Bourbon oak chip aging help

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Beau815

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2009
Messages
583
Reaction score
3
Location
Clinton, NY
So what do you think? This is my first time adding espresso or oak chips. I brewed a 5 gallon batch of yeti clone from AHS. I got experimental and added 3 shots of espresso at 5 min to flameout (because yeti does have an espresso oak aged yeti). Smells and tastes amazing! I hit the 1.090 that the kit aims for. I have 4 oz of light toasted american oak chips, i tossed about an oz out and have 3 oz soaking in jim beam bourbon. I am wondering how to add these... I may only add maybe 1-1.5 oz as I hear they impart ALOT of oak and too much is a BAD idea. I will probably wait for the secondary before tossing the chips in for maybe 7-10 days? Then I will bottle. I dont wanna ruin this because its so promising so far. Anyone have ANYTHING to add? Thanks!
 
I would suggest sampling the brew starting after only a day or two. Far better to take more samples and catch it when the flavor profile is on target, then to let it go too far and have to try and compensate. That being said, I would go a little higher in flavor than you ultimately want, and then [bulk] age off of the chips for another couple of weeks before bottling. That way, if it mellows too much, you can compensate by adding a little more chips...

Personally, I'd go for a medium toast chip/cube over a light toast...

Something else you might want to think about is also aging over a split and scraped vanilla bean (after the oak)... When you age over a vanilla bean, you won't really get any vanilla flavor from it. From my understanding (will be finding out first hand soon) a single vanilla bean will enhance other flavors already present. Of course, adding more beans will add more vanilla flavor to the brew (better to add just one if you want to enhance, a few if you want vanilla flavors).
 
Hmm I heard of the vanilla beans but once I had a beer with vanilla that I hated. But i see what youre saying if it enhances other notes. Ill have to pick one up... regular grocery store? Split it and scrape outter layer off im guessing? then toss in 2ndary after oak is out?
 
I would get them from either a good store online, or a place with a good turnover rate. I doubt that will be your typical grocery store. I bought 7 beans via Amazon.com for under $8, that actually shipped from a place not far from where I live. I picked up the Premium Bourbon (Madagascar) beans, but you can get whichever has the characteristics you want. If you're unsure, you can sometimes find sampler packs that have a couple of a few different types, so you can 'sample' them...

I would do in secondary, after you pull the oak chips. I would also give the brew at least some time between adding flavor elements so that it has time to fully integrate them (just my thoughts there)... For either item, I would start sampling within a couple of days of adding. Sooner if you add more than the recommended amount per the volume of brew you're adding them into... You might want to pick up a couple different toast level of chips, so that you have more flexibility there too...
 
Ahh. yeah no oak chips in yet, was going to rack to 2ndary on top of oak chips with vanilla bean, but should i do chips first then vanilla bean after i pull oak chips then?
 
I'd strain off the bourbon, and even dry the chips in the oven before adding to the beer or you'll end up with a strong bourbon flavor that takes a long time to mellow out.
 
Really? I was considering dumping the bourbon straight into the 2ndary per a few people on here. They said maybe an oz per gallon of bourbon. Now im scared to add it if the chips will give it too much flavor... the point was to bring a bourbon flavor to the stout. Some say a pint wouldnt be too much to add to 5 gals.
 
Really? I was considering dumping the bourbon straight into the 2ndary per a few people on here. They said maybe an oz per gallon of bourbon. Now im scared to add it if the chips will give it too much flavor... the point was to bring a bourbon flavor to the stout. Some say a pint wouldnt be too much to add to 5 gals.

It's easier to add more of something later than to age out a flavor that you added too much of. So, start off smaller/less for the bourbon soaked chips and give them a good week or two before deciding to add more.

Taste test often when adding strong flavor elements that you're aging over.

For the amount of bourbon to soak the chips in, use the minimum needed to actually get them to soak it in. Let them soak for a spell (depending on the chips, it could take a little while to get a full soak/infusion).

I'm about to start soaking vanilla beans in bourbon that will be added to a porter. I plan to use just enough to coat the beans, and pour everything in... I'm on the fence about splitting and scraping the beans before soaking them, or doing it after. Plan to ask the guys at the LHBS that today when I go there.
 
I'm about to start soaking vanilla beans in bourbon that will be added to a porter. I plan to use just enough to coat the beans, and pour everything in... I'm on the fence about splitting and scraping the beans before soaking them, or doing it after. Plan to ask the guys at the LHBS that today when I go there.

I split and halved my vanilla bean before adding to rum for a week for a porter infusion. It worked amazingly well! I used captain morgan's private stock and achieved a near perfect background vanilla flavor.
 
I split and halved my vanilla bean before adding to rum for a week for a porter infusion. It worked amazingly well! I used captain morgan's private stock and achieved a near perfect background vanilla flavor.

Good to hear... I have enough bourbon to use, or I could use brandy... On the fence about which to use in the porter... The base brew is a honey porter (first time I made it, it came out really good, adding the vanilla to this one). I'm also on the fence about using one or two beans... I'll probably start with one, then taste it after a week. If good, then let it go another week. If still on target, let it go a few more days and decide...

One thing I've read about aging elements is they can diminish over time. So, you basically want more than your target when you think it's done, so that later it will be where you want it to be.

How long did you age over the vanilla bean??
 
