Re-use of oak chips

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BigSheffy

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Hypothetical: What if I brewed a Flanders brown using French oak chips and Wyeast Roeselare blend, then took said oak chips, allowed them to dry, then used them in the secondary of a sweet stout? Would I end up with something interesting? I ask because I wanted to make something straightforward, hence the sweet stout, and now that it's already bubbling away I'm slightly bored with its simplicity.
 
I'm pretty sure you're going to get some bugs on the chips, regardless of if you let them air dry. You're likely going to impart some of the Roeselare flavors too. That being said: Go for it! I'd be happy to sample a bottle as well.

The Bruery makes a sour stout, Tart of Darkness, and I've heard it's great.

If you want to reuse the chips, but don't want any of the bugs, you might consider boiling then re-toasting the chips.

Just my two cents.
 
The brett and bacteria should survive in the chips and eventually make it a sour stout. Lactose is fermentable to many of these microbes. How many IBUs in your stout? I'd probably just pitch a souring culture (melange, anyone?) and add some of the chips, just to keep it interesting.
 
I've made versions of the Tart of Darkness and it's great.. however, if you are looking to do something interesting like this with what you have so far, it might behoove you to re-pitch the Roeselare blend to get a good culture going. I will warn you (or encourage you ;) ) the longer you leave it the more interesting it will get, as with tossing in the chips in general. Re-toasting and then re-pitching would be a great way to go, but I am guessing that you, like me are really looking to do something fun with what you have on hand. Go for it. pitch those chips and give it a few days to see what you get.
I got some fun flavors out of the T of D leaving it in secondary with wood and the Roeselare for 8 months and it was worth it. I also made myself forget about it so I wouldn't mess with it.
I guess it boils down to how much time you want to give it, how much you want to mess with it, and how much fermenter space you have.. (which is generally my reason for moving things to keg)

Cheers! let us know what you end up with.
 
I have to say, I think my curiosity is beating down my rational judgement. I'm going to throw those chips into secondary and see what happens. I'll let you guys know what's up in a few months. Also, to answer Agate's question, only about 12 IBU, but strange IBUs because I also got bored during the boil and changed the recipe to Tomahawk hops for bittering and a pinch more at 5 minutes. Still, not enough to badly bother the bacteria I think.
 

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