Gravity samples are such a tease

I took a sample of my imperial porter for a gravity reading today (6 days in primary), and it tastes amazing. I just want to pour myself a pint of it!! It's at 1.023, which is juuuust about where I want it. I'm going to leave it for a few more days and see if I can get it down to 1.022, and then rack onto my bourbon-soaked oak chips for a 3-4 week secondary. This is definitely the biggest, most ambitious brew I've done, and so far it seems like the risk is paying off. Can't wait to bottle/keg it up.

3-4 weeks is a lot of time to be on oak chips. How did you come up with that duration?

The guy at the homebrew ship recommended it. Do you think I should go for less time in secondary? Or maybe add the oak chips a week or so in? It's about 8.5% abv, so I figured a bigger beer needed a longer secondary.

McGarnigle said:

3-4 weeks is a lot of time to be on oak chips. How did you come up with that duration?

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Actually, it's not... I have an old ale that's been sitting on 3/4 ounce of medium toast chips for just over a month (almost five weeks)... A lot has to do with how much you use and treat them before putting them in...

I'd be more concerned with how much bourbon you use to soak them in... That will become really obvious, even just a few ounces into the brew. I would use just one, maybe two ounces of bourbon to start... Let it ride for 3-4 weeks and sample... You can always add a little more... It takes a long time to get too much to mellow out.

I've got 4 oz of oak chips in a jar, and poured enough bourbon to come to the top of the chips. I was going to drain them and let them dry out a bit before adding them to the beer. This is my first time working with wood, so I'm kinda learning as I go here.

I still think 4 ounces of chips for 3-4 weeks is too strong. At the very least, sample it frequently and bottle (or yank out the bag of chips) when ready.

McGarnigle said:

I still think 4 ounces of chips for 3-4 weeks is too strong. At the very least, sample it frequently and bottle (or yank out the bag of chips) when ready.

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100% agree there...

I would actually pull out 1 ounce from the jar, and add that first... If you want, add another ounce in a few weeks/month, after sampling... Far, far, far better to small additions than dump enough to treat 25 gallons into 5 gallons...

I would add maybe 1 ounce of the bourbon with the first addition too, then sample after a month and decide if it needs more...

Worst case, you put more bourbon on whatever you don't use for chips, let it age for several months, and have even better bourbon on your hands... :rockin:

It's been tough getting straight answers on the subject of oaking, I appreciate the feedback. What I'll probably end up doing is starting with an ounce of the oak chips and see how it tastes in a few weeks. I'm going to take another gravity reading Monday or Tuesday, and if it's the same I'll rack to the carboy with the oak chips then.