Oak Chips vs Acacia Cubes vs Gum Arabic

[Asmarino]

This forum has given me so much already, I'm almost afraid to ask more, but here I am...

Can I use gum arabic instead of acacia wood? And if not, can I use acacia cubes the same way as oak cubes?

Here is my reasoning:
I was listening to Bray (BOMM) on a GotMead podcast yesterday and I heard him mention acacia cubes instead of oak. Acacia is apparently better for more delicate wines by adding body without adding woodiness that would overwhelm floral notes.

As I am in Eritrea, oak anything is pretty hard to source, let alone barrels. Acacia though, is a different matter, as it grows here. Now I still can't cut enough for a barrel (strict tree protection laws) but a branch or two for cubes should be fine.

Gum arabic is a legal ingredient in wines to boost the body without adding any fermentables. Gum arabic is extracted from acacia trees, and it's so cheap here compared to what you all are paying in the west, it's actually easier to find than wood.

So could it be that in using acacia barrels, you extract the gum arabic and that's what's giving your wine body?

tl;dr Can I use gum arabic instead of acacia wood? And if not, can I use acacia cubes the same way as oak cubes?

 

[Rice_Guy]

Q? acacia wood. you would need to try it. This is not common in the US. We have a number of tree / plant species which can be used for modifying the flavor and tannin content of wine. If I was being time efficient I would lab bench the flavor by soaking acacia in 4 to 5 times the weight of grain alcohol for a month (or more). This extract could then be applied to a test wine to see if it accomplishes the mouth feel you want; or if there is an optimum flavor as well as too much; or if you and neighbors even like the flavor.

Gum Arabic. The grade I have in the US is pretty much flavorless. The effect is building viscosity which can change how fast an astringent tannin reaches your taste buds or a sugar or an acid. Again testing in a finished wine is the way to learn if you like the effect.

Many red wines have a treatment with oak tannin. Most fruit wines and white wines do not have this treatment. A fresh oak contributes vanilla like flavor notes and tannins which are antioxidants. A used oak barrel as well as a new barrel can be used to concentrate the dry matter / flavor and chemical composition of the wine. ,,, I make a lot of fruit wines, many recipes use 2.5 kg of fruit plus water to produce four liters of wine. ie this gives enough fullness/ mouth feel. My style is to use more fruit and increase the percentage of dry solids which translates to more flavor / aromatics. Unfortunately i don’t have a good lab bench model to experiment with the effect of increasing the dry matter.