oak in ipa

I'm in the process of designing a British ipa. I got the idea when ready the history of ipa where it states British troops brought over beer to india in oak casks. I'm sure the use of oak chips have been tried. Just wanted to hear what everyone thinks. Also a hop bill suggestions would be cool :-/ I got warrior already sounded fitting for the oh "Bloody Blow Me"

A lot of people get this idea for the same reason. It's important to note that the oak casks would have been lined with pitch so no oak flavors.

However, oaked IPA is a delicious beer. Ever had Dogfish's Burton Baton? Killer.

I recall reading something that the transport barrels were sealed inside with tar or something similar, so there wouldn't be much oak flavor imparted if at all. I could be off-base on this however.

I oak barrel age my English ales all the time, and they taste fantastic!

hop-wise, I tend to gravitate to Fuggles and EKG, maybe Willamette. I have made a few English ESBs using Magnum at first wort hopping with great success, but I love bittering with Magnum, regardless if it is correct to style.

I have seen dogfish before, but I live just moved from Denver to Kansas where good beer is a little hard to come by. So know I brew! I'm sure your right about the linning. But I think chicks will dig the story where did u get your oak casks? How do u sterilize em?

My oak barrel came from a Texas distillery, it was a whiskey barrel before I got my hands on it.

It is a 20L barrel so it is perfect for 5 gallon batches. I first fill the barrel with water to the top to swell the barrel to keep it from leaking, then I drain and fill with fresh water and add citric acid and sodium metabisulphite to sanitize the barrel over a 2 day soak, rinse and fill with beer. Here is a quick how-to

Them barrels ain't cheep. I think I'm thinking of using the American oak chips from Midwest. How long does them barrels give off flavor? Is there a difference in wine oak chip compared to beer chips?

The Great Divides' Rumble is fantastic. For my OaKIPA I used american oak chips and let it sit about a week in the secondary, then dry hopped, and it sat for another week...smooth and tasty

So I brewed the my first ipa on Monday. I'm gonna use the oak chips in the secondary. This was my highest og ever at 1.06.. I'm already ready to try it, but I'm gonna push my patience on this one. I hopped with 2 oz warrior and 2 oz cascade alternating at 60, 50, 40, 20. And aroma hopped with fuggle at 2. I'm gonna go weeks primary and 3 in the secondary.. I wanna do my oak chips for 2 weeks and dry hop a week in secondary. Not sure if I wanna hop first or do the chips :-/

i would sample your beer after oaking to check the level every so often...had a friend oak his ipa, ended up naming it back deck ale. all you could taste was the oak!

he used chips, and soaked them in vodka for a week. i think he used 8 oz

might want to hop first to keep the aromas in balance

good luck!

dwigbrew said:

but I live just moved from Denver to Kansas where good beer is a little hard to come by.

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But, but, but... You have Boulevard!?!?

-chuck

heferly said:

all you could taste was the oak! .... i think he used 8 oz:

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I'm thinking thats why. Thats way too much, esp for an IPA

dcp27 said:

I'm thinking thats why. Thats way too much, esp for an IPA

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yeah, it's pretty much undrinkable

I recently brewed this... not an IPA, but I think it's considered an english bitter... it's awesome!

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=24337&start=0

American oak or french oak? There is a difference.

American.. I gotta lb of chips I'm thinking using 1/4 lb.. The first week dry hop the second week and adding 2 oz of chips the last week.. Will this be to much

Oh and ya we have boulivard.. I didn't know the finished with oak?

American oak has an strong, assertive flavor. 1/4 pound is a massive amount. You may want to consider a more conservative amount. Maybe 1/2 a cup. If that's not enough, you can up it next batch. Unless you like tree bark beer.

Thnx for the advice I'll take it! Into consideration..