice]

Perfect information!

 

[salcoco]

would suggest monitoring the taste. might over oak the wine if left there to long.

 

[CabSauv]

For what it's worth, I left about 8-10 my cubes in the carboy with my cab for at least 4-5 months during bulk aging and it was fine, but I was looking for a dry cab. I felt with my kits that after a certain amount of time with the cubes doing taste testing and tinkering to get the flavor and mouthfeel that I wanted, the cubes kinda stopped increasing the dry mouthfeel after a certain amount of time. So with that being said, in terms of cubes, I would expect that the more cubes you add has a bigger effect on the wine compared to fewer cubes for a longer period of time. If you wanted to go a different route completely, you could try tannin powder, this would allow you to add some, stir it in, let it settle for 24-48 hours and taste test again - repeat as needed.

 

[tjgaul]

I was online looking to order some oak and remembered someone on this forum recommended the Xoaker brand/style. Just looked them up on MoreWine and they have a much longer use period than the chips and cubes. I'm thinking of giving these a try for the next few kits.

 

[Brian55]

I was online looking to order some oak and remembered someone on this forum recommended the Xoaker brand/style. Just looked them up on MoreWine and they have a much longer use period than the chips and cubes. I'm thinking of giving these a try for the next few kits.


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I've been using them for about 2.5 years now. Bulk aging for 12 months. I like them better than cubes or spirals.

 

[kuziwk]

How long can I leave oak cubes in the carboy?
Any harm with leaving them in there for 6 months or 1yr?
I've got some bottles that's it's been in there that long...

I usually Leave them in oak for 2-3 months, my super Tuscan that just came off now tastes super oaky...but oak fades. I oaked a Chardonnay with 50g American oak cubes for a week and it was already overoaked...another week or two it was blended and now you barely taste any at all...it's like magic.

I really like the oak staves rather than cubes...they release more slowly over time and they can be reusable after racking since they are easy to get out of the carboy.

 

[CDrew]

I've only used the cubes and a (few wine stix). They work well. They are easy to get out of the container since they are under 1/2 inch on a side.

But, I feel the MorWine recommendations for dosing are too high. Go to the Stavin website and use the calculator. Then aim low at first-maybe 40-50% of "new oak" dosing and less if the wine is on the lighter flavor side. The MoreWine recs are definitely at the higher end of the oaking recommendations from Stavin.

I also thought that at 2 months, the taste was mellow and oakey, but at 3 months was more overtly oakey. I'm waiting for it to fade a bit.

 

[kuziwk]

I've only used the cubes and a (few wine stix). They work well. They are easy to get out of the container since they are under 1/2 inch on a side.

But, I feel the MorWine recommendations for dosing are too high. Go to the Stavin website and use the calculator. Then aim low at first-maybe 40-50% of "new oak" dosing and less if the wine is on the lighter flavor side. The MoreWine recs are definitely at the higher end of the oaking recommendations from Stavin.

I also thought that at 2 months, the taste was mellow and oakey, but at 3 months was more overtly oakey. I'm waiting for it to fade a bit.

How much time do you think the stavin needs compared to cubes? I've only done two staves, both have been in for 8 weeks so really hard to tell from my end at least

 

[CDrew]

How much time do you think the stavin needs compared to cubes? I've only done two staves, both have been in for 8 weeks so really hard to tell from my end at least

I don't know. I thought the cubes were good at 2 months and over at 3 months. But that's just my opinion. I think the Stavin cubes need 4-8 weeks. But at a lower dose, you could likely leave indefinitely. Honestly, if I were making carboy volumes, I'd use winestix which are spendy but excellent. But my 'carboy" size is 15 gallons, so the cubes are more practical. I've never used spirals. But I think the cubes are easy to measure and so it's just a matter of finding what works for you. I see this as a learning curve. I know next (this!) year to use a lower dose of cubes. But I think the cubes from Stavin are the way forward, better than spirals, staves, etc. The measure of excellence is a barrel, but that is not practical for me.

 

[kuziwk]

I don't know. I thought the cubes were good at 2 months and over at 3 months. But that's just my opinion. I think the Stavin cubes need 4-8 weeks. But at a lower dose, you could likely leave indefinitely. Honestly, if I were making carboy volumes, I'd use winestix which are spendy but excellent. But my 'carboy" size is 15 gallons, so the cubes are more practical. I've never used spirals. But I think the cubes are easy to measure and so it's just a matter of finding what works for you. I see this as a learning curve. I know next (this!) year to use a lower dose of cubes. But I think the cubes from Stavin are the way forward, better than spirals, staves, etc. The measure of excellence is a barrel, but that is not practical for me.

Oh by staves I meant the long oak prices, they are about 6" long by 1" X1" they come in around 60 grams each.

 

[CDrew]

Oh by staves I meant the long oak prices, they are about 6" long by 1" X1" they come in around 60 grams each.

So maybe there's a misunderstanding here. Stavin is the company that makes the staves, cubes and other oak barrel substitutes. I'm a fan and I think once I learn the proper dosing, will allow me to adequately oak the wine without barrels which unless I build out a wine room, are not practical for me in my present house.

https://www.stavin.com/

In an ideal world we'd all have oak barrels, but poly and stainless are more practical at the home winemaker level.

For 2019, I'm looking at cutting the oak I used by about 1/2. Eventually, I'll learn the method. Though it's funny, I'm drinking a French Rhone blend tonight and it has plenty of oak! It's only 3 years old, so I'm sure that will fade in time.