I was reading an old post of mine regarding mead and noticed Dave had said something about one of his needing more time on the oak. Which leads me to this post.
I have been perusing some 5L Barrels on ebay made from US White Oak, with a medium char. They are priced at what I consider reasonable for a product that will give many years of service, also looking at the 10L and 15L ones with blending being the main reason.
Currently I make around 5L batches of mead and country wines, so that size barrel seems correct.
So my question is does anyone age mead in a barrel? Is it a done thing? I understand that some of my fruit wines may benefit from a little barrel aging, but does the same go for mead, I imagine it would of seen wood up until recently as it would of been the main type of storage vessel availiable.
Have also found a grape concentrate supplier that sells in quantities small enough to benefit my operations, so I will be keen to buy a few of their varieties soon and implement them into my brewing activities; pyment and boosting country wines.
Experiences or thoughts anyone?
I have been perusing some 5L Barrels on ebay made from US White Oak, with a medium char. They are priced at what I consider reasonable for a product that will give many years of service, also looking at the 10L and 15L ones with blending being the main reason.
Currently I make around 5L batches of mead and country wines, so that size barrel seems correct.
So my question is does anyone age mead in a barrel? Is it a done thing? I understand that some of my fruit wines may benefit from a little barrel aging, but does the same go for mead, I imagine it would of seen wood up until recently as it would of been the main type of storage vessel availiable.
Have also found a grape concentrate supplier that sells in quantities small enough to benefit my operations, so I will be keen to buy a few of their varieties soon and implement them into my brewing activities; pyment and boosting country wines.
Experiences or thoughts anyone?