I know that French and American oaks have often been used to flavor wine. Are there any other types of wood that is suitable for this purpose?
3 Answers
Hungarian Oak gets used as well for barrel making.
In Japan sometimes Sake is aged in Cedar barrels, I know of some beer makers (Cigar City) who also age in cedar.
I'm sure other woods can/have been used for beer as well as wine but oak is the most dominant because it is particularly well suited to making barrels that won't leak.
From a home brewing/winemaking perspective there's nothing stopping you from experimenting with other woods in the form of wood chips. Apple wood might add a rather interesting element to a beer or wine.
Pine is used in the Greek wine Retsina
