Other woods

Oaking? Suuure, but what about cherrying, appling, birching, walnutting, etc. I've got a piece of juniper that smells amazing and I'm considering chipping it up and adding it to some different wines for aging There are lots of woods that have wonderful aromatic properties that could impart interesting flavors and aromas so has anyone here ever experimented with different woods?

There was a guy on here did a lot of that before but he stopped posting a while back.... WVMJ

Don't willow, whatever you do!

I don't know for sure if there's salicyates (aspiring-like compounds) in the wood, but it sure tastes like there is. Bitter, bitter, bitter - nasty. If you have pain, and fever, and no other relief, bring it on - but personally, I like keeping my aspirin and wine in two different places.

My Dad and I put a Chardonnay over Manitoba Maple/Box Elder chips once, a long time ago. I didn't think it contributed a huge amount of flavour, certainly less than oak...but it "wood" be worth trying.

Haha. Yes, willow for sure would not be good. Willow bark has been used for centuries as a pain killer and does indeed contain salicin. There are lots of woods that contain oils and other compounds that I'm sure would be detrimental and even hazardous. Cocobolo, for instance, contains an oil that is a powerful irritant, so using it might result in some health issues.
I suppose I could make a large batch of something cheap and split it into several small batches after primary and use a variety of different woods to compare the effects of each wood.

My (over)reaction yesterday is explained as follows: even being aware of the salicin content, I still chose to make a nice roasting stick out of willow. Picked a particularly potent one, too, and had aspirin flavoured sausage and bannock, blech!

I've done the willow bark tea thing for pain when out in the back 40. An old-timer told me that he remembered back when that WAS the only aspirin his family had - he also said they drank it with tomato juice, though, to hide the flavour!

I'm kind of intrigued by walnut. I've always liked the way it smells when it's worked, esp. turned. Never thought of putting a potent potable on it for aging, though.

How about using the apple/cherry/etc. wood chips for smoking, in a wine?
I've thought that ageing on a fruit wood might be good.

If you do decide to split up a batch and age on different woods, let us know the results.

I planned on using cheery wood chips in a smoked cherry porter. I would assume it would contribute smokey notes more than anything else.

alright im about to ask a newbie question... So when your fermenting your wine you add these wood chips? or do you add them after racking? I have no clue on what to do but im looking to better myself at wine making.

cajun_wine07 said:

alright im about to ask a newbie question... So when your fermenting your wine you add these wood chips? or do you add them after racking? I have no clue on what to do but im looking to better myself at wine making.

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It's up to you but less surface area the more time you need to oak. If you are using dust its easier to dump in the primary then rack off the dust into a clean secondary. If you are using chips or chunks I would use them in the secondary etc.