Aging after primary

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penabrewchef

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I brewed my first batch of beer based on a Brewers best Irish red kit and brewed the following: 9.9# light lme. 1# light dime 2# 120lvb crystal malt 2 oz chocolate malt. 1.5 oz Golding at 60 min and .5 oz fuggles at 0 mins. I pitched wyeast scotch ale yeast and let it ferment for two weeks. The gravity went from 1.070 to 1.015. I racked to a secondary with 1 oz of medium oak chips soaked in bourbon. What is a good soak time to give a nice oak finish but not overpower the malt and bitterness.
 
two weeks is pretty standard. any less and you may not get the desired affect, and any longer and you may start to get some not-so-desirable qualities. if the recipe calls for it, i'll age a batch for 3 months, but if it doesn't call for secondary, and I am adding a flavor- such as fruit, oak, etc., then two weeks is adequate. let me know how it turns out!
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm excited about my first batch. I wanted to make a strong scotch ale with a nice balancing bitterness and oak/vanilla finish. So far so good, we'll see how she turns out.
 
Alright, let that beer ferment for two week in primary, no change in final gravity. Went from 1.075 to 1.015 or so. Racked to the secondary for two weeks with the bourbon soaked chips. It's been bottles for two weeks. Carbonating nicely, good vanilla oak in the nose and finish that is not overpowering. Over all a nice scotch ale with a hint of oak is a damned good first batch. Thanks for the help.
 
Already got my imperial breakfast stout going. About 13% ABV. And everything from coffee to cocoa to cayenne in that bad boy.
 
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