Adding Oak Chips....

Ewalk02 · 03-17-2009, 10:55 PM

I'm getting ready to add oak chips to a brew but I have a quick question before I do. I'll end up filtering this beer when its done so do I filter now then add the oak chips or do I filter when everything is done. Its been in the primary for about 6 weeks and a secondary for about 2 weeks so far.

Devantf · 03-18-2009, 12:11 AM

I added oak chips to the beer I just bottled. I dont consider myself experienced at all, but I just sprayed them with a little sanitizer and added them after i transfered to the secondary. Let it sit for 3 weeks in the secondary and then bottled. All the chips were resting at the bottom of my secondary when i bottled. Didnt notice any wood in the beer, but hey, Ill let you know in about a week when im drinking them.

leghorn · 03-18-2009, 02:01 AM

Put the chips in some whiskey for about 2 weeks (just enough to cover the chips); then add to the chips to the secondary. This sanitizes them and starts to break them down for the vanillin to leach into the brew. The whiskey will turn very dark and almost smell like vanilla; you can add it to the secondary as well. Sample every few days after 1 week has passed and pull them out/bottle when you are satisfied.

This has worked for me in the past; and this puts your brew in secondary for a total of 5-6 weeks; which will not hurt it; just test your patience....

Ewalk02 · 03-18-2009, 03:35 AM

Well after reading some of the other posts on adding oak chips I think I may have screwed up. I put about 12 ounces of american oak chips (soaked in Jack Daniels) in tonight. Should I quickly remove these or just RDWHAHB?? I'm planning on letting this thing sit for about 6 months anyways (its up around 10% abv) because it needs to mellow out.

wild · 03-18-2009, 08:08 AM

12 oz of chips? Wow! I did 4 oz of American and 2 oz of French medium and it was a bit too much in my opinion. The second batch was with only 4 oz of American added for 8 months. My suggestion would be to rack to tertiary for the 6-8 months to get it off the chips after about 5 days. Did you toss the JD in with it? Another idea would be to keg it for that 6-8 months at room temp to age and mellow rather than another fermentation vessel.

llazy_llama · 03-18-2009, 08:19 AM

12 oz of oak chips is some serious oaking! The good news is that oak flavor tends to mellow out with age. If you added the oak to your primary (it's difficult to tell from your posts what stage your beer was in) I would allow 3-4 weeks for proper oaking, then rack to secondary for at least 3 months to allow it to mellow. Since you said you already plan on bulk aging for ~6 months, I think you'll actually lose most of the oak flavor in that time. With 12 oz aged @ 6 months, I think that might actually work out quite nicely for your beer.

Please do let us know when it's all said and done. I think it will turn out delicious, and am interested in the finished product.

EvilTOJ · 03-18-2009, 10:02 AM

Get. them. out! That's way too many oak chips, and will take forever to get rid of the taste. I once added 4 oz for two weeks, and I dubbed the beer Wood Beer, aka Pinocchio's Ass Beer.

Tlylebrew · 04-01-2009, 01:44 AM

Eeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww!! I didn't know Pinocchio had an ass!! LOL!!

Edit: Nearly spit my brew all over my keyboard reading that one :-)

spenghali · 02-01-2012, 11:25 PM

My LHBS recommended 2 oz per 5 gallons (american oak). However, I plan on aging for about a year (next xmas). Should I use more oak for more time, or just leave the 2 ounces in there for the full year?