In Episode 15, we talk with James Boicourt, meadmaker at Charm City Meadworks in Baltimore, MD about oaking your mead. We focus a lot on the commercial aspects of oak barrels, but there are some nuggets in here for the home meadmaker as well. And if you are interested in using oak on the home scale, check out this FAQ put together by Peter Bakulic, president of the Mazer Cup, and hosted by BJCP.

James’s thoughts on the best oak for mead (paraphrased):

In some of the preliminary oaking we’ve tested, we’ve found that a medium char American oak is a really good place to start. I mean, go figure, medium; your options are light, heavy, and medium. Medium has a lot of nice vanillins and works well with mead.

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