Aged IPA with Oak Chips a Good Idea?

I'm hoping to brew 5 gallons of an (AG) & Extract IPA today which I will leave it in the primary fermenter until next Wednesday, then rack it in a secondary (glass carboy) for 6 weeks at about 65 degrees before I bottle it.

I'm planning to use the dogfish 60 min clone recipe but add a little twist by throwing in some oak chips soaked in whiskey with addition to the dry hops when I rack to the secondary. I will then leave it in the seconday for 42 days (i'll be out of the country) before bottling.

Will I have any problems with dry hoping and adding oak chips for this length (planning to use about 4 oz of oak chips.) ?

Also any recommendations on a more suiting IPA for this? I want to make the most of my time so when I come home I'll have a great beer waiting for me!

Thank you!

If you are going to leave them in the secondary for that long, id go with a max of about 1.5-2 oz oak. I soak mine in bourbon for about 48 hours before dropping them into the secondary. If you have a strong oak flavor when you crack it open, let it age a while longer and it will mellow out some.

I just did a 1.5oz serving of oak cubes in a 10% abv beer. It's sitting in secondary for two months.

Leaving dry hops in secondary for too long will produce grassy flavors. Look into that more before you decide to go ahead. 10-15 days max is what I have found for dry hopping.
the shelf life on IPA's is somewhat limited. You will find that your IPA's become less and less hoppy has time goes by.
You should look for a different style for what you are trying to do, IMHO

local brewpub makes an oak-aged IPA.

it's disgusting. i don't understand how they keep selling it. I have a pretty "open" palate, and I can't choke down a pint of it.

I agree with the 10-15 day max dry hopping. I dry hopped for 3 weeks once and extracted grassy flavors. So I would not leave hops in that long.

I've had a few wood aged IPAs, and the older it gets the less hoppy it gets. I tried a 2006 Double Bastard aged w/ French Oak and it tasted like a barleywine.

It'll probably come out decent but it might not be the IPA you expect depending on how old you let it get.

Thanks for the advise!

I can have my girlfriend throw in the dry hops while I am away. When would be the ideal time to dry hop. As of now I'm planning to have her dry hop it 2 weeks before bottling.

I bought an ounce of oak chips at the brew shop but I'm still debating whether to add them or not. I bought an arrogant bastard oaked and one regular to compare.

shoot for 10 days prior to bottling for your dry hop addition.

check here for some recipe ideas: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f77/?daysprune=-1&order=desc&sort=replycount

aged ipa sounds like a bad idea to me for some reason...if you mean aged in a secondary then that makes sense, minus dry hopping, but if you age it once it's bottled/kegged, at least i've found, that ipa's lose their crispiness and hoppiness. they start to get a 'flat' character to them as the hops mend into the beer and the malt becomes much more present, as opposed to when they are fresh the hops explode in your mouth with flavor.

Wouldn't he want to age on the oak chips longer? I always thought adding wood needed to sit for 3 to 4 months minimum to get any flavor?

Mainly curious as this is what I have read, and I have a brown ale in primary right now that will eventually be getting racked onto some port soaked oak chips.

I'm brewing an IPA similar to Cigar City's Jailai tonight, then will let it sit in the primary until next wednesday when I'll rack it to my secondary and possibly add the oak chip. Any thoughts on if I should soak them in anything?

I will then leave my beer in the secondary for a little over 42 days then bottle. About 10 days before bottling I'm going to dry hop it.

Any thoughts, recommendations?

Thanks for your help!

I dry hopped in primary after it calmed down a bit then soaked my oak chips in Pendleton Whisky for 48 hrs and added them to secondary for about a week...I could taste the oak maybe a little to much but then again im not a big fan of an overly powerful oak flavor

Thanks shamrock,

I'm looking for a very subtle oak flavor.

What are the big differences between dry hopping in the primary vs. secondary?

I would imagine the hop flavor and aroma would be more fresh and crisp if hopped in the secondary.

Thanks!

shamrockdoc said:

I dry hopped in primary after it calmed down a bit then soaked my oak chips in Pendleton Whisky for 48 hrs and added them to secondary for about a week...I could taste the oak maybe a little to much but then again im not a big fan of an overly powerful oak flavor

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How many ounces of oak did you use per 5 gallons?