I want to start adding oak to my meads while they age and I have a quick question regarding the best practice of this. I know some people use various techniques to sanitize the oak first, steam baths, soaking in a campden solution, etc, and then adding to the mead. Also, some add them straight from the bag, but since I dont use all 3oz of cubes at once, the bags are open and no longer protected.
I dont really want to soak them or steam them and lose some of those oak compounds. My plan is to rack the mead off the lees once its done fermenting, add campden tablets, and then add the oak, right from the bag.
Since I am adding campden to prevent any wild yeast and bacteria growth, wouldnt this also prevent any bugs that may be on the oak from taking hold in the mead, thus preventing the need to sanitize prior?
I dont really want to soak them or steam them and lose some of those oak compounds. My plan is to rack the mead off the lees once its done fermenting, add campden tablets, and then add the oak, right from the bag.
Since I am adding campden to prevent any wild yeast and bacteria growth, wouldnt this also prevent any bugs that may be on the oak from taking hold in the mead, thus preventing the need to sanitize prior?