Tips on oak chips?

[zmurda]

I made a stout today and i want to put bourbon soaked oak chips in it. Just wondering the best method to go about it as i still want the wood flavor from the oak in there. How long should i leave them in there for? Should i toast them? Any tips would be great. Thx

 

[Haputanlas]

There are many ideas on what you should do for oaking your chips. Your own preference for what you would want to do should come from gaining a better understanding of a few things:

1. Which origin of oak would be suit your needs (American, French, Hungarian, etc)
2. Chips or Cubes.
- Chips require a shorter time on the beer than cubes (larger surface area)
- Cubes are generally considered better for longer aging times
- The longer the cubes sit on the beer, the more complex flavors you will gain from the oak
- Chips supposedly lend a 1-dimensional flavor
3. Toast level
4. Amounts
5. Time

I'd first suggest reading JP's great article on using wood in a beer and also TheMadFermentationist's (OldSock) "Treatise on Oak".

JP (Jason Petros):
http://morebeer.com/content/using_oak_in_beer

TheMadFermentationist:
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2007/03/treatise-on-oaking-homebrew.html



The next thing I'd do is listen to the BrewStrong podcast on Oak Aging Beer:
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/Brew-Strong/Brew-Strong-09-15-08-Wood-Aging

There is an associated page in HomeBrewTalk that has notes on this particular podcast:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/tips-wood-aging-119445/ (Far more info in this thread than I gave you)


Also, I have had personal experience with an alternate source of Whiskey barrel chips that you may want to look into:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/oak-chips-charbroil-whiskey-smoker-244278/

 

[Haputanlas]

I would throw another piece of advice from my own experience (Mentioned in JP's article): use standard oak chips in primary while the yeast is fermenting the wort. Unfortunately there is a variable to consider if you are going to use this method: How long the primary phase will last vs. how long you should have the oak chips on the beer. This will determine how much oak to use.

So, my suggestion would be to skip this primary oak for your first oaking experience. If you plan to make this same stout again, take good notes on how long everything took so that you can make an educated guess about the amounts of oak.

Lastly, make sure to sample often if you are using chips. I've had to remove beer from oak within as little as 2 days before. It will sneak up on you fast if you aren't paying attention. This isn't as much of a concern for cubes or used chips, but always try to be safe.

 

[zmurda]

Thx. Im using american oak cubes medium. I plan on soaking them in bourbon then adding to secondary. Should i put them in a hop bag?

 

[TyTanium]

I'd skip the bag, they'll sink to the bottom on their own. How much are you using? I'd recommend 1-2oz for ~7-10 days, with maybe a 4-8oz bourbon, depending on how strong the stout is. As Haputanlas said, take samples every few days. No one likes woodchip beer.

 

[JeepDiver]

I had 3 gallons of Founders Bfast Stout clone on 4oz of Oak for 7 days and it was way too strong. 4 mos later, and it is almost drinkable. I suggest tasting regularly so you don't over do it. If you get too much, it will age out but takes time.

 

[dgremark]

Well I used oak chips, about a small hand full that I lightly browned on the stove. I put in after 4 days of fermenting and left for 4 weeks..................slight oak flavor so next time I will double it up!