Using wood in my secondary? Crazy, or genius?

I'm thinking of crafting up a pale ale with some smokiness to it. My thought was to buy some food grade cedar planks, cut them into small chunks, scorch them around the edges with a torch, and then rack my ale onto the wood chips in the secondary.

Has anyone tried anything like this? Has anyone tried using wood in your secondary? Any info would be appreciated! Thanks!

Do a search on oak aging or wood aging. It's been done, and it can make some great beers!

I haven't personally but I think a lot of people have aged on wood in the secondary. However, I think even if you scorch the wood, you will get more woody notes than smokey ones. I think if you want some smoke you should try some smoked malt. Although I could be wrong.

I've used oak plenty of times in the secondary...usually soaked in Makers Mark for a strong APA. I like the smell of cedar...not sure I'd want to drink it though some do...

Spanish cedar (more closely related to mahogany; not a cedar) makes a might tasty beer. I've contemplated doing a smoked porter aged on cedar and probably will brew it soon to be ready in time for the fall here. Go for it.

The last IPA i brewed used oak chips in the fermenter. Turned out really good too!

Boleslaus said:

I haven't personally but I think a lot of people have aged on wood in the secondary. However, I think even if you scorch the wood, you will get more woody notes than smokey ones. I think if you want some smoke you should try some smoked malt. Although I could be wrong.

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I've never used wood in my secondary, although I often use smoked malt. I don't think that the final result is the same, smoked malt gives a distinctive flavor to the beer

cedar? i dont know

Boleslaus said:

I haven't personally but I think a lot of people have aged on wood in the secondary. However, I think even if you scorch the wood, you will get more woody notes than smokey ones. I think if you want some smoke you should try some smoked malt. Although I could be wrong.

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Agreed. While the charred wood will impart some good flavor, it won't necessarily be smokey. Half a pound or more of smoked malt will certainly give you that.

TB

My answer: genius. If you do it right. My advice (from experience) is to use less cedar for longer time. If you use more, you pick up more of the sweetness than the cedar-taste. Use a little and let it sit for a while, an ounce or two for a month or so. As most will suggest, sample the beer every few days to see how it is progressing.
Here's a post I posted yesterday about a cedar-aged smoked munich dunkel: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/first-wood-aged-beer-gets-second-place-friendly-contest-251015/

I used about 2 ounces for 2 weeks, not enough. Next time I do this beer, I'm going to do 1-2 ounces for at least a month. This came out a little sweeter than i wood have liked and not as smokey. My suggestion is to complement the cedar with smoked malt. I used .25 ounces of smoked malt (mine was an extract brew with a few pounds of grain for steeping.) Not sure the exact amount, but the recipe called for somewhere around 2 pounds of crystal malt, so I did like 1.75 lb crystal malt and subbed the other .25 lb with smoked malt, which is nowhere near enough. Didn't get the smokey flavor and only got the sweet cedar off the wood.

So to recap, I'd use more smoked malt (don't be scared, some beers use mostly, if not all, smoked malt as in the grain bill) and use less cedar but for longer times, as the first tannins to get taken from the wood will be the sweet ones, and the good, deep, cedar ones take a little longer.

Sorry I ramble. Good luck, keep us updated. Cheers.

Also, another good tip I've read is to boil a pot of water (a cup?) and put the wood in that. The hot water will rip the tannins of quickly and make a tea...then add the water and the wood to the secondary and let it sit on it for a few weeks.

BlackDogBrewhouse said:

Also, another good tip I've read is to boil a pot of water (a cup?) and put the wood in that. The hot water will rip the tannins of quickly and make a tea...then add the water and the wood to the secondary and let it sit on it for a few weeks.

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I've read similar, but instead of boiling the chips for a length of time, bring the water with the chips to a boil, turn off the heat, cover, and wait 10-12 hours. Then add the chips and water to the secondary.

I did that for an English IPA, and it turned out fantastic!

Tip: Add half as much as you think is needed...

I've only had one beer with Cedar and it was pretty terrible, but I believe it's because it was poorly made and overdone with Cedar. The dude that made it used Cedar in the boil and in Secondary.

As others have said, go easy to begin with, you can always add more, but you can't take it out.

I agree with Beernip and YankeeHill..I used less than I wanted, but that was just me. Better to start small, taste as it ages, and add more if needed.

jasonbolen said:

I'm thinking of crafting up a pale ale with some smokiness to it. My thought was to buy some food grade cedar planks, cut them into small chunks, scorch them around the edges with a torch, and then rack my ale onto the wood chips in the secondary.

Has anyone tried anything like this? Has anyone tried using wood in your secondary? Any info would be appreciated! Thanks!

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I question the reason you want to scorch them around the edges. Please note that the taste of creosote and "smoke" are very different. If you just burn the wood, then you will more than likely give your beer a strong phenolic flavor. I'd say you're better off just putting the wood in "raw." Be sure to sanitize them first, of course. I would recommend the sodium or potassium metabisulfite method of sulfur dioxide sanitation or you could just do a soak in StarSan. If you want smoke flavor without using smoked malts, try liquid smoke. I would recommend making your own though instead of using the store-bought stuff which has a lot of unnecessary chemicals in it.

