Oaking - Can cubes be reused?

[mblanks2]

The title says it all. I have and ounce each of port soaked and bourbon soaked, both of which were French medium toast oak cubes. What are the opinions?

 

[microbusbrewery]

Yes but you'll get less and less oak character after each use until they become neutral. When that happens will vary depending on how long you leave the beer on the oak. Same thing happens with barrels; after several uses they're neutral. I re-use them in my sours, but the purpose is to inoculate the next batch with the desired cultures.

 

[solbes]

+1 to bus above. I think you get the best flavor out of them by soaking them in liquor or some type of wine first. That generally takes only 1-3 weeks and then they can be directly pitched into your beer. An ounce can be good in 5 gallons of beer, but you may need 4-8 weeks of contact time. Taste weekly once you get to 3rd or 4th week. Also remember that the oak "presence" in your beer will fade over time.

After coming out of beer batches, I put them either into a batch of sour or store in the freezer for eventual sour duty for the same reasons given above.

 

[mblanks2]

Thanks for the comments. With the price of the cubes not being that much and wanting the beer to be as consistent as possible I'll probably just purchase new each time.

 

[ArcLight]

I used Oak cubes for a Bourbon Barrel Old ale - let them sit for 42 days.
Then I put them in a container with some Makers Mark Bourbon and forgot about them for 2 years. I add a teaspoon to Stouts - adds a great taste.

 

[mblanks2]

I used Oak cubes for a Bourbon Barrel Old ale - let them sit for 42 days.
Then I put them in a container with some Makers Mark Bourbon and forgot about them for 2 years. I add a teaspoon to Stouts - adds a great taste.

That's a very interesting idea. I like that. I haven't thrown them out yet so I may just do the same.