Sanitize wood chips?

[jvr06]

Hello, I have 6 gallons of ***** D'Avola that is in the clearing process. I'm planning on adding some French Oak after it clears and set it a side for some bulk aging. I have a 1lb bag of LD Carlson french oak wood chips but there's no directions on it. I was wondering if I need to put them in or spray them down with some sanitizer before going into the wine or can I just go from bag to wine? Also does anyone have a good ratio of wood chips to gallons of wine that should be used. I know that can be relative to taste but was wondering if anyone has found out a good ratio. Thanks for any info.

-Joe

 

[Boatboy24]

Go slowly - you can always add more. I usually use cubes, and when doing that, 2-4 oz is enough for my taste in a 6 gallon batch. Chips will give up all they have in a week or so. I don't usually sanitize.

 

[skyfire322]

I use oak cubes as well (3 oz for 6 gallons). Fresh out of the bag, I don't sanitize it but I've seen others use a quick spritz for residual dust. If I recall, if you soak in sanitizing solution, you might run into some of the oak flavor being stripped.

 

[jvr06]

Thanks for the help guys!

I also spoke to a LD Carlson rep yesterday and below is the conversation via email.


I was reaching out to assist you with your question on the oak chips. It is not necessary for you to sanitize the oak chips before adding them to the secondary. The alcohol content of the wine will act as a sanitizer and assist with sterilization of the chips. Also, the Metabisulfite that is added in in the wine making process will assist with this as well.
Sanitizing the chips before adding them may affect the potency off the oak flavor and aroma presented by these chips, resulting in the need to use more than you would have originally to achieve desired flavor/aroma.

One other quick question, what is the recommended amount of chips to add per gallon? I have a 6 gallon batch going currently. Thanks.
Good question. That one varies depending on what kind of wine it is. Another playing factor would be how intense you would like the flavor/aroma to be. The starting recommendation for the American Oak chips would be about 1-1 ½ cups for white wines and 2 – 3 cups for red wines, but ultimately user discretion. The French oak is recommended to start at ½ cup and add to taste. Just remember that you can always add more but you can’t take it out.

How long should I leave it in the wine?
It depends—on the wine, on the vintner, and the oak itself. But in general, red wines tend to be aged longer in oak than white wines. At the end of the day, it falls back to user discretion. I wish I could give you a more definitive answer.

Understood. Just curious if at the 1/2 cup rate in 6 gallons of red, how long would it take to get the full effect of the wood chips. I would assume after a certain amount of time you would not be able to gain anymore flavoring from the wood, right?
That is correct. I have not used the oak chips personally, so I would just recommend to taste it once every couple of days and go by preference.

 

[JohnT]

Like a tongue depressor, I do not bother to sanitize. As long as it is new and unused, there really is not a need.

 

[Scooter68]

As long as the package has been sealed or if opened, closed well - why sanitize?

 

[BigH]

The instructions for my oak chips said to soak the chips in water for 1 hr before adding to the wine. No sanitizing was mentioned.

I have since switched from chips to winestix for a more gradual extraction. They also look more manly than chips.

https://morewinemaking.com/products/winestix-medium-toast-french-oak-carboy-2-pack.html

 

[GaDawg]

I don’t know about chips but cubes take about 6 weeks to give up the goodness

 

[Bohemiana]

My bag of LD Carlson chips are tiny chips. Do you put the chips in a cheese clothe or something? Do they all drop down to the bottom of the carboy so it's easy to re-rack??

 

[FTC Wines]

Yes after a few weeks they all drop to the bottom of the carboy. I leave mine in the 3-4 months till next racking. Roy

 

[winemaker81]

Cheese cloth or a nylon bag make removal easier. When you get to the bottom when racking, you may want to pour the wine through a strainer (I have a mesh bag big enough to fit over the top of a 7 gallon primary fermenter.

Tip: Don't drop the racking cane all the way to the bottom -- that will stir sediment and chips may clog it. I lower the cane so the end is a couple of inches below the surface of the wine, lowering the cane as the wine level drops.

 

[Vinobeau]

My bag of LD Carlson chips are tiny chips. Do you put the chips in a cheese clothe or something? Do they all drop down to the bottom of the carboy so it's easy to re-rack??

After you're done with the chips, put an old screen over the sink drain and dump them out of the carboy. Let them dray on the screen and use them in your grill smoker! Great smoke flavor.