Toasting oak chips

So I am soon to be throwing in some oak chips into a stout that has been in primary for about 3 weeks now. I was going to throw them in about a week or so before I bottle for extended aging.
Anyways, I have heard people refer to toasting oak chips but also have heard that chips come toasted. I can't find info on whether I have to toast my chips (i.e. in the oven) or not. I want some vanilla flavor/oakiness in my stout from the chips and was thinking on letting them sit about a week but tasting to make sure it doesn't get too oaky!
Anyways, sorry if it's a stupid question, just trying to figure out what I need to do.
The package just says american oak chips from morebeer. On their website they only have cubes though. This was bought at one of their shops.

Thanks!

There was just a thread about that on one of the wine forums but I,m noy super good with this iPad so I can't link. Lemme see if ican find it on the CPU. The lighter oak gives that mouth feel your looking for, toasting will increase the charred oak flav. Hold on lemme use the other cpu

K this was in the wine forum and may not answer your quesstion completly.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/making-your-own-oak-chips-281450/

I would use toasted cubes which you can find at your LHBS. For vanilla use Americam Oak toasted to medium plus (M+). Use about 1 oz. per 5 gallons. You will need a few months on the oak, a week is far too short.

If you are to toast the wood, make sure you soak it for at least twenty minutes...overnight preferable. That way when you add the flame, you don't actually burn the wood. It's the same basic process as used in the culinary world for preparing the wood to be smoked.

I already have chips, the LHBS guy suggested them. I have seen a lot more suggestions to use cubes.... I would rather not drive 40 minutes to my shop and switch them.... do they impart that much different of flavors? I have heard that the chips impart the flavor faster and the cubes slower and steadier?
Also... how long would I want to toast them if I was going to? I have heard 1 week is a decent period of time for chips...

liquiditynerd said:

I,m noy super good with this iPad

Click to expand...

ya don't say!









nah, i'm just razzing' ya, good link.

For a quick vanilla oak flavor I would chops non-toasted is the way to go. A lot of wine makers will use cubes for a genuine oak flavor during aging. While this works, and imparts a great flavor on the beer/wine, it takes quite a while for that oakiness to come through due to the larger surface area of the cube.

Chips will really start showing their colors after about 2 weeks conditioning, and too much longer than that you can really over do the oak. Oak is a really cool background note to add complexity to a beer, but you don't want to be whacked in the head with an oak branch when you pop the cap on your brew.

Usually people recommend, and I follow this as well, throw in 2 oz or so of oak to condition for about 9 days. Draw a sample and taste it. Repeat each day until you've reached the level of oak desired.

One more thing. Be sure to sanitize your chips either by steaming or boiling them prior to pitching unless you want a Brett beer...

Here's a helpful graph on toasting oak from Home Distillation of Alcohol

I used 1oz of oak chips for 10 days and its barely noticable, I'll do 2oz next time. (but it was a big beer, 1.080 OG)

EDIT: Just full disclosure, I think this is a New Zealand website. Home distillation is largely illegal in the US.

How does infusing 1 - 2 oz. of Medium Toast Oak Cubes in Bourbon for a week or two work? I’m planning on an Imperial Vanilla Bourbon Porter, (Denny Conn) and reading the Oak would be a nice addition.

Nemleu said:

How does infusing 1 - 2 oz. of Medium Toast Oak Cubes in Bourbon for a week or two work? I’m planning on an Imperial Vanilla Bourbon Porter, (Denny Conn) and reading the Oak would be a nice addition.

Click to expand...

Do it! It works great. For the cubes you'll need to age it for a few months. Chips work faster (a week or two) but many argue that cubes impart more depth of flavor, though I've never tried it. Take samples every few weeks (yum...) and bottle when the oak is where you want it.

Not to hijack, but has anyone tried, say, cherry wood? I've got tons of the stuf - literally, I live in the woods and they grow like weeds. I'm itching to try cherry wood chips in a suitable recipe - maybe a Wee Heavy.

I do a whiskey stout that I age on whiskey soaked oak chips (medium toast) and it turns out great, the longer you let it sit after bottling/ kegging the more mellow the oak flavors get. I wouldn't worry about overdoing it with the oak. I put 4oz soaked in a cup of whiskey to sanitize and add additional flavor in secondary for 10 days and it adds a nice subtle background flavor to a 5 gallon batch.


Actually what I am drinking now

frazier said:

Not to hijack, but has anyone tried, say, cherry wood? I've got tons of the stuf - literally, I live in the woods and they grow like weeds. I'm itching to try cherry wood chips in a suitable recipe - maybe a Wee Heavy.

Click to expand...

This question has been asked a few times on this forum, but I've not seen any thorough / conclusive results. Probably similar to BBQ smoking - if its a hardwood and produces something edible, you're safe to use it. Just make sure the wood is dry & well-seasoned (i.e., not fresh). I'd imagine cherry would add a subtle sweet spice; that's what it does on the bbq.

So try it! Just make sure you post the results...

I was just reading about Oak Spirals. Has anyone used them, and would you recommend them over chips?

Its all about surface area...the more surface area an oak chip has the faster it will work...keep that in mind

I wonder if I could do this with Pecan wood.

ao125 said:

I wonder if I could do this with Pecan wood.

Click to expand...

Sure each wood would be a little different. Just take into consideration that oak is used because of the tannins in the wood. I cut, split and stacked a half cord of southern live oak one summer and stacked it on the porch to season for the winter. When I stepped outside the next day it smelled like ten people peed on the porch all night. The smell went away after a week of drying.

Right on.
I've got a bottle of "unaged" rye whiskey that I'd like put with medium toast pecan chunks for a year or... well... five... then use those chunks in a pecan barleywine.

http://catoctincreekdistilling.com/products/mosbys

ao125 said:

Right on.
I've got a bottle of "unaged" rye whiskey that I'd like put with medium toast pecan chunks for a year or... well... five... then use those chunks in a pecan barleywine.

http://catoctincreekdistilling.com/products/mosbys

Click to expand...

Yum! Make sure you drink the rye too. I've always taken a drink of the whisky I use to soak oak chips on and the character it adds can be amazing. Mind you, you may want to let it age w/o the wood for a bit after aging on the wood before drinking it so it mellows some. I have a jar of Eagle Rare 10 yr that I used to soak an oak spiral. It's been sitting w/o the wood for ~6 months now. Each time I pour a shot, it gets better and better, can't wait to try it in a year!

Damn I want some whiskey now. Don't forget to smoke some BBQ with those chips when you're done!!!!

Well, I ordered a 5lb bag of pecan chunks today. I have a large glass jug that's ready to receive the chips and the hooch. I'm going to go for a medium toast on them, and then re-bottle the whiskey after a year or so.

The plan ultimately will be to make a pecan barleywine aged on bourbon-soaked pecan wood in December, 2013.
http://hopville.com/recipe/1406698/english-barleywine-recipes/pecan-barleywine

I hope the long-game will pay off on this one.

And so it begins.

I would... but I want to use them again... at least some of them again. My fear is that if I break them down too far, they wouldn't re-toast.

That said, I picked up two more bottles of rye. At $38 a pop, this isn't going to be a cheap endeavor.

Toasted pecan wood, pecans, Madagascar vanilla beans, and rye whiskey.

Oh my!

Wow, that looks and sound amazing!!!!!! Wow!

How long do you plan to let all of that age for?

Matteo57 said:

How long do you plan to let all of that age for?

Click to expand...

Until it's done, really - or until I need the whiskey for something.