oak cubes for 1 gallon

[miagolano]

one more question from me today...

I plan on making a 5 gallon batch and racking into five 1-gallon jugs for secondary and adding oak cubes to one of the jugs. So, how many cubes do I use and how long do I leave them in? I understand that cubes take longer to do their thing than chips but not sure if I need to change them out occasionally or leave them or what. Thanks!

 

[cinderbike]

What honey did you start with? If you used a lighter honey I'd really advise against oaking mead as honey doesn't stand up to the flavors well. If you used something like buckwheat or avocado you'd probably be okay, but I wouldn't use more than 1/4th of a bag.

 

[Fletch78]

Try 1/50th of a bag. You will be surprised how much oak you get from a single cube in a gallon for two weeks.

 

[miagolano]

What honey did you start with? If you used a lighter honey I'd really advise against oaking mead as honey doesn't stand up to the flavors well. If you used something like buckwheat or avocado you'd probably be okay, but I wouldn't use more than 1/4th of a bag.

haven't started it yet. plan on using a fairly dark honey. thanks for the heads up! but you all don't know how big a bag of cubes I have so... not sure what 1/4 or even 1/50 of a bag would be.

 

[cinderbike]

The bags I get usually have around 30 cubes, so for me... 5 or 6 cubes for a week or so in a 5 gallon batch. For 1 gallon, I would use a single cube as Fletch78 suggests.

 

[TheRabidKumquat]

It's all personal preference. I'd also assume that toast level might effect how pronounced it is, as well as honey variety. Is it a traditional mead, or does it have other ingredients?
I've had a few batches where I used a 1/4oz and started checking after a couple weeks and wanted more of an oak presence. I usually start at a quarter ounce, leave it alone for a month, then start to check. None of those batches have been traditional meads, though.

You wouldn't need to swap them out periodically. Just leave them in longer.

 

[biochemedic]

I agree w/ a lot of the posts that there is some personal taste involved, but it's best to start lower and add more or leave it in longer. I've never oaked a mead, but use bourbon soaked oak chips for a couple of my beers. I use about an ounce of chips in 5 gallons and usually oak for 2-3 weeks, and this still comes out pretty oakey. In the beginning I was using a lot more, and I definitely over-oaked a couple batches!

 

[MedsenFey]

It is really easy to over-oak meads (of any sort). I've done it more than I care to admit, because there's always a little devil on my shoulder saying, "if a little is good, more will be better!"

At one gram per liter, you won't go too far astray, and if you decide after a few weeks that it isn't enough, you can add more. Oak cubes weigh something close to a gram so 3-4 in gallon will often be plenty.

 

[B_ChiZ]

If you choose to oak your batch, Is it best to do so during the primary fermentation? Secondary?...

 

[Jaymo]

Try microwaving them in water until it boils for a minute or so. Dump the water and replace it. Do this a couple times and it will leech out some of the harsher woody flavors you get from the cubes and let them work more subtly. (It also helps sanitize the cubes before you dump them into your mead.)