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Using oak gall nuts as a source of tannin

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N

nkurz

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 21, 2015
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I'm not sure I want to risk it for my first mead, but I was wondering: has anyone tried using oak gall nuts/apples as a tannin source directly? That is, collecting and using your own gall nuts instead of buying a prepared packet like Tannin FT Blanc (http://www.scottlab.com/product-122.aspx)?

There are many in the woods right now near me (Bay Area California), and it seemed like it would be fun to put them to use. I searched the archives, but didn't find much discussion about this.

Along that line, does anyone know the difference between Tannin FT Blanc and Tannin FT Blanc Soft? Different types of galls? Different processing? Different additives?

http://www.scottlab.com/uploads/documents/technical-documents/987/FT Blanc 05-15-13.pdf

http://www.scottlab.com/uploads/documents/technical-documents/989/FT Blanc Soft 05-15-13.pdf

If anyone is particularly excited to try out using natural oak nut galls (and willing to report on the results) I'd be happy to send them some samples. The ones I have look like the round tan version shown in the 3rd photo in the left column: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/4489842-181/nature-sonoma-county-is-bursting

--nate
 
Tannin's are pretty easy to add after the fact. I would suggest maybe waiting to add them until it's finished and you can determine how much is required. Oak is always nice to add for that. I have made a sage tincture by soaking sage in vodka for a while. Now I can drop it in with precision and have imediate results. Very easy to control and you don't have to wait so long. I do the same with oak. I do use oak cubes and lots of spirals as well. But I made the tincture when I first started making Mead. You can also boil tea bags and add high concentrations of your different flavors of tea. Just some thoughts.
 
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