Ryan Monkman of FieldBird Cider based in Prince Edward County, Ontario Canada presented an extended seminar on Oak Barrels at CiderCon 2019 in Chicago.
[caption id="attachment_4008" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Ryan Monkman - FieldBird Cider in cellar[/caption]
The workshop description:
It’s like a Choose-Your-Own Adventure book...but with booze. A dozen mini-talks on oak. The crowd decides what to cover and what to scrap. We’ll open with an introduction on barrels then throw it to the horde. A vote at the end of each mini-talk will determine what we explore next. We'll finish when the clock stops - leaving time for Q&A.
During the presentation Ryan had 4 ciders to taste that he with different degrees of oak applied ~ Some in barrels, some with oak chips with different levels of toasting.
Ryan has already been on 2 episodes of Cider ChatTopics Covered:
“Stirring is my favorite part”
“With oak you can build complexity!”
[caption id="attachment_4007" align="aligncenter" width="225"] FieldBird Cider "Buzzing Chatter" 2017[/caption]
The main wood of choice is white oak
Main variety of French oak used is “Quercus robur" (Limousin oak) which has a high levels of tannin and low levels of flavor
What to do? Do a whole bunch of different things.
Bourbon barrels - coarse grain - heavy grain into the fire zone - aromatic but not a the structure side - to get vanillin note it requires time.
Wine barrel - tight grain - light to medium toast - french or European oak
Contact for FieldBird Cider
Website: https://fieldbirdcider.com/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fieldbird.cider/
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