Oaking your mead is a great way to impart complexity and body to your brew. Oak can lend vanilla, smoky, and clove notes in addition to adding mouthfeel.

Oak for mead and wine comes in a variety of shapes and sizes for many different fermentation, aging and storage vessels. For the home mead maker oak chips and oak cubes are the most common form available at your friendly neighborhood LHBS.

Oak is an easy to use and interesting “ingredient” that can add a great deal of complexity to a Mead. It adds various flavor compounds, such as vanillin, provides some astringency from Tannin, and colors the Mead a little. There are various choices when deciding on what type to use.

Nov 26, 2006 · I have a semi sweet, 10% mead that I added some oak chips to, and left for about a week. I'm starting to regret that decision though, and now it tastes like straight bourbon without the alcohol burn.

Oak aging can be applied to any mead style. Oak additions do not have to be specified (but may be at the entrant’s discretion); oaking is acceptable in every mead style. Excessive oaking is a fault, just as in wine; any use of oak should be balanced and complimentary.

Jun 30, 2012 · Oak comes in many forms (chips, cubes/beans, spirals, staves, and barrels of all sizes). What to look for is a surface area to volume ratio, as that will control how fast the oak infuses into the mead.

The aging duration for oak-aged meads can vary depending on personal preference and the desired level of oak influence. Some mead makers may age their meads in oak barrels for 6 months to a year, while others may choose to age them for several years to achieve a more pronounced oak flavor.

Mar 21, 2025 · Aging mead in small oak barrels can impart complex flavors and accelerate the maturation process, transforming your brew into a refined beverage. This guide will walk you through the benefits and techniques of barrel-aging mead at home, with a focus on 1-liter batches.

Aug 13, 2012 · I know that some of the folks on here oak their meads, at least occasionally. My questions are; What flavours do the various varieties of oak (smoked, toasted, French, English, etc...) contribute? What's the preferred form, chips, cubes, something else? And how do you prepare the oak for adding into the secondary?

Jul 5, 2018 · Oak has a lovely effect on meads. I did a side-by-side comparison on a recent batch of peach melomel, and the carboy with oak was miles ahead in terms of smoothness, fruitiness, and mouthfeel. The oak won't necessarily make the flavour less dry, though.