Soluble Oak™ vs Barrels
Compare the Dosing Cost of Soluble Oak with Oak Barrels
Soluble Oak Costs
Oak Barrel Aging Costs
Advantages of Soluble Oak™
Easy, Quick and Instant. Added Post Fermentation
Soluble Oak™ is typically added post fermentation. It’s quick, precise, easy, no mess, scalable – and tastes barrel-aged.
ROI
Unlocks the Best Flavors of White Oak
There are over 200 organic compounds in White Oak, many are fragile, complex, heat sensitive and difficult to extract. Soluble Oak’s™ groundbreaking proprietary all-natural technology captures these delicate and difficult to extract compounds.
Traditionally, the oak compounds which are released within the barrel are determined based upon specific alcohol concentrations. Different concentrations of alcohol unlock different compounds. Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (below) confirms that distinct alcohol levels of wine, spirits and beer within barrels fail to unlock some of the most elusive and complex flavors (such as the vannilins, 5-hydroxyfurfural (caramel, bread, almond), diacetyl (butter) and complex oak lactones).
Sometimes, even negative attributes of oak are extracted using traditional methods. Given the high cost of barrels, in the effort to maximize return, some spirits manufacturers may use high alcohol concentrations within the barrel to get more out of the barrel, but end up extracting bad flavors
Richer Oak Flavor
In each step of the manufacturing process, we always ask which method or procedure results with the best taste. Our mindset is never asking which method is the cheapest, or how can we cut costs, but always, how can we make the best product. Our process starts in the forest. We have located what is considered to be the absolute best growing region for flavor, a region far to the north of most stave mills. The weather is cold, trees grow slowly, the fiber is dense and dark and full of rich extractives. We next ask what is the best way to dry fiber without losing flavor. And so goes our process.
100% Pure Oak. It’s oak + nothing™
It’s hard to overstate how important it is that Soluble Oak™ has no secondary flavors. In other words, it is without non-oak flavors, that the only thing that you taste is… oak! This sets Soluble Oak™ miles apart from competitors.
After four years of intense R&D, we paused with industry experts from the wine, spirits and craft beer industry, and asked for a brutal assessment, begging for honest and tough criticism. We tested every known oak product, and blindly compared it to Soluble Oak™. We would only continue if Soluble Oak was the best.
Soluble Oak™ dominated in being the only product mimicking barrel aging, and was clearly the only product with no secondary flavors (without non-oak flavors). It’s just oak.
Avoid Evaporation and Barrel Absorption Loss
Re-Use Neutral Barrels By Replenishing The Leached Oak Compounds
Barrel life is short. After 4 years, barrels impart little additional oak flavor (though oxygenation and esterification continue from within the barrel). Soluble Oak™ is also used to revitalize and extend the life of tired neutral barrels by replenishing those pure essential oils and compounds which have leached from prior usage. However, most Soluble Oak™ users bypass the barrel system all together, and use it strictly as an addition to finished products.
Sustainable Oak & Barrel Aging
Only a small portion of the alcoholic beverage touches the actual barrel. Barrel design has been around for hundreds of years, and the design is highly inefficient and most of the barrel is not even used for imparting flavor. Soluble Oak™ uses 80% less wood than traditional barrels. That is an 80% carbon footprint reduction.
Soluble Oak™ can also extend the live of old barrels and revitalize old/neutral barrels. After 4 years, barrels impart little additional oak flavor (though oxygenation and esterification continue from within the barrel). Soluble Oak™ can re-vitalize and extend the life of tired neutral barrels by replenishing those pure essential oils and compounds which have leached from prior usage. However, most Soluble Oak™ users bypass the barrel system all together, and use it strictly in finished products.
Our partners are concerned about the environment, and feel great as leaders promoting green alternatives which significantly reduce carbon emissions. Manufacturers can proudly use the Soluble Oak™ seal on their products.
Soluble Oak™ is a Social Purpose Corporation meeting the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility. After processing, 100% of the oak is repurposed into other products (including the production of activated carbon and use as a soil additive for water conservation).
Oak barrels are often made from old growth oak trees, well over 100 years. Please take this opportunity to learn this (little known) wasteful production method. Learn more about Sustainable Oak.
Advantages of Barrel Aging
Barrels Allow Slow Esterification/Mellowing
Esterification, acetyl formation and mellowing through slow oxygenation are a wonderful result of extended barrel aging. For those adherents of the barrel-aging system, Soluble Oak™ can also extend the life of neutral barrels which have lost their oak profiles. The oak compounds which have slowly leached away can be replenished, and barrels revitalized and used again and again.
Barrels are Romantic
Let’s just face it, barrels are beautiful. It is hard to compete with the romance and nostalgia of barrels. However, after 2,000+ years, we think that it is time to re-think functionality and design. Originally, their primary advantage was transportation, holding liquid and not shattering. Now they are all about imparting flavor, and for this there are better environmentally friendly alternatives.
Established Regulations Have Favored Using Barrels
Some industry standards restrict the modalities for imparting oak. This is particularly true with some sectors within the spirits’ industry. We leave it to individual companies to best understand and comply with their specific regulations.
Disadvantages of Oak Barrels
Barrel Manufacturing Methods Harm Flavor
Given the numerous organic compounds in oak which are delicate and volatile, much in the traditional manufacturing process kills, neutralizes or diminishes some of the most important flavors. These prized compounds not only taste extraordinary, but are important catalysts in chemical changes, and this is particularly true with the molecules which are important in improving mouthfeel. Cooperages commonly use steam and/or fire when drying and bending staves. These methods can destroy flavor.
A) Steam used in barrel making leaches flavors. Steam is a common method used in barrel manufacturing which kills, neutralizes or leaches out many of the best flavor compounds.
As an example, consider tannins. Tannins in American Oak (quecas alba) are especially hydro soluble; meaning that they are highly leachable with water or steam. Yet steam is commonly used for bending staves (shaping for use in rounded barrels). Also, rather than air drying oak in a yard for several months, cooperages often save time and expense, and buy oak which has already been kiln dried. Within kilns, oak is typically steamed 30 – 45 days at 180 – 225F°. That is 30-45 days of flavors being leached with steam. It smells fantastic walking into a dry kiln of White Oak, but the magic is being lost into the air.
B) Fire used in barrel making can destroy delicate compounds and flavors (however, some positive flavors emerge with heat).
Inherent Design Flaw in Barrels Which Inhibits Flavor
Grain orientation of the White Oak staves is primarily quarter sawn. With a horizontal orientation, there would be very little penetration into the wood, and thus flavor. Even with this grain orientation (perpendicular), there is very little access to the nutrients and flavors of the White Oak. Most barrels which have been used for 4 – 10 years have only had approximately 1/8th inch penetration—meaning that 90% of the fiber is wasted. And toasting, and especially charring, also creates an impervious inner layer within the barrel, further inhibiting the flow of prized flavors.
Barrel Aging is Slow
Barrel aging can easily take 2 – 4 year, and even much longer. The authentic all-natural taste and mouthfeel of oak with Soluble Oak™ is nearly instantaneous.
Barrels are Environmentally Insensitive
Barrel design has changed little in over two thousand years. Barrels were first designed as a better means to transport liquid (barrels could be rolled, and they wouldn’t leak or shatter). Now barrels are used to impart flavor, and 80% of the wood fiber in barrels is not used to add flavor (most of the design is just to give strength to the barrel). Also, cutting oak staves is a highly wasteful process, and a large portion of the log is discarded.
With a similar end product, Soluble Oak™ uses 80% less oak than barrels.
