Burbon Barrel Age Effect

I want to give 10g the impression of being burbon barrel aged for a year. I've got 4oz of medium toast oak chips. I'm going to soak them in bourbon, then add to the secondary.

How much oak?
How long do I soak it in the bourbon?
How long do I leave the wood in the beer?

I'm intending to toss in the burbon too.

Anyone tried this?

Ian

I want to give 10g the impression of being burbon barrel aged for a year. I've got 4oz of medium toast oak chips. I'm going to soak them in bourbon, then add to the secondary.

How much oak? - This depends on the toast level and what your going for. Different barrels will give off different tastes. I'd suggest 8-10oz for a 10g batch though. If you were to ever use light or heavily toasted, you'll want to adjust from the 8oz standard. 4 may work, but you'll have to leave them in the beer for an extended period of time.
How long do I soak it in the bourbon? I usually start soaking mine in Maker's Mark about 2-3 weeks prior to needing them in the secondary. I then pour off the excess bourbon and save it for heavily oaked beers. It will retain a lot of the oak flavor, so it changes everytime I use it. I dry my chips out before tossing them in, but it's not neccessary. Most people actually pour the bourbon directly into the fermenter, but I wouldn't suggest this unless you really love bourbon. It will be a lot stronger this way.
How long do I leave the wood in the beer? Again, it depends on your taste preference. I leave mine in for 2-4 weeks, but I taste it every week to see where it's at. Highly toasted oak can give off it's flavor in a very short amount of time, especially when using chips/cubes.

I'm intending to toss in the burbon too.

Anyone tried this?

Cubes or Sticks are better than chips. You want thickness to the oak so the beer can soak further and bring out the more complex flavor profiles. Not saying chips are bad, just that the others are better. If you want the best, fire or infared toasting - not convection.


Good info above me though. Keep sampling to taste is the best way to determine how long they should be in there.

ODaniel said:

Cubes or Sticks are better than chips. You want thickness to the oak so the beer can soak further and bring out the more complex flavor profiles. Not saying chips are bad, just that the others are better. If you want the best, fire or infared toasting - not convection.


Good info above me though. Keep sampling to taste is the best way to determine how long they should be in there.

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I'm not sure I agree with you on the cubes and sticks things. Really, the biggest thing is more surface area. Usually, the smaller the pieces, the more surface area you have.

Listen to this:

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/Brew-Strong/Brew-Strong-09-15-08-Wood-Aging

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

I'm not sure I agree with you on the cubes and sticks things. Really, the biggest thing is more surface area. Usually, the smaller the pieces, the more surface area you have.

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The cubes have more layers in them, and will offer a wider range of oak flavors much like a barrel. Chips are flat one one-dimensional because they only have one toast level. So you can get oak flavor with chips, but you will get a more balanced oak flavor that will taste more like a barrel if you use cubes. About 1-2 ounces per 5 gallons for at least a month will be a great place to start. If you want to replicate a beer in a barrel for a year, you can't fake that, and you will have to do some aging on cubes to get there.

We have a great article on using oak in beer on the website which will help as well.