I saw magagascar vanilla beans for 11 bucks for 2 at a local store. I heard extract is just as good. I didnt believe it much but the pure vanilla extract says ingredients are vanilla bean and alcohol for extraction. As long as its not immitation I hope it turns out the same... 11 bucks when I can do it for 2.99... i didnt skimp on anything on this brew and have alot of $ in it but when i saw its basically vanilla bean with alcohol pure extract i chose to try it out. Lots of people are saying you get the same notes either way. idk
 
That's why I didn't get my beans from a regular store (or the local grocery store)... Ordered online (via Amazon) and paid $7 for 7 premium Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans... Turns out the place is in my area, so I might go there in person next time.

I'd rather use the whole beans, and extract with the alcohol I want to use. Gives more control over what flavors will be added. For one thing, you don't know what beans they used in the extract. Nor the actual type of alcohol used for the extraction. To me, that's too many unknown elements for my brews.

Besides, when I open the cabinet with the beans in it, I get the subtle smell of them coming through... :D

Just split and scraped the bean and added bourbon to it for a good soak... Used all of 2oz of good bourbon with the bean (was enough to cover it) in a sealed jar.

I would do the same thing with oak chips... Place in a jar you can seal (glass being the first choice) that's large enough (on the bottom) so that you can have a single layer of chips. Pour enough bourbon/alcohol over the chips to cover and then let them soak.

I used my digital scale to figure out how much bourbon was going over the bean. If you have one you can zero out, once you place the chips (inside the container) then you'll know how much alcohol you've added.

If the LHBS has the right toast level chips on hand when I go there later today, I'll pick some up. I have enough jars on hand that I should be able to cover some in bourbon and not use too much...
 
I have 2 oz of chips in a sealed mason jar with a pint of bourbon and only added 1 oz of vanilla extract to the jar. smells so good
 
I wondered if you could prime a beer that has been fermenting on bourbon chips for over 6 months? or do you need to for carbonate after that lenght of time?

Also, if you need to force carbonate, can you fc in a barrel and then bottle are few?

many thanks
 
I wondered if you could prime a beer that has been fermenting on bourbon chips for over 6 months? or do you need to for carbonate after that lenght of time?

Also, if you need to force carbonate, can you fc in a barrel and then bottle are few?

many thanks

Chances are you'll still have enough yeast in suspension to bottle carbonate. It might take a good amount longer to actually carbonate, compared with lower ABV, and younger brews.

Has it been fermenting on the oak, or aging on it???

For force carbonating, you need to use a 100% sealed vessel that can handle the pressure safely. I seriously doubt a wood barrel would qualify for this. Besides, you would need to install (at the very least) a gas post into the keg. Not something you'd want to try and do when it's full of brew.

If you want to force carbonate it, then simply rack over to a serving keg and do so. I would go with the slow method, not the rapid/fast method. You've given it six months already, what's a few more weeks to carbonate it??
 
Chances are you'll still have enough yeast in suspension to bottle carbonate. It might take a good amount longer to actually carbonate, compared with lower ABV, and younger brews.

Has it been fermenting on the oak, or aging on it???

For force carbonating, you need to use a 100% sealed vessel that can handle the pressure safely. I seriously doubt a wood barrel would qualify for this. Besides, you would need to install (at the very least) a gas post into the keg. Not something you'd want to try and do when it's full of brew.

If you want to force carbonate it, then simply rack over to a serving keg and do so. I would go with the slow method, not the rapid/fast method. You've given it six months already, what's a few more weeks to carbonate it??
Hey Golddiggie,

Thanks for such a fast reply. I havnt started the project yet but have been trying to find the best process. I have just completed my first AG brew of Ringwood Fortininer and its primed in a mixture of bottles and mini kegs.

Im going to do a Hobgoblin clone in a week and wanted to use my left over Bourbon chips from my another brewing other project. There is a new Craft Beer pub near me that had an incredible Bourbon Ale.

It appears i have a few options:

A. Ferment the brew with Bourbon chips for about a month and then prime condition in bottles/ mini keg
B. Ferment for a week or so and then transfer to secondary fermentation, add the Bourbon chips for (x) amount of time and then prime in bottles.

I dont have an oak barrel but a plastic barrel (serving barrel) with a CO2 insert on the top. so can I:
C. Carbonate in barrel with CO2 and bottle straight away with beer gun?

Im happy to wait and let it mature if this is a benefit. Im just open to suggestions. Thank again, this is a great help.
 
Don't ferment with the chips. Also, let it finish (100%) fermenting BEFORE you add the chips. I never bottle/keg a batch until it's 100% ready to drink.

IME, the 5L 'mini keg' is horrible. There's more than a few threads about people using them. I did for parts of all of two batches. Learned to hate them pretty quickly. IF you drain it fast, it's ok. Don't kid yourself into thinking that it will be good for a week, or more, on the CO2 device. You'll be going through a LOT of cartridges in order to maintain carbonation there (leaks CO2). I wish I had never bought those things and had [instead] gone straight to using corny kegs. IMO, worth every penny there. :D
 
OK. Full fermentation first and then add the chips in secondary to age. Maybe a month and see how it tastes.

I was so close to going straight to corny but thought it would be nice to have some bottles to give away and a couple of mini kegs for parties. The mini kegs will be used up over my birthday and christmas so no worries about finishing them fast this time. Thanks for the warning.

I see with corny kegs you can bottle carbonated beer directly from them. This is probably the way forward.

Cheers
PS a pic of the current batch priming. It only need one week of fermentation and 4 weeks to prime.

IMG_0119.jpg
 
I'd rather have it all in keg at least from the start. I can always bottle some IF anyone else wants some. Means I won't have bottles of a brew hanging around, taking up more space, etc. :D
 
Back
Top