Spagnols kits & oak

Well it's too late to change things but for the future I'd like to know about oaking your kit wine.

According to the generic directions for Sgagnols kits, if they give you oak, dump it in at the beginning. No discussion of them after that point. At two weeks or so after reaching FG you then put in all the stabilizers, clarifiers, etc. and rack to 6 gallon carboy and top up. So the Oak is gone after two weeks. Seems like a short time to me, I did taste a wee bit and did not detect any oak.

Any thoughts.


btw - beer brewing is far more interesting than kit wine. Flames, heat, boilovers - you can't beat it. LOL

Some kits only have those oak sawdust packages. I think one of the reasons is that oak gives depth and flavor, but also takes a while to age out if overdone. Those kits are "quick", so the wine is drinkable within about 3-12 months.

I have purchased more expensive kits that take a couple of years to age and they came with oak staves, or spirals, for oaking in secondary.

Some wines have a very oaky flavor, while some don't, so it also could be that your kit variety isn't a traditionally oaky wine.