Personally, I wouldn't sanitize the wood with chemicals like milla suggested. Just put the wood in a bit of water and bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and let soak for a few hours. That's what most instructions will tell you, and it works just fine without any chemicals. Another way to do it is soak it in some bourbon or vodka prior to racking the beer onto it.

TB

Tiber_Brew said:

Personally, I wouldn't sanitize the wood with chemicals like milla suggested. Just put the wood in a bit of water and bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and let soak for a few hours. That's what most instructions will tell you, and it works just fine without any chemicals. Another way to do it is soak it in some bourbon or vodka prior to racking the beer onto it.

TB

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Just out of curiosity, why not?

My opinion though, if you're going to pick one of these, I'd go the alcohol-soaked route. If you boil, a lot of the oils will come out in the water. This is fine if you add the water and the wood to the beer, but it doesn't quite taste the same that way. Still good.

millaj92 said:

Just out of curiosity, why not?

My opinion though, if you're going to pick one of these, I'd go the alcohol-soaked route. If you boil, a lot of the oils will come out in the water. This is fine if you add the water and the wood to the beer, but it doesn't quite taste the same that way. Still good.

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Simple - why introduce a chemical to your wort if you don't have to? If you're concerned about the flavor with water soaking the wood, why would doing the same thing with a chemical taste any better? Bottom line, I'd rather soak the wood in alcohol or boiling water any day than introduce a sanitizer directly into my wort when they all accomplish the same objective (strictly sanitization speaking). Soaking wood chips in sanitizer (StarSan for example) then adding them to your wort won't yield any more or better flavor than dropping them in boiling water, soaking them in warm water, then adding the water/chips combo to the wort, or soaking the chips in alcohol and adding the alcohol/chip combo. In fact, I love the results of oak chips soaking in whiskey and adding that to an IPA, stout, or porter.

But, as is with many things in brewing, there isn't necessarily a right way to do it, so do whatever you want. Try multiple methods and see what you like best.

TB

Well put. Thanks. I agree with all of that. I was just suggesting the sodium metabisulfite because although it does introduce a new chemical into the wort, the amount you'll get by just using the vapors will not add any flavors to the beer at all. But like you said, it may be desired to add a flavor, such as whiskey. Also, the gas does a better job of getting into the pores of the wood to completely sanitize it unlike liquids. It's more important with corks for sure though.

BTW, cedar on an IPA is fantastic. Very peppery. Our local brewery here in Tampa, Cigar City, makes one. I had beers with their head brewer (Wayne) who said they buy cedar spirals for that beer (and their other "humidor series" beers).

i have a whiskey barrel i use to age beers. right now, i have a strong ipa in that barrel ready to keg tomorrow. a friend keeps asking me to brew a flanders red and barrel-age it, but i'm holding off

millaj92 said:

Well put. Thanks. I agree with all of that. I was just suggesting the sodium metabisulfite because although it does introduce a new chemical into the wort, the amount you'll get by just using the vapors will not add any flavors to the beer at all. But like you said, it may be desired to add a flavor, such as whiskey. Also, the gas does a better job of getting into the pores of the wood to completely sanitize it unlike liquids. It's more important with corks for sure though.

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I'm not following you here. What vapors?

I'm not trying to argue or anything, just trying to get on the same page.

I've never had a sanitation problem with either the alcohol soak, or the hot water soak, so if you're on the fence, you don't have to introduce chemicals.

Anyway, I'm curious as to what your process is.

Cheers,
TB

Tiber_Brew said:

I'm not following you here. What vapors?

I'm not trying to argue or anything, just trying to get on the same page.

I've never had a sanitation problem with either the alcohol soak, or the hot water soak, so if you're on the fence, you don't have to introduce chemicals.

Anyway, I'm curious as to what your process is.

Cheers,
TB

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If you mix sodium metabisulfite with water, a chemical reaction occurs releasing sulfur dioxide in a very small amount. It's not enough to kill you but you don't want to inhale it. Anyway, the sulfur dioxide can be contained in a space such as a bucket and it will completely sanitize whatever it touches. You can suspend the item to be sanitized with a strainer so that it doesn't touch the liquid and you can put a lid on it. After sanitization, a few quick moments in the open air and the gas escapes. What minimal amount is left in the wood or corks will not have a noticeable effect on the beer. Just an fyi, don't use this method in tight quarters indoors and use caution as the Na2S2O5 kills yeast.

millaj92 said:

If you mix sodium metabisulfite with water, a chemical reaction occurs releasing sulfur dioxide in a very small amount. It's not enough to kill you but you don't want to inhale it. Anyway, the sulfur dioxide can be contained in a space such as a bucket and it will completely sanitize whatever it touches. You can suspend the item to be sanitized with a strainer so that it doesn't touch the liquid and you can put a lid on it. After sanitization, a few quick moments in the open air and the gas escapes. What minimal amount is left in the wood or corks will not have a noticeable effect on the beer. Just an fyi, don't use this method in tight quarters indoors and use caution as the Na2S2O5 kills yeast.

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Interesting. I think I'll just stick to a hot water or alcohol soak though.

TB

Tiber_Brew said:

Interesting. I think I'll just stick to a hot water or alcohol soak though.

TB

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If it works, no reason to change it. We all have our different methods and that's how we have so many different styles of beer! Cheers