All kinds of wood

[lostcheesehead]

I just realized what a lucky brewer I am! I have a woodworking friend who's got a bunch of scrap wood lying around. Red oak, black oak, black walnut, cedar, and others. I am going to grab as much as I can and experiment, likely splitting the beer into 1 gallon secondaries and trying the different kinds of wood separately.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good base style that would showcase each wood's different characteristics?

 

[Mindsculptor]

No, no, NO! All those woods have the potential to cause serious sickness or even death if ingested. There's a reason none of them are used to smoke meat or make casks out of.

Stick with woods that are known to be safe with foods. If you're going to use fresh wood, char them and give them an extended soak before ever doing anything related to food.

 

[lostcheesehead]

Well, Cigar City has made plenty of hay (and no sick customers... yet) out of cedar and white oak, plus a number of other woods I can't name off the top of my head. But you raise a good point - I surely wouldn't want to use a wood that's inherently toxic (though I'm fairly sure oaks are pretty safe), not use any of these without a good sterilizing period in some steam. Has anyone used any of these woods before? Are any known to be of the kill-you-dead variety?

 

[Mindsculptor]

Well, Cigar City has made plenty of hay (and no sick customers... yet) out of cedar and white oak, plus a number of other woods I can't name off the top of my head. But you raise a good point - I surely wouldn't want to use a wood that's inherently toxic (though I'm fairly sure oaks are pretty safe), not use any of these without a good sterilizing period in some steam. Has anyone used any of these woods before? Are any known to be of the kill-you-dead variety?

White oak has a much lower phenolic toxicity than other oaks, Black Oak in particular has been known to cause death in cattle that have ingested relatively little of the acorns. Cedar is safe if not ingested, but I will note that the oils derived from it have anti-microbial properties and are used as a bug repellent.

As I said, if you're confortable taking the risk, soak them to leech out the resins, char them to boil off anything that isn't leeched out, and then soak them to get rid of any surface compounds that might have resulted from the charring.

 

[lostcheesehead]

Well, I did some quick toxicity searching and found that a lot of woods have the potential to aggravate allergies in people, including some woods I've seen used in alcohol production: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-allergies-and-toxicity/

Fortunately, I don't plan on using white oleander or yew, which are apparently well within the kill-you-dead spectrum. But yes, your wood preparation recipe is definitely in line with what I was planning. Mainly because I don't want to accidentally introduce crazy bacteria into my brewhouse, but also to make sure I don't introduce anything too crazy into me.

 

[Mindsculptor]

Good. I always get a little nervous when I hear hobbyists starting to experiment. It's a good way to draw bad publicity, not to mention undue regulation, to something we all enjoy.

Oh, well, at least home brewers put a premium on safety. You wouldn't believe the sorts of things people who mod computer cases and the like do in the name of tricking their stuff out.

 

[lostcheesehead]

Well, as for a good style, I'm inspired by the various Cigar City wood-aged IPAs, so I think I'll do a basic, citrusy IPA as my guinea pig. Results (and hopefully zero toxicology reports) to follow.

 

[GuldTuborg]

I don't know about wood aging, but make sure none of that lumber is treated at all. If it has been treated, say for outdoor use, to get it anywhere near your beer.

 

[allenH]

Well, as for a good style, I'm inspired by the various Cigar City wood-aged IPAs, so I think I'll do a basic, citrusy IPA as my guinea pig. Results (and hopefully zero toxicology reports) to follow.

I love CCB's wood aged beers, after doing the tour at the brewery, I learned that in the Humidor series beers, they use cedrela, a mahogany and not cedar. Cedrela is also known as "cigar box cedar".

 

[GuldTuborg]

I love CCB's wood aged beers, after doing the tour at the brewery, I learned that in the Humidor series beers, they use cedrela (a mahogany) and not cedar. Cedrela is also known as "cigar box cedar".

More commonly called "Spanish Cedar," which is a variety of mahogany. I've never heard of it being used in brewing. Interesting, and good to know.

 

[allenH]

More commonly called "Spanish Cedar," which is a variety of mahogany. I've never heard of it being used in brewing. Interesting, and good to know.

Very interesting, because it's not Spanish and its not a cedar. That's the line they use in the brewery tour. They use the hell out of it though. The best way I can describe it is drinking the beer out of a cigar box.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Very interesting, because it's not Spanish and its not a cedar. That's the line they use in the brewery tour. They use the hell out of it though. The best way I can describe it is drinking the beer out of a cigar box.

It's odd, and I have no idea how it got that name. I'm going to have to search out some of these beers. I'm pretty sure they don't distribute to OH, but I'll find a way.

 

[craig4984]

I am doing the same thing as we speak. Did a pale ale split into 5 - 1 gallon secondaries and also a basic stout split the same way. I am currently using white oak as a base wood but using 5 different liquors over the oak. Rum, Cognac, Bourbon, port wine and Brandy. Using a 1/4 oz per gallon.

 

[brewbeerry]

Hardywood Brewery in Richmond VA ages their Hoplar DIPA on poplar. Pretty smooth and fresh/crisp addition that compliments the hopping

 

[lostcheesehead]

I don't know about wood aging, but make sure none of that lumber is treated at all. If it has been treated, say for outdoor use, to get it anywhere near your beer.

Oh definitely. I'm not looking to make a Yellawood IPA here. All my friend's wood is untreated wood that he uses for a number of projects.

Interesting info about the spanish cedar. I'll have to see if my friend can get that as opposed to regular old cedar. I'd hate for my beer to end up smelling like a hamster cage.

 

[prohl84]

I'll have to see if my friend can get that as opposed to regular old cedar.

The 'regular' cedar is probably juniper.

Birch could be interesting- and I have heard of cherry being used for flavoring alcoholic beverages.

 

[Mindsculptor]

Sorry if this is a grave dig, but an idea poppedi nto my head. What's the one type of food preparation that always uses wood? The answer is, of course, BBQ. So, I took a look around and found some answers. Apparently, with the exception of cedar, the woods themselves are food safe, it's some of the other stuff associated with the woods that are bad.

My bad, I didn't mean to spread FUD. I found another kind of not!Cedar that is used in food preparation called Northern White Cedar. Oh, and another type of oak called Acadian Oak that imparts a much strong flavor in smoking than the other types of oak. If you can get a hold of smoking woods, there's an article on eHow that tells you how to char your own wood.