How should I use american oak chips in a Barley Wine?

Hi,
I bought a 50g (1.8oz) pack of American oak chips (I believe they are roasted).
I want to use them in a Barley Wine I just made.

Some details:
Its a 4 gallon batch. OG=1.100.
I racked it into secondary today, after 4 weeks in primary, at SG=1.019.

A. Would this be a good Idea?
B. What is the process of doing this, and for how long?

Hmm, I was planning on doing something similar and I think you're going to want to either steam them a bit for sanitation or soak them in some Bourbon.

I like the bourbon idea.

Oak aged big beers are very complex and very tasty.

I plan on oak aging my 999 barleywine.

I'd dump them into your vessel now and give them several weeks if not months. THis depends on the size of the chips and the beer itself. It's somehting that will require some periodic sampling...but we trust you're up to it.

Honestly, I'd just rinse them of with some boiled water and toss them in secondary, then let it all sit for a month or so. Give it your trust and it'll give you some tasty beer.

Personally I would never use chips, I think Cubes are way way better. Also with a OG that high I would just toss them in. But thats just me.

Be ye warned that American oak is strong strong (harsh) stuff. Think more along the lines of bourbon oakiness than chardonnay oakiness.

I used oak chips once, and will never do it again. I let them soak for two weeks and it ended up being wood beer, even 6 months later. If I brave doing oak again, I'll use cubes or a dowel rod.

EvilTOJ said:

I used oak chips once, and will never do it again. I let them soak for two weeks and it ended up being wood beer, even 6 months later.

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Kai said:

Be ye warned that American oak is strong strong (harsh) stuff.

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Wow. So maybe I should use only 1oz? bare in mind its only a 4 gallon batch.
btw, I can't get oak in any other form (I'm not in the US)

ohad said:

Wow. So maybe I should use only 1oz? bare in mind its only a 4 gallon batch.
btw, I can't get oak in any other form (I'm not in the US)

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A small amount goes a long way and you can always add more.

For my 5-gallon IPA, I added just enough to cover my palm in a single layer. For me it was more about it "looking" like the right (conservative) amount.

The magic with wood aging is to give the beer a hint of oakiness.

Bobby_M said:

I think you're going to want to either steam them a bit for sanitation or soak them in some Bourbon.

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BierMuncher said:

I like the bourbon idea.

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No, no, no. I used to think that booze was enough but JZ broke out some science on his "Wood-Aged Beer" episode with regards to sanitizing the chips. He addressed the booze issue and said that, in order for it to sufficiently sanitize the chips, you'd need like 160+ proof alcohol. News to me, since I've used oak probably half a dozen times, each time soaking them in booze, and never had an infection from it. But I suppose that's just dumb luck, because JZ sayeth that you really need to do is take some near-boiling water and pour them over top of the chips/cubes in a jar or bowl, and let that sit for awhile. Dump out the water and toss the oak into the beer.

Now, I know that he's not infallible, but personally, from now on, I'm not gonna chance it. You can still soak them in bourbon after they're sanitized, though.

to the OP, do yourself a favor and listen to the episode I linked to above before doing anything with oak.

Fair enough, it's not like it's all that much extra work.

Evan! said:

Dump out the water and toss the oak into the beer.
.

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I wouldn't dump out the water unless you used a ton of it. I always use as little water as possible and then pour the cubes and water into my keg. The water is basically oak tea your adding.

It really depends on the amount of oakiness you are looking for. As said my many, a little goes a long way.

For example, IMHO Firestone Walker's Double Barrel Ale has a beautifully subtle oakiness that is just right for it's Amber/ESB style. They split their batches at high krauzen and primary only a portion in oak barrels for 1 week, then return to main vessel. They do not even oak the entire batch and they only expose that to the oak for one week. Just food for thought.

Hoosierbrewer said:

http://byo.com/mrwizard/939.html

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This article says to use 149 square inches per gallon.
My chips are about 0.5*1 inches, and very thin. so they will have 1 square inch.
this meens Mr. Wizard recomends me to use 600 chips!

Evan! said:

to the OP, do yourself a favor and listen to the episode I linked to above before doing anything with oak.

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+1 on listening to that episode before doing anything. I listened to it for the first time the other day and he's got some good info. The big thing in my mind it to not overdo it, and to sample periodically until it's just right. You can always add more or keep the wood in longer if you undershot the amount.