Sawmill Produces Custom Oak Staves

Sawmill Produces Custom Oak Staves WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous A southeast Minnesota company has been producing barrel staves from white oak timber for 6 decades Jed Hammell of Staggemeyer Stave Mill in Caledonia Minn says that barrel staves contribute somewhere between 50 and 80 percent of the flavor and 100 percent of the color of bourbon Staggemeyer started sawing and marketing wine and bourbon barrel staves from white oak logs more than 60 years ago originally in Missouri later in eastern Iowa and since 1958 in southeast Minnesota Hammell says the 150 miles of timberland surrounding Caledonia continues to provide high-quality white oak logs the preferred wood species for wine and bourbon barrels Staggemeyer Stave’s customers include bourbon makers Jack Daniels and Seagrams along with Beringer Winery of Napa Valley Calif The company cuts about 15 000 board feet of white oak lumber a day equivalent to 4 semi-loads or about 80 to 120 logs Its annual stave production is enough to produce 70 000 53-gal white oak barrels “The bigger the oak log the better for making quality staves ” Hammell says “Our sawmill can quarter-saw a log up to 52 in in dia but white oaks of that size have become few and far between ” he says “The biggest and healthiest white oaks grow out in the open or near the edge of forests and woodlots where they can soak up the most sunlight and today’s denser forests tend to favor ash maple dogwood and other species requiring less sun than white oak ” The barrel staves are sawn and shipped to barrel makers All measure 39 1/2 in long and vary in width from 2 to 6 in Each customer then planes and bevels the staves to its exact specifications Wine staves sawn by the company are stored in a precise order on pallets and stored outdoors on the company’s property for 2 1/2 to 3 years “We purposely store staves outdoors because the sun wind rain and snow all help to season the staves to optimize the flavor of the bourbon and wine ” Hammell says “We have one customer in Australia who even specifies their preferred stave be exposed to precisely 50 in of precipitation ” Because every stave has to be perfect without knots and blemishes not every part of a log can be used to make them Logs are de-barked prior to being quarter-sawn then sapwood and heartwood are removed Staves with knots or mineral streaks are also discarded “Every stave ends up getting handled by 4 or 5 workers to ensure it meets our premium standards ” Hammell says He’s working at producing white oak pellets from trim material not used for staves with a goal of supplying an all-wood pellet that will be prized by food businesses and individuals who smoke meats and use wood heat for grilling Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Staggemeyer Stave Company 18318 MN-76 Caledonia Minn 55921 ph 507 724-3395; www staggemeyerstave com

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