I'm sporting wood!!!!

The other night I was watching the discovery program Brew Masters and it got me to thinking... People put wood in their wine and sometimes in their beer.... Whether it's fermenting in oak barrels like with wine, Or using oak chips.....
I decided I want to have a little hint of a woody flavor in my cider... What is the best method to do this. ? I think I'm going to add some cedar slats to my secondary? Cedar is very strong so I am not going to use too much But does anyone have any recommendations on this kind of thing?


P.s, When I nail down the recipe for my Apple cedar cherry cider I will let you guys know... I think it's going to be a HIT!

You can buy wood peices and chips at brew stores.

Bluespark said:

You can buy wood peices and chips at brew stores.

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No one seems to have cedar

You're probably not gonna find cedar chips for brewing, but if you find cedar chips you can re-purpose them by sterilizing them by steaming them on the stove with a vegetable steamer or in a pressure cooker.

Also, most oak additives are toasted. I'm sure if you do a search you can find a tutorial. I seem to recall some people doing it in the oven and others on the grill.

Alternatively, maybe try boiling them in water to extract the flavor and add the resulting tea in small amounts.

I'd find a cheap cedar cigar box off eBay and chip it up..

What about some apple or cherry wood?

Do you own any hamsters?

cedar and apples... hmmm... well, let us know if it's good. i did my first oaked semi-sweet cider last year, loved it, repeated it this year, just added the oak last week. i do the old microwaved chips trick- coffee cup with a splash of water and french medium toasted oak from the brewing supply place, microwave a minute until it's boiled/steamed (the chips aren't under water, just wet), then chips and water all into a carboy (after cooled for a minute or two) and rack cider in. i only rack once, so it sits on that oak for the couple of months until i keg/bottle. i use 2 g chips per liter, but that's pretty arbitrary and probably depends on the relative surface area of the chips

I've oaked a couple batches and have found the oak is far too strong even after aging it for 10 months. I love the oak taste but haven't figured out a way to keep the wood flavor from overpowering the rest of the concoction. Would it be wise to briefly boil the wood to remove some of the flavor?

Cedar could be interesting. Ill have to drink some cider while smelling some cedar to get an impression.

One of our members has cedar for this purpose for sale.

LeBreton said:

You're probably not gonna find cedar chips for brewing, but if you find cedar chips you can re-purpose them by sterilizing them by steaming them on the stove with a vegetable steamer or in a pressure cooker.

Also, most oak additives are toasted. I'm sure if you do a search you can find a tutorial. I seem to recall some people doing it in the oven and others on the grill.

Alternatively, maybe try boiling them in water to extract the flavor and add the resulting tea in small amounts.

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sounds like lots of work....?
will i need to do this with 100% natural cedar?

I'd go buy a cedar plank meant for grilling and cut it up, there won't be anything done to it and it is meant for adding flavor. They aren't that expensive either.

bottlebomber said:

I'd find a cheap cedar cigar box off eBay and chip it up..

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Sounds like the ticket

CRock303 said:

I'd go buy a cedar plank meant for grilling and cut it up, there won't be anything done to it and it is meant for adding flavor. They aren't that expensive either.

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This sounds like a great idea!

Do i cut with or against the grain?

I heard that the wrong way wont give the same result....

I support wood too. I just did a PM on Ol' Pot Belly. I used maple mostly and it was absolutely perfect. I did boil over propane though. Gas seems best for boiling.

Thanks for the referral Revvy! Cedar used in beer (at least to the best of my knowledge) is Spanish cedar which is actually a terrible misnomer since it is neither Spanish nor cedar but actually Brazilian Mahogany. This is what cigar boxes, humidors, and Cigar City's infusion spirals are made from.

ChemE said:

Thanks for the referral Revvy! Cedar used in beer (at least to the best of my knowledge) is Spanish cedar which is actually a terrible misnomer since it is neither Spanish nor cedar but actually Brazilian Mahogany. This is what cigar boxes, humidors, and Cigar City's infusion spirals are made from.

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Is it good? Cedary??? I just paypaled thinking it was real cedar.... but I'm open to try it anyway

Woodsy and slightly spicy, if you tell people cedar I seriously doubt they would dispute you. It is very good so far but it is crazy premature for final judgement on my batch. If you decide you don't want the spanish cedar just let me know and I'll initiate a refund.

ChemE said:

Woodsy and slightly spicy, if you tell people cedar I seriously doubt they would dispute you. It is very good so far but it is crazy premature for final judgement on my batch. If you decide you don't want the spanish cedar just let me know and I'll initiate a refund.

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No, it's cool man.... I'll try it. Thousands of brews in my future so i'll try this in a few batches, then maybe American cedar, then maybe oak...etc.
I'm willing to try it all until I find THE CIDER OF KINGS! lol

I have to say, I'm vary excited to try this Apple Cedar cherry Cider
Or should I say Apple SpanishCedar Cherry Cider :rockin:

krackin said:

I just did a PM on Ol' Pot Belly..

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What is a PM? and ol' pot belly?

I just watched an episode of Brewing TV from NB last night on cider. They said to soak oak chips in some flavorless vodka, then use the vodka to flavor the cider. Apparently it's relatively strong, so you don't need a lot to add the woody flavor to the cider.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewingtv/

Episode 67. Right around 16:30.

MrSpiffy said:

I just watched an episode of Brewing TV from NB last night on cider. They said to soak oak chips in some flavorless vodka, then use the vodka to flavor the cider. Apparently it's relatively strong, so you don't need a lot to add the woody flavor to the cider.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewingtv/

Episode 67. Right around 16:30.

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I saw this episode, Forgive me for my newness but I have a question.... Oak is a very heavy oily wood in comparison to most others, But would more mellow woods work well with this method?

I feel like I want to add my Cedar straight to my brew and let it sit because I don't feel I will get heavy cedar flavor from this method?

I don't think you'd be able to get enough flavor into the vodka if you were using something like Cedar?
Please correct me if you guys think I'm wrong.