Got wood !

I own a woodworking biz and have ample supplies of scrap oak, can this be used in my brew?

hoppybrewster said:

I own a woodworking biz and have ample supplies of scrap oak, can this be used in my brew?

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I can't imagine why this wouldn't work.

homebrewdad said:

I can't imagine why this wouldn't work.

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Well the thing I thought of is it's kiln dried.

hoppybrewster said:

Well the thing I thought of is it's kiln dried.

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Do you need the sap of an undried wood or can it be kiln dried.

I am a woodworker too and i regularly add kiln dried oak to my IPA. I sanitize about 2oz of thin slices (approx 1/8" thick) and add them to my secondary for a week with the dryhopping.

philjohnwilliams said:

I am a woodworker too and i regularly add kiln dried oak to my IPA. I sanitize about 2oz of thin slices (approx 1/8" thick) and add them to my secondary for a week with the dryhopping.

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Tell me, what does that do for the taste? I make mostly ipa's.

hoppybrewster said:

Tell me, what does that do for the taste? I make mostly ipa's.

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Most IPA's aren't traditionally 'smoky. That wouldn't/shouldn't stop you, though, because homebrewing is about experimenting.

That being said, you could probably benefit more from adding them to a maltier recipe like a stout, strong ale, or even a black IPA. In my opinion you need a strong malt backbone to stand up to the smoky flavor/aroma, unless you only add a hint of it, and where is the fun in that?

Another thing, you could try smoking some of malt with your oak on your own. I would use oak sawdust instead of shavings, though, to help expedite the process and to avoid over-smoking or scorching. This might add some more dimension to a beer that you soak wood chips in, or it might be a way to replace that entirely.

edit: I am stupid. In my mind I was confusing 'smoky' and 'woody' or 'oak-y'. This doesn't change my opinions entirely, but oak-y flavors meld in better with other flavors IMO. So you can probably get away with using some straight up chips in an IPA save you don't overdo it.

you can make a mash paddle too

2 years ago I had a maple bourbon oaked IIPA at Founders during their summer Founders Fest street party.

I've enjoyed every oaked beer I've tried. I think if it's not a crazy dry beer, it should go well.

hoppybrewster said:

I own a woodworking biz and have ample supplies of scrap oak, can this be used in my brew?

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Is this white oak? I would think any kind of red/black oak would be too high in tannins.

Red oak should not be used for oak-aging, since it contains compounds that can be toxic.

bierhaus15 said:

Red oak should not be used for oak-aging, since it contains compounds that can be toxic.

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www.homedistiller.org has lots of info about soaking various woods in alcohol and their effects. Search there if youre worried about toxicity of different woods.

Fwiw, red oak has a distinctive flavor that is different from white oak. Not bad, but just different.

As far as kiln drying goes, ive read that naturally dried is better, bc it leaves more resin to be caramelized during the toasting/charing process. But kiln dried still seems to work. I bought done kiln dried white oak, split it into staves, toasted it in the oven, then charred it with a torch, and I like the flavor very much

From this website, they describe that American whiskey barrels and old American wine barrels were made from kiln-dried wood. French and modern American wine barrels are air-dried.

I mostly only have red oak on hand, I shouldnt use it?

hoppybrewster said:

Tell me, what does that do for the taste? I make mostly ipa's.

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Umm...well, it gives it an oaky flavour. Take a few pieces of oak and boil then for 10 minutes in 2 cups of water. Toss the oak and keep the water, which is now a nice oak tea. Add some of this oak tea, 1/4tsp at a time to one of your IPAs to see how it affects the flavour. This won't tell you how much to add to a batch (assuming you like it to begin with), but then you could just make some more oak tea and add it bit by bit to your bottling bucket until you have the flavout you want.

I've been oak aging beers for the past 5 years. My methods are very simple.

All Michigan White Oak. Aged for 8-10 months and then kiln dried.

Pieces are cut into 7.5 x 1.25 x 1.25 strips. These fit nicely into 1 gallon mason jars (formerly pickle jars). Save your jars!

I fill up the jars with various bourbons and spirits and let the oak absorb and get further conditioned by the alcohol. Typically the oak is in the jars for 6months...sometimes much longer. The oak will become completely saturated in 4 weeks.

Since the bourbons already have color I don't like to use toasted oak cubes. I've experimented with leaving the oak in corny kegs (stouts and IPAs) for 2 weeks up to 6 months. The longer the time, the smoother the beer. It seems as if the oak eats up hop bitterness in IPAs and accentuates the chocolate in stouts.

My most recent batch of Oak/Rum Caramel stout is aging in a sankey (full). After 3 months (and with 15 of the strips) the beer is fantastic.

One obvious note: If you soak oak in cheap bourbon, your beer will have cheap bourbon characteristics. By cheap I mean low quality. There are many excellent, lower cost bourbons to choose from. Ellija Craig has become a staple for me.

landshark67 said:

ellija craig has become a staple for me.

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+1!

Just make sure the wood wasn't treated in anyway other then the kiln drying wouldn't want to extract those other nasty chemicals they use on some wood into my beer.

Agreed. The key to everything is knowing your ingredients and materials.

My wood source is chemical free( old school) literally.....the guy is 70.