Oak Chips - Where do they go?

[kenpotf]

I've done some searching on here, but I haven't found exactly what I'm looking for. I'm thinking about doing something with bourbon soaked oak chips for the summer. What I've been reading is that 2oz for a 5 gallon batch should be plenty, but do you have to worry about splinters off of those oak chips or bits of wood getting in the beer when kegging? It's probably silly to ask, but I'm curious.

Thanks!

 

[UberHasselhoff]

That sounds like plenty. I add chips to the secondary then rack to bottling bucket or keg from there. I haven't had or heard of any kind of problems with splinters at all -- they don't seem to disintegrate or anything. I guess if you were super concerned you could utilize a hop bag, but you're going to lose some surface area contact.

Also make sure you don't let the wort sit on the chips too long -- maybe a week or two max. The cubes are a different story but the chips can be overpowering if left for too long. Good luck!

 

[kenpotf]

Thanks! That makes me feel better about the splinters. So, do the cubes absorb liquor like regular oak chips? I guess by that I mean are the cubes too compressed to be able to absorb liquor well? I'm going for the bourbon oak flavor like it's been sitting in a barrel...

 

[UberHasselhoff]

Essentially the cubes are just larger pieces of oak. The chips I think are nice because they have a shorter extraction time in terms of flavor. Cubes are used more for long term aging and take at least a couple weeks to extract. I've heard that cubes have a more complex flavor.

The argument is that thicker oak might be more like aging the beer in a barrel, with more complex flavors as the liquid gets in past the top layer. With that said, I only use chips and the results have been good. Generally I just drop the chips in the last week I plan to have it in the secondary.

 

[NTexBrewer]

kenpotf,

I see you are in McKinney. Do you ever go to Fine Vine in Carrollton on 35E
https://www.finevinewines.com

They also sell brewing stuff and the one guy in the store does a few oaked beers so he may be a good source to talk with. I can't remember his name though.

I'm working on a brett/sour that is also oaked. Since mine is a long term project he recommended using oak cubes. I have 1.5 oz of Medium Toast American Oak cubes in my beer. They have been in for 2 months and I just did a tasting. For my tastes it is not too oakey. Again this is a long term project as I will be adding bacteria next month and then aging it for another 9 months.

While doing my search oak chips will give you flavor faster so you will just have to add them and sample until you get the flavor you want and rack off the chips.

 

[ArcLight]

>>>.Cubes are used more for long term aging and take at least a couple months to extract.

Trust me, they don't take a couple of months.

I soaked 2 ounces in Makers Mark Bourbon for 42 days and they had a strong oak taste that took a year to mellow.
I still have some, a year and a half later.

 

[kenpotf]

kenpotf,

I see you are in McKinney. Do you ever go to Fine Vine in Carrollton on 35E
https://www.finevinewines.com

They also sell brewing stuff and the one guy in the store does a few oaked beers so he may be a good source to talk with. I can't remember his name though.

I'm working on a brett/sour that is also oaked. Since mine is a long term project he recommended using oak cubes. I have 1.5 oz of Medium Toast American Oak cubes in my beer. They have been in for 2 months and I just did a tasting. For my tastes it is not too oakey. Again this is a long term project as I will be adding bacteria next month and then aging it for another 9 months.

While doing my search oak chips will give you flavor faster so you will just have to add them and sample until you get the flavor you want and rack off the chips.

I ususally get my stuff from Homebrew HQ in Richardson. I can't wait to do this project

 

[UberHasselhoff]

>>>.Cubes are used more for long term aging and take at least a couple months to extract.

Trust me, they don't take a couple of months.

I soaked 2 ounces in Makers Mark Bourbon for 42 days and they had a strong oak taste that took a year to mellow.
I still have some, a year and a half later.

Oops, you are correct. Yes 2 weeks is the minimum not months. With that said they can be used up to a year to extract more complex aging -- which is the advantage. Here's a good article from morebeer about it: http://morebeer.com/content/using_oak_in_beer

 

[masonsjax]

I have used chips a lot. I recommend boiling them in water for ~15 mins (discard the water) to reduce the harshness. Then you can soak them in wine or bourbon or add them straight to the fermenter. With the harshest flavors boiled away, you'll get the nice soft oak flavors and aromas you want and don't have to worry about leaving them in for too long.

 

[kenpotf]

Where do you get oak chips? Is this something like the bags they sell at HD for grilling?