Re: oak usage

I would highly recommend against steaming oak chips. In the past I have gotten a mild oak flavor by toasting the oak chips in an oven for 25 - 30 minutes until they get some color and then just adding them to a secondary fermenter. The toasting is a more gentle way to sanitize the chips without extracting the flavor which I believe happens when they are steamed. I have generally let them sit in the fermenter until they sink to the bottom. This also acts as somewhat of a clarifier as particles cling to the chips when they sink. I'm sure of the more scientifically oriented mead meakers will have more input ... Cheers WH WindRiver Brewing --- Steve Fletty <fletty(a)UMN.EDU> wrote: __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com