Riesling/Gerwurtztraminer oak cubes

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

deputyandy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2011
Messages
94
Reaction score
2
Location
Ambler
Anyone ever try soaking oak cubes in these german wines? Probably the easiest styles for me to swipe from SWMBO in the summer months. Any thoughts?

Probably would use them for a Pale Sour/Lambic sort of thing. sorry if this is the wrong forum.
 
I have wanted to make a gwertztraminer beer/wine hybrid for a long time now. Your best bet would be to get some actual wine concentrate of that varietal and make a beer/wine blend. If you don't mind some residual sugar make a good wort and add the concentrate to it. Let it ferment dry with the oak. Good luck.

Soaking flavors in cubes can be overly dominate of the malt profile...
 
I woud think it might go good in something dry like a Saison to ballance out the sweetness of the wine. Sounds like a fun experiment.
 
I haven't specifically used those, but for a sour blond I did use a Sauv. Blanc/Viogner/Semillion wine to soak the cubes in. That's still in seclusion for another year with Russian River Supplication funky bunch working on it. I think the flavor will work fine in a lighter sour beer. I tend to think if any of the wine flavor even makes it through, an acidic white wine would be more appropriate than a red.
 
Wayne...that is exactly the kind of beer I wish to design. However. I can't seem to find a wine grower in my region to take me seriously. Ten years ago I could get free fruit that was going to be dropped or simply left to hang after harvest. Now the Gwerztraminer grapes are more scarce.

I think a Saison yeast with the eccentric german varietal flavors and spicey/fruit of modern day hops would be spectacular and complex. Beer that has complexity is what I strive for. Sometimes less is more...but sometimes more is more.

I made a beer with over 12 different botanicals and it baffled the homebrewers I knew...Soaking oak in some flavor can often spoil the beer with one dimensional flavor. It's best to keep the ales from being dominated by one flavor note.
 
I've only had experience imparting wine/liquor flavors via oak, in sort of an attempt to replicate a real wine/liquor barrel. My LHBS has wine grapes at specific times of the year, but i have no idea if they carry these varietals. worth a shot seeing if they have them. I'm not even sure these varietals utilize oak barrel traditionally.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top