Oak dowel and gas buildup?

[Spelaeus]

Not planning it any time soon but I'd love to do a Flanders red as soon as I know I'm going to be living in one place for a few years. Anyway, I've seen the oak dowel method for simulating an oak barrel in this forum. I'm sure I'm missing something, but I'm just wondering about the possible gas build-up here. A carboy bomb would be pretty awful. How is gas vented when you've got a piece of wood shoved down your bung? (teehee) I know there's some micro-diffusion of gasses through the wood but that doesn't seem like enough...

 

[MileHighBrewer]

You would do this in secondary when there is less gas being produced. You could also put a smaller dowel in a stopper which will probably let out a bit of gas.

Probably better off skipping this step and adding oak cubes, spirals or staves when the beers close to being ready.

 

[galttfwo]

Don't do the oak dowel. It adds nothing at best, and explodes a carboy (if used in primary) at worst. The dowel thing came from a story/anecdote that Jamil Z told in Brewing Classic Styles. It was something a friend of his did, and for a while became gospel for people making Flemish Reds. Even JZ said it wasn't a good idea in subsequent interviews/radio shows.

MileHighBrewer has it right. Do an extended secondary (with minimal airspace), and add steamed/boiled/sanitized oak to the secondary.

 

[Spelaeus]

Well, that explains that. Thanks for the info, guys.

 

[smokinghole]

I would say to not even add oak, insanity I know....

 

[Spelaeus]

I would say to not even add oak, insanity I know....

Any particular reason? I've always quite liked the oak notes in the Flanders red ales I've had.

 

[smokinghole]

I think the homebrew capability of oaking just ends up tasting like fresh wood and not musty old barrel. I am not a super delicate taster, with that said, I don't really detect much real oak flavor that would make me say this is oaky. So i leave it out and end up just as happy and have $5 left in my pocket.

 

[Calder]

The oak stave was just to simulate O2 diffusion, not oak flavor. For the most part, sours are added to old oak barrels which do not impart any oak flavor. The stave method seems wrought with problems.

I use oak (old 4 inch stakes) to provide food for the bugs, and transfer them from batch to batch. They don't add anything to the beer.

The stopper in a glass carboy provides plenty of O2 to match barrel diffusion without any complicated techniques. Keep it simple!

 

[Orangetones]

The stopper in a glass carboy provides plenty of O2 to match barrel diffusion without any complicated techniques. Keep it simple!

Do you have references for this? I have seen data related to silicon airlocks (the ones with flaps on the top that burp I would assume). I have yet to see O2 diffusion data for rubber stoppers, or carboy caps (the rubber ones with 2 ports)

 

[Calder]

Do you have references for this? I have seen data related to silicon airlocks (the ones with flaps on the top that burp I would assume). I have yet to see O2 diffusion data for rubber stoppers, or carboy caps (the rubber ones with 2 ports)

No specific data. I split my batches between 1 gallon glass carboys with stoppers and airlocks and 3 gallon thick HDPE hedpaks with plastic screw tops (with airlocks). The glass carboys always get pellicles, while the HDPE containers rarely do ........ with the exact same beer, racked on the same date, never opened, and stored in the same place. The glass carboys probably have smaller relative headspace; certainly less surface area. That tells me the the thick rubber stoppers in the glass carboys are probably more permeable than thick HDPE.

HDPE really is not very permeable, and is directly proportional to its thickness, but I'm sure it is more than thick glass. So it is the rubber stopper or the airlock itself.