Crown Royal Oak Cubes. Bad Idea?
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HalfPint
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Yeah, I don't see why the Crown would be a bad idea considering it tastes better to me than Makers Mark. In the past I've always steamed the chips, then soaked in the bourbon, but I think I'm going to just pour enough crown to cover the oak and let em go for a 2 weeks, then just toss the cubes in and leave the booze behind. What do you think?
The BIGGEST thing to know is check the flavor EVERYDAY. You want to pull it off when it tastes right if it is a short/no age style beer and just a day past that if it will be aged over 3 months. IMO.
Oak chips/cubes can easily over oak a beer and then you have wood beer that may or may not age out after a few years...
As for the booze, if you plan to use a small amount you sould be fine to rack right onto it all...booze and oak but I hate wasting booze...lol
Oak chips/cubes can easily over oak a beer and then you have wood beer that may or may not age out after a few years...
As for the booze, if you plan to use a small amount you sould be fine to rack right onto it all...booze and oak but I hate wasting booze...lol
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HalfPint
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Well, the beer I'm planning on oaking is a 11.5% English Barleywine. I don't think it'll be easily over "oakd" with 2 oz of cubes. I don't think I'll even taste this beer until this time next year. Also, I always add the "oakd" booze back to the bottle of booze.
fineexampl
Well-Known Member
I have a bottle of Jim Beam Black stuffed to the gills with toasted white oak chips. No steam, no prep, just stuffed em in til full. Likely going to use this for a RIS in the future.
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HalfPint
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Fantastic Idea!
Yep.
You see, I really don't want to overdue the booze flavor. I really want the malt to dominate this beer with hints of oak slapping the inside of your dome. If I think it needs more booze flavor, I'll add a lil bit at bottling.
I was actually contemplating this exact same thing earlier this afternoon. I'm a huge Crown & water fan and was asking myself if I should attempt a Crown Porter, Crown Dubbel or Crown Tripel.
This is homebrewing. There are no "Bad Ideas". There are only "One-off batches".
In the idea of whiskey-soaked oak pieces in beer, I really doubt there would be any discernible difference between an American bourbon and a Canadian whiskey.
In the idea of whiskey-soaked oak pieces in beer, I really doubt there would be any discernible difference between an American bourbon and a Canadian whiskey.
Actually, it just hit me....I'll have to take the plunge with a tripel. A name like "Tripel Crown Ale" is just too good not to attempt it.
JByer323
Well-Known Member
I guess it depends on how much of a whisk(e)y person you really are. Before I discovered good beer, I was very, very into whiskeys, especially bourbon.
A friend of mine did 10 gallons of the robust porter AG from Brewing Classic Styles, and split it up four ways. The first batch was unoaked. The remaining batches were oaked with cubes soaked in different whiskies, and 16 ounces (I believe) of the spirit was also pitched. I think he used a Four Roses single barrel, Glenlivet 12, and Jameson.
To the several of us that sat down and tried them all side by side, there was definitely a difference, and as the night progressed (and we got drunker) we did blind tests to see if people could distinguish which batch it was.
I would say probably 70% of the time we could identify it correctly in a blind test.
You'll be fine with 2oz. I did a peat smoked BW over the summer that hit 9.5% and then aged it with 1.5oz dewars soaked oak cubes for three months. It came out fantastic, so good in fact it's the beer that has got everyone raving that have tried all my other brews.
I just added a full 2oz oz of oak cubes to my RIS that is still inching itself between 16%-17% which is currently sitting at 14.5%ish. Like you I won't be tasting this thing until Christmas NEXT year.
I just added a full 2oz oz of oak cubes to my RIS that is still inching itself between 16%-17% which is currently sitting at 14.5%ish. Like you I won't be tasting this thing until Christmas NEXT year.
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HalfPint
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Cool, thanks for all of the replies guys. Well, I'm going to steam the cubes and begin soaking them in a couple oz of Crown for the next three weeks until my Barleywine's primary is done. I think I will then rack it into and store in the back of the closet until the end of February at which point I'll either bottle or keg.
I'm trying to decide if I should pitch the booze too, what do y'all think?
I'm trying to decide if I should pitch the booze too, what do y'all think?
Admittedly, I am not that much of a whiskey person. I have no doubt that side-by-side you can tell a difference. In this case, however, I doubt that he would make the beer and regret using Crown as he sat pining for the Maker's Mark flavor. Of course, the amount of booze that ends up in the beer would be the big question.
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HalfPint
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Admittedly, I am not that much of a whiskey person. I have no doubt that side-by-side you can tell a difference. In this case, however, I doubt that he would make the beer and regret using Crown as he sat pining for the Maker's Mark flavor. Of course, the amount of booze that ends up in the beer would be the big question.
This is actually why today I began soaking my oak cubes in the Crown Royal. You see, I actually prefer crown over Makers Mark if I'm going to be drinking a hard liquor. Also, since I don't really plan on going for a slap you in the face bourbon/whiskey flavor, I don't think it will be easy to tell the difference.
What I ended up doing is soaking 2 oz of pressure steamed cubes in 3 oz of Crown that's in a glass tupperware container that was also steamed. I have 3 more weeks of primary fermentation, so they will sit in the whiskey for that long, then they will be drained out of the Crown, and added to the secondary for 3 months. If, and I say if I decide the whiskey flavor is marrying nice with the Barley Wine, I may add a tiny bit more Crown.
corbomite
Well-Known Member
Do you remember if any of them stood above the rest. I want to make an oaked stout soon and am looking for something to soak the oak cubes in. I ask b/c I am an enormous fan of glenlivet.
Sorry to go off topic, but this thread is 2 months old anyway.
Slight hijack but can you clear this up for me:
Are you using "Crown Royal chips" i.e. chips made from Crown Royal barrels like the Jack Daniels barrel chips? Or are they just oak chips sitting in Crown Royal?
If the former can you please tell me where you found these? I love Crown but have only been able to find Crown Royal briquettes which I'm told won't work for oaking beer. Thanks
Are you using "Crown Royal chips" i.e. chips made from Crown Royal barrels like the Jack Daniels barrel chips? Or are they just oak chips sitting in Crown Royal?
If the former can you please tell me where you found these? I love Crown but have only been able to find Crown Royal briquettes which I'm told won't work for oaking beer. Thanks
doctorRobert
Well-Known Member
Anyone ever soak their oak in wine?
I had a porter from a nano brewery in vermont, aged in an old oak cab barrel. I was quite surprised how great the wine undertones were.
I had a porter from a nano brewery in vermont, aged in an old oak cab barrel. I was quite surprised how great the wine undertones were.
