Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi all,

I've been trying to find an answer, and im sure that its been asked before, but for the life of me i cannot find it.

Just wondering why i couldnt pick up a length of oak from bunnings or somewhere and make my own dominoes for aging?

It’s a different type of oak, I believe tassie oak that you buy from Bunnings isn’t actually a traditional type of oak at all.

Good luck getting American or French Oak from Bunnings.
Bunnings may have Tasmanian Oak, but that is not real Oak, is an Eucalyptus , ie gum tree.

I buy american oak chunks online for $7.50 a kg. The store sells supplies for smoking meats. They are decent size chunks that I split up with a little axe.

Stay away from eucalypts, they are toxic. Keep to the tried and tested woods like oak, cherry, apple etc. Good thing you asked first before going ahead and poisoning yourself :handgestures-thumbupleft:

db1979 wrote:Stay away from eucalypts, they are toxic. Keep to the tried and tested woods like oak, cherry, apple etc. Good thing you asked first before going ahead and poisoning yourself :handgestures-thumbupleft:

You mean poisoning myself any more than normal? :-p :-p

Thanks for the tips. I had a look on bunnings website and they only have the tassy oak/eucalypt, but i found the site mentioned earlier so might see if anyone local wants to do a bulk order to save on shipping.

Has anyone tried any local woods like jarrah or lemon tree or anything like that?

Or you try 5 Star...

Professor Green wrote:Or you try 5 Star...

I've had a look there professor, however shipping to where i am will make it very expensive and i dont have the money at the moment.

If you just want a bit to try then some HBS sell Samuel Willards branded dominoes, about 5 or 6 staves in a bag or you can buy Still Spirits branded ex-bourbon barrel chips. Gobblers or JD. I personally like these better than using essences. I have put a bag into 3L of 65% abv and aged for about 3 months as the chips develop quickly. Everyone has different tastes but to me this is ok for some sippin' whisky. Maybe not ideal for premium product but will do till I get better stuff made and aged.

Have a look in the BBQ area of bunnings rather than the lumber section and you will find they have small packets (500g-1kg) of ex wine barrel oak chunks, for smoking meat.
The packs i saw were about 50x50xwhat ever thickness a wine barrel is (20-30mm?)

Bbqs galore? Dont they sell wood for smoking meat?
Just a thought. Dont know for certain but I imagine they, or similar BBQ stores, might. Not sure of the cost effectiveness of it all.

scythe wrote:Have a look in the BBQ area of bunnings rather than the lumber section and you will find they have small packets (500g-1kg) of ex wine barrel oak chunks, for smoking meat.
The packs i saw were about 50x50xwhat ever thickness a wine barrel is (20-30mm?)

You nailed it Scythe. Those oak wine barrel chunks at Bunnings are excellent.
I wasn’t sure they would be toasted enough for me so I hit some with the heat gun to get some colour into them. But in a side by side test, the untoasted chunks give the best result I reckon.
Good colour and flavour.
Also cheap as chips, 10 quid for a kg.
You just have to split em so they fit in your bottle. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

$20 a kg at my local green shed
https://www.bunnings.com.au/char-grille ... s_p3171440

PeterC wrote:$20 a kg at my local green shed
https://www.bunnings.com.au/char-grille ... s_p3171440

Too much end grain in my opinion, plus for the same price you can get proper staves from FSD

Doubleuj wrote:

PeterC wrote:$20 a kg at my local green shed
https://www.bunnings.com.au/char-grille ... s_p3171440

Too much end grain in my opinion, plus for the same price you can get proper staves from FSD

Whoops. My missus reckons You’re right,$20 bucks a kilo. Still cheaper but.
With postage they are almost $38 from FSD.

I know they are not better than FSD dominos, just something cheap that I reckon is worth playing with. I use them in the smoker anyway. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

shortcut wrote:I know they are not better than FSD dominos, just something cheap that I reckon is worth playing with. I use them in the smoker anyway. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Personally i wouldn't skimp on the quality of the oak you use... you've gone to the effort of making a quality spirit so you may as well finish it off the same. So much flavour comes from oak so you want it to be good stuff.
I use FSD A/O dominoes some of the time and they are great.