Oak flavor question

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

EMH5

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 5, 2015
Messages
189
Reaction score
38
Location
Braintree
I brewed a brown ale (pretty stout-like) aged 3 months with oak cubes in February and bottled it in May. I like it a lot but I found that some bottles have more oak flavor and aroma than others, I mean a huge difference in intensity. It’s funny, I opened a bottle 2 weeks ago and it was extremely mild in oak aroma and flavor – still great (in fact I prefer a milder oak flavor). I opened a bottle yesterday and it was much smokier and had a pronounced oak flavor.

Has this been anyone else had this experience? I am new to adding wood to beer.
 
I steamed 1.25 oz of medium toast oak, put them in a bag and dropped them into the carboy. No vodka or bourbon.
 
Is there any way that the less oaky bottles had more oxygen exposure than the others? More head space or different caps that leaked?
 
How do you prime your bottles?

If you use priming tabs and siphoned directly from the carboy, I could see the beer siphoned from the bottom being oakier than the rest. If the beer was batch primed, throw my theory out the window.
 
How do you prime your bottles?

If you use priming tabs and siphoned directly from the carboy, I could see the beer siphoned from the bottom being oakier than the rest. If the beer was batch primed, throw my theory out the window.

I siphoned the batch into a bottling bucket, added my corn sugar mixture and stirred (I think)... This is an interesting mystery to me.

Could be varying headspace... The caps are the same and tight. Some 22 bottles some 12s but I haven't opened a 12 yet. Only 22s
 
I siphoned the batch into a bottling bucket, added my corn sugar mixture and stirred (I think)... This is an interesting mystery to me.

Could be varying headspace... The caps are the same and tight. Some 22 bottles some 12s but I haven't opened a 12 yet. Only 22s
This is just my preference but I've always added the priming mixture first, then syphoned the brew onto that. I know its arguable that it doesn't make a difference but early on I read that it makes sense to guarantee it mixes more evenly without having to stir or agitate it, which at that point is not wanted.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top