Beechwood chips

I have some American Beech logs I cut for firewood last Fall and am thinking of putting some chips in a lager I have in the secondary. Has anyone tried this and what kind of flavor does it add? I know Budweiser does it, what does it add to the final result? Thanks for any info

Beechwood as in Budweiser has nothing to do with flavoring.

Yuri_Rage said:

Something to consider:

Budweiser's "beechwood aging" process is just an over-hyped term for the lagering phase of their beer. The beechwood doesn't impart extra flavor, but rather provides a lot of surface area upon which the yeast settle. The flocculated yeast continue to work, "cleaning up" the flavor profile of the beer. Only AFTER lagering does the beer get filtered.

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Mutilated1 said:

Budweiser is clear because of that "Beechwood Aging" that they advertise about. Basically they lager on a bed of beechwood chips. Beechwood carries the opposite electrical charge that yeast carries, so it makes the yeast drop out of the beer much faster than they would flocculate on their own - sort of how your house gets dustier in the winter when you have the heat on - static electricity you know.

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I believe they use beech becasue it would impart very little flavr to the beer, as opposed to oak...I don't know if toasting would have any affest and impart flavor like Oak...Many of us use oak, including Jack Daniels Smoking chips for a bourbon barel flavor.

Out side of this some people use beach to smoke their grain with to produce their own version of racuhmalt for smoky beers.

Interesting Revvy. I wonder if the Beechwood chips could help the clarity of my lager, or if they could settle out enough yeast that it would affect the carbonation in the bottles. I've used oak before in an IPA but I'm afraid it might be too much in a golden lager. Thanks for your help.

Interesting. The Duckstein (Hamburg, DE) that I have sitting in front of me proudly declares "Gently Beechwood Matured" on the label. It's an excellent beer, but perhaps not due to the beechwood aging process...

Amity said:

Interesting. The Duckstein (Hamburg, DE) that I have sitting in front of me proudly declares "Gently Beechwood Matured" on the label. It's an excellent beer, but perhaps not due to the beechwood aging process...

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Where do you think old Aldophus Bush came up with the idea from in the late 1800's?

unique style of beer making revived from a fifteenth century tradition gives Duckstein its distinctive taste. At 4.9% ABV this top-fermented speciality beer is matured in beechwood and is the perfect accompaniment to a wide range of foods.

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Ducksteinbier, an amber warm-fermented beer broadly similar in style to Düsseldorf altbier, was historically the speciality of Königslutter am Elm, a small town just east of Braunschweig (Brunswick). According to the promotional website (Duckstein), the beer was for centuries the favourite tipple of the Prussian kaisers, but the one remaining brewery in the town was acquired by Holsten subsidiary Feldschlößchen in 1987 and as far as I can determine brewing now takes place at Holsten's main plant in Hamburg, though retaining such traditional techniques as maturing over beechwood chips.

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Probably the only difference is the time...I betcha the older style like Ducksteinbeir are actually Matured on it for a length of time...as opposed to bud which goes from grain to glass in 21 days....

It is my understanding, that the chips were used to increase the yeast's surface area. Doing this during the lagering phase allows the yeast to finish quicker, and clean up much quicker. This was an interesting article I found before reading this thread.

I was thinking if the whole point of lagering is to have greater contact with the yeast, why not add a stir-bar to the secondary/lagering vessel and keep it circulating until you want to settle and transfer later? Nothing added to the tank, and no air gets in like in a starter on the stir plate. It would be easy to rig a fermenter mounted rig and speed things up. What do you guys think? I don't like the idea of adding the beechwood for this maturation and just wonder if this could be a way?

I thought it was funny I was thinking about beechwood chips and then found that article before finding this thread, lol.