HOP-HEAD
Well-Known Member
Is there any consensus on how long before bottling I should add oak chips? My morebeer English IPA came with 1 oz. of French Oak Chips for the secondary, but there's no mention of how long they should be in there....
Oak Chips in Secondary - How Long?
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Rhoobarb
Well-Known Member
Not long!
It depends on how much oak flavor you want. A bunch of us HBT'ers did a "group/committee brew' a couple of years ago that used oak chips. Mine sat on an ounce of oak chips for about four weeks, IIRC, and it was way too 'oaky'. I had to let the beer sit and condition for six months before it mellowed. IMHO, the higher the OG, the longer you can probably let it sit on oak. I'd suggest sampling it once a week until you think it is at the point where you want it to be.
snailsongs
Well-Known Member
a member of Ratebeer.com said this:
"In my experience, I would say keep in secondary for at least 2 months in secondary to get any nice effect.....I found out it takes some time....If it is a higher gravity beer, perhaps around 8-10% abv, I would say 4 months for conditioning......thats just an assumption though, have never done it for a high gravity..... "
"In my experience, I would say keep in secondary for at least 2 months in secondary to get any nice effect.....I found out it takes some time....If it is a higher gravity beer, perhaps around 8-10% abv, I would say 4 months for conditioning......thats just an assumption though, have never done it for a high gravity..... "
snailsongs
Well-Known Member
a member of Ratebeer.com said this:
"In my experience, I would say keep in secondary for at least 2 months in secondary to get any nice effect.....I found out it takes some time....If it is a higher gravity beer, perhaps around 8-10% abv, I would say 4 months for conditioning......thats just an assumption though, have never done it for a high gravity..... "
"In my experience, I would say keep in secondary for at least 2 months in secondary to get any nice effect.....I found out it takes some time....If it is a higher gravity beer, perhaps around 8-10% abv, I would say 4 months for conditioning......thats just an assumption though, have never done it for a high gravity..... "
wild
Well-Known Member
My Oak Aged Bourbon Porter has been sitting on oak for 8 months.
I did my brown ale for 2 weeks and it is waaay too oaky, so I think you're going to have to play around, but I would worry when you see people saying months...I would find out if that is the first time they have ever oaked a beer, and if they have actually bottled and tasted it....If people are saying they're leaving it for months and haven't even tested/tasted it carbed and conditioned, then you aren't getting really good info.
Of all the advice you're reading getting...it looks like Rhoobarb (and myself) actually have it bottled.
Mine's been bottled for about 6 or 8 weeks weeks or so and hasn't mellowed too much yet...
Of all the advice you're reading getting...it looks like Rhoobarb (and myself) actually have it bottled.
Mine's been bottled for about 6 or 8 weeks weeks or so and hasn't mellowed too much yet...
I did 10 days with 1.5oz med. toast in my tripel, it was just right. I decided when to rack by sampling every few days. I oaked the 999 Barleywine with 2.5oz of heavy toast yesterday and will start sampling Saturday and rack when I feel it is ready. In both cases, I intentionally chose a lot of cubes and a short duration on the oak so I can control the amount of oakiness in the beer.
With only an ounce of light or medium toast, you could likely go for months without it being too oaky, I suspect you will need 2-3 weeks for any noticeable oak character to appear at all though it's just a guess. Using the thief to grab tasting samples is a method you can't go wrong with.
With only an ounce of light or medium toast, you could likely go for months without it being too oaky, I suspect you will need 2-3 weeks for any noticeable oak character to appear at all though it's just a guess. Using the thief to grab tasting samples is a method you can't go wrong with.
A while back, a guy here named Orpheus did an awesome oaked IPA.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/ambrosia-iipa-42896/
It looks like he left the beer on oak chips for two weeks. It was awesome- he sent me some.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/ambrosia-iipa-42896/
It looks like he left the beer on oak chips for two weeks. It was awesome- he sent me some.
