Oaking a blueberry mead

[MikeRLynch]

Did a quick search and didn't see much on this. What do you guys think of aging some of this blueberry mead on some oak? I've oaked a mead once before, on some american oak chips, and all I got was big bourbon/vanilla flavor. Eventually it evened out, but it took a long time.

Any thoughts on what types/techniques I might do? I racked 3 gallons of mead into a 3 gallon carboy (no headspace) and I'm a little nervous about racking to split it up (more o2). Basically I'm wondering if anyone has oaked blueberry before, how it tastes, and how you did it.

 

[Poobah58]

Use the oak cubes, not the chips. I used 1 oz in a 3-gal batch of Blueberry Mead. Probably could have used 2 oz.

 

[MikeRLynch]

Nice, what was the flavor like? What type of oak did you use, american/french/hungarian?

 

[Poobah58]

I used medium toast american oak. The oak seemed to soften it up a bit. Maybe gave it some more complexity. Made it actually taste like a good red wine. Maybe should swap a bottle and you can see for yourself!

 

[eulipion2]

I made Missing's oaked blueberry mead from this post, using 1 oz each of medium toast Hungarian and American oak cubes. I'm maturing it until about March, but remind me and I'll let you know. It tasted really good before the oak, a little dry with some higher alcohols, but still pretty drinkable. I'm hoping the oak will give a little more (perceived) body and sweetness, but I may back-sweeten.

I did the mixed oaks because I wanted a mix of the characteristics per Northern Brewer:
American: aromatic sweetness and a campfire/roasted coffee attribute, light fruit and a nice mouthfeel;
Hungarian: pronounced vanilla with background notes of bittersweet chocolate, roast coffee, leather, and black pepper.

 

[LightningInABottle]

I tasted my blueberry mead that I had oaked with medium roast french cubes 6 weeks ago and it is perfect! I used 1/2 of the package, which is 1.5 oz, and took my taste sample from near the top of the carboy. Can anyone who is more experienced answer this question. Is the liquid in the top of the carboy more oaked than the bottom? I have only swirled it a few times. Twice when I oaked it originally and once right before taking my taste sample.

I plan on racking it off into another 3 gallon carboy on Monday, but this date is 2 weeks short of the minimum 8 weeks that the package says to give it.

It tasted like a very good red wine that you would buy at the store btw. I'm thinking that oaking blueberry meads is going to become manditory for me. I do have a non-oaked gallon to compare it with but I will do that comparison when they are ready to bottle.

 

[MikeRLynch]

I'm still on the fence. I like the floral nose I've got with this mead, and I'm worried the oak will overpower that. But that floral character might drop out after aging a while anyway.

The mead-makers lament: Why didn't I make more???

 

[LightningInABottle]

I racked off my med toast french oak cubes tuesday and sampled a big glass. Wow! I started the ferment back in October and it is excellent. The oak was only in for about 6 weeks. In the side by side taste test I preferred the oak. I think I will make 2 six gallon batches this summer when the berries are back in the stores at a decent price. I think I will use different yeasts though to fine tune my recipe.

If I only had three gallons I am not sure what I would do. It is nice to have the extra gallon I have that I can use as a base to taste against.

 

[TheRabidKumquat]

If you're worried about the oak overpowering you could either start off with less oak, or expose it for a shorter period of time. Just be sure to start taking small taste tests after a couple weeks to test where it's at.
I think the oak would mingle in with the floral notes and make the aroma even better (speculation) Maybe at first it would be oaky dominant, but after it ages a little longer once you rack off the wood, the flavors and aromas will intigrate.

Using cubes will also be a slower process of oak influence than chips, they don't infuse as quickly.

Since you're on the fence, you might be in trouble no matter which way you fall. If you don't oak it, you're always going to wonder what the mead had been had you put it on some wood. Why lose sleep over something like that?? Oak it