Wood chips

Hello!

First off, thanks to the HBT community for being so filled with information.

I'm brewing my first solo batch this evening (though I have brewed with a buddy before) and played it safe with a kit from my local homebrew emporium. This kit is an IPA, that includes Oak wood chips. The instructions ask me to steam sanitize these, and toss them in the fermentation vessel... But I intend to hold this beer longer than the kit instructs, and won't be bottling, but rather kegging from a secondary after letting it set and mellow for a couple/few weeks.

Any advice on how to handle these? Should I follow the kit's instructions? I don't want an overpowering oak flavor, and while I plan to run this through a filter before kegging, the chips would be in there for a month or so if I throw them in at the get-go.

Thanks in advance!

Usually you only want chip in for about a week. I'd boil and add them a week before Kegging.

You can steam them in a little bowl in the microwave, just put a bit of water in it. I'd put the oak in the secondary and rack the beer on top of it, let it sit for 7-10 days, any more than that and you'll need some time for the oak flavor to mellow out.

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll follow your advice and add them a week before kegging.

I have a similar problem. The recipe I bought at my LHBS said to sanitize the chips per 'their instructions' , of which , none where supplied. My LHBS would not be open for a couple days, and as a newbie, I was anxious. So I rinsed the chips, poured boiling water on them, and microwaved it to keep it boiling for about 30 seconds, and then covered until room temp. I then put the entire mixture in the fermentor. I am afraid this may have been a mistake. After 11 days in the bottle (I know that is premature, but) I chilled one bottle and it was terrible, one of the few beers in my life I couldnt stand to finish. It was an IPA ( my favorite style, of course) that was watery, flat, and overwhelmingly oakey.
I have commited myself to saving it, but dont know when I will have any confidence that it has improved.

i love how this site can answer my questions before I even ask them