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Wood management

Barrel Char Wood Products

Squatchy

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That looks great. I usually start with 3 ounces for a 5 gallon carboy
 

Dan O

Honey Master
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Oct 12, 2020
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New Hampshire, USA
Squatchy, I have a question that I hope you can answer. I want to try loveofrose's cherry explosion BOMM. In his recipe, he uses cherry wood staves. I have cherry wood from a tree that I harvested. My question is does it have to be staves for any particular reason or can one simply use their own clean wood? (wood to be baked so nothing is alive and/or able to contaminate my brew). I have already bought oak cubes, but, the recipe calls for cherry. Being new to the hobby, I wasn't sure. Thank you, in advance, for any time you take to reply
Happy meading. :cool:
 

EricHartman

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Mar 4, 2019
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The wood itself is only 1/2 of the equation. The coopers (wine barrel makers) rotate their wood in large piles as they age in the yard. While this happens the wood is exposed to different environmental and microbial conditions. The lichens play a large role in the way the different available oak products taste. So the unanswered question is how was that cherry stave that loveofrose used processed/aged. I suspect it was more than kiln dried as would be for our woodworking projects but I cannot be certain. Send loveofrose a DM and he can likely tell you where he picked that up.

So long as you get the entire board hot enough for long enough it will be sterile... but as for flavor its hard to say. The newer, experimental, wood products are less understood than the oak products which have that long tradition and research.
 
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Dan O

Honey Master
Registered Member
Oct 12, 2020
177
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New Hampshire, USA
loveofrose does say where he got the staves from in the recipe. I was mistaken when I went to the site & thought they were closed because of covid, but, the website is still running & they do sell from there, which is where I will buy the staves from. I was just hoping to save a few bucks as they aren't cheap, but, I hadn't taken under consideration how they would be dried, as you said, likely in a kiln. My cherry wood was not dried in a kiln, & I haven't had the time to built a steambox for my wood bending projects. Thank you, for taking time to help a newbie. Happy meading!😎
 
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Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns