Using Jack Daniel's barrel chips, my experience.

So, I have been on this burbon/whiskey/oaked beer kick lately (I suspect this has nothing to do with my Jameson supply running low...) and I decided I would use the JD chips. I can NOT say enough good things about using these chips! Hate the whiskey, love the chips! As I sit here typing this I am like Pavlov's dog, wishing my IIPA was now carbed. Just a few more days and it will be!

I brewed up the DFH 90 min clone recipe with extra hops, malt and a different yeast, it is EXCELLENT. I really wanted to do something different with this so I dry hopped this to extreme. Well, It was pretty extreme for me lol... all in all, I used over 1 lbs of hops per 6 gallon batch in the boil and 8 oz per 6 gallon batch for dry hopping. I dry hopped it for 1 week (this helped it mello and blend/finish) then racked to the bucket for oaking and new dry hops.

I used 1 lbs of the JD chips, 1 oz of each of the hops and a small paint strainer bag. I toasted the chips for 20 minutes @ 250 F on a cookie sheet. I then put the chips + 4oz of hops in the sanitized bag and tied it shut, it was a tight squeeze, and racked the beer on over. I checked it 2 days later. I was a bit sad, very little flavor added. Another 2 days and it was just about perfect. I kegged/bottled it @ 5.5 days. These chips flavor complement the beer VERY well.

I will be using this formula again for future IIPAs, IPAs and maybe even a light ale or blonde that I feel may need to get "oaked". It added a brilliant oaky, whiskey (NOT BOURBON), light vanilla flavor and I seriously can not wait...

I heard you are supposed to "over-oak" it just a bit, because the oak fades. Is that your experience?

I took mine to a 1/2 day past perfect. This seemed to be the point where if some of the flavor does fade It would be ok and if it doesn't then I am still not "over oaked".

I will also put out there I would check the beer every day after 2 days. Everyone's palate is different so the time frame that was "perfect" for me may be to strong or not enough for you.

Hmmm. You sold me. I'm trying it for spring. You soak your own chips? I've seen it pre-packaged but aren't those for smoking/grilling with? Is there much of a difference?

You even played with toasting them...Awesome!!! Welcome to the cheap side.

gregger said:

Hmmm. You sold me. I'm trying it for spring. You soak your own chips? I've seen it pre-packaged but aren't those for smoking/grilling with? Is there much of a difference?

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The oak trees grown for smoking/grilling are fed a steady diet of worm nutrients, and baby cows fo rthe first 3 years of their lives, while the oak barrels intended for brewing.......

Oak barrels is oak barrels is oak barrels.

Revvy said:

You even played with toasting them...Awesome!!! Welcome to the cheap side.

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I love the oak in a lighter colored beer too, not just in a stout or porter.

BRAVO!!!

gregger said:

Hmmm. You sold me. I'm trying it for spring. You soak your own chips? I've seen it pre-packaged but aren't those for smoking/grilling with? Is there much of a difference?

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For the record YES I used the grilling chips...I did not soak them in anything.

I really have been digging the oak and bourbon/whiskey flavored beers. There is a MASSIVE difference between the two as far as flavors I have noticed since most of the beers I have tried have been bourbon.

IMO the bourbon added a warmer, sherry wine like flavor. Where the whiskey added a more crisp flavor.

Also, I am NOT taking credit for use of these chips. I know many people here have or at least talked about it. Just never in a "how to kinda way". I have been very impressed with this brew so far and was very reserved about trying this but it paid off in the best of ways.

BTW, I love single malt whiskey. JD is not this but IMO it gives a fantastic flavor and it keeps my single malt where it belongs...in my bottle, glass or tummy not in a wood bath...

No, excellent thread and sharing of good info.

I take back anything unkind I said about you Oh Beer Ninja. You have earned the sacred scroll.

Zamial said:

I used 1 lbs of the JD chips, 1 oz of each of the hops and a small paint strainer bag.

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You used 1 pound?! Surely this is a typo...

I'm wondering how much you did use, because I currently have some as well soaking in Jameson for a stout being brewed tomorrow. Somewhere from 1-2oz range was appropriate I thought though...

jeburgdo said:

You used 1 pound?! Surely this is a typo...

I'm wondering how much you did use, because I currently have some as well soaking in Jameson for a stout being brewed tomorrow. Somewhere from 1-2oz range was appropriate I thought though...

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Nope. I used 1 Pound or 1# for 6 gallons. They come in 3 pound bags and they are really just over 2# a bag, so I used under 1/2 the bag. The bag was under $10 so I had under $5 total in the oak and whiskey since I did not need to add any booze.

I tried doing the oz thing with oak cubes from LHBS and never got decent results. I had soaked them in Jameson and I put the cubes and whiskey into the beer for over a week and no one could/can taste it in that batch, including me. I am sure folks do use a small amount and can taste it but I wanted results fast since this was a tasty IIPA and I was all done oaking in 5 1/2 days.



On a side note, I will be using the same chips I used here on a new project. I had made a smokey barley wine and have PLENTY of it aging and I even have some on tap but it is not my most favorite, I am sure a couple of 12oz. bottles a year will be more than enough for me, so I have 8+ years worth stored away.

What I am doing is freeze concentrating about 1/2 the batch. It started @ 12% ABV. I am still in the process of concentrating the batch but it is looking like I will have just under 1 gallon by the time I freeze concentrate the batch twice. The second time it is looking more like a slushy than a block of ice so I will use cheese cloth to help trap the ice but we will see in the am...

I will scale down the same quantity and age the concentrated BW on the chips until it is perfect. I will then add in some Jameson to flavor it to my liking, then bottle it into 12oz bottles uncarbed. So I am essentially turning this into a "sipping whiskey flavored shot". The prototype was REALLY good. I mean YUMMY! did I mention I like whiskey?

I am calling this drink "eichenfass shwartz eisen gerstenwein Irischer whisky" because that is a pretty accurate description of what it is and I plan on taking a bottle out on the ice with me fishing, it should not freeze...It is being called "Black Ice" for short.

If I am right this may be a great way to harvest "bad batches" and turn them into some kind of shot. I can toast chips/cubes, get different woods and liquors to create a unique beverage. Beer went sour? Make an apple chip bourbon shot. Taste like Satan's anus? Make a dark toasted rum. I can not think of a better reason to freeze concentrate than "My batch went bad/I did not like it/it is not to standards.".

I will report back after the finished product is ready in a week or 2.

A pound of oak for 6 gallons... damn. That must be one impressive monster you have there. While I do not doubt how well it turned out, I don't have the guts for that. I'll go for no less than 2oz, and let it go for longer than yours.

And if you only could have told me about this freeze concentrating method a week ago! I would have avoided my first dump! (which, gauging by how many bottles were gushing I am assuming was infected. So who knows how well it would have worked on a sick weizenbock) Anyway, that barleywine sounds awesome! Hope it turns out!

Cheers.

Thanks for posting this. As soon as fedex gets their asses in gear (they won't ship because of the snow) , ill be getting a 10 gallon batch of an American stout from Brewmaster's Warehouse along with some oak chips. I've never used them in any of my beers before and this gives me some encouragement.

Man ninja.

The freeze concentrating method deserved it's own thread.

I have yet to use my oak chips due to time constraints. I plan to toast, soak and secondary 6 oz.

I am pretty sure I posted this but if not I will again now. It does not really matter on the quantity of oak chips used. More = less time needed on the oak to attain desired taste. More also = easier to over oak. The best advice I can give is: use what you feel comfortable with and take a small sample every day or more if needed or are close to perfect.

cheezydemon3 said:

The freeze concentrating method deserved it's own thread.

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There are already a few threads about doing this, just never in/for a salvage scenario. They generally get about 50% of the posts to tell you it is illegal, followed by the counter posts of mods informing folks that it is not in almost all cases. This thread is nice, clean and to the point.

When I actually have a few "recipes" I will try to post them into a new thread and it may get stickied??? We will see...but since the 1st batch is going to be on the same JD chips, I thought I would post it up here.

Experiment #2 update:
I have completed the 1st round of freeze concentration and now have 50% of the batch being refrozen for round 2. I should have the batch finished concentrating and on the oak before mid week. The reason I chose to oak after concentration is because I do not know how well it would concentrate and it sounds like a easy way to over oak it to me.

I also have no idea how this salvaged brew will last in storage (aging/oxidation/ect) so I seriously encourage folks to wait for the final results. Also, I believe it will still get "skunky" in sunlight which will also need consideration.

Freeze concentration does not save a bad wine, BTW... thought I'd save some people some experimentation.

A bad beer, though... I'll have to try it. The only beer I ever freeze-concentrated was the best beer I've made yet (the bock in my sig). It was magnificent to sip on after concentration.

Early on in my obsession with never wasting a yeast cake, I dumped 5 lbs of brown sugar and about 3 gallons of water on a cake of WL irish ale.

It was close to a tasty rum. If I had froze it and "ice distilled" it by one step, it probably would have been fantastic.

No joke, and very little cost.

i used a pound for six gallons of chocolate espresso russian imperial stout. been aging for about two months. should bottle in about a month.

Don't forget to use the now beer infused oak chips in the smoker when you are done. Gives a subtle difference from the plain JD chips, but don't make my mistake of leaving some hops with them.

Subscribed. I got a nut brown that was fantastic in previous batches, but after 6+ months this one still tastes more like a butt brown.


Maybe I can save it

And I also love a good whiskey!

I had some family emergencies come up this last week and hope to get this rolling soon.

Take your time brother, hope things are well for you

Cheers

Anyone try rum barrel chips?