Two Unrelated Questions

[Rascal]

1.) I just brewed a kit called High Octane IPA. A small package of oak chips came with the kit. After reading many threads on this board my plan is to leave it in the primary for 4 weeks before bottling. Do I really need to add those chips and if so at what point should I add them.

2) The above mentioned kit was only my third brew. I plan to experiment with a couple more kits and then possibly step it up a notch but I'm a little confused on what direction to go in. Do I need to start reading the threads on partial mash or all grain or what would some of you experienced folks recommend. Thanks. I love this board by the way.

 

[frazier]

1) Do you need to add the chips? No. Do you like the idea of oak flavor in your beer? Then sanitize the chips - say, steam them for 15 minutes or so - and toss them in. Probably with about a week to go before bottling. You'll get other more educated opinions on this.

2) Everyone progresses at their own pace. If you pick up a copy of Brewing Classic Styles, you will see that many great recipes can be made using extract and steeping grains. From there, it's a small step up to extract + mini-mash; do a Google on BIAB or Brew-In-A-Bag. Then, you can build a mash tun from a cooler, and it's a small step up to all-grain brewing. That was the progression I followed, over the course of about 10 brews, but there is no need to do it any other way but your own.

Cheers!

 

[TyTanium]

You don't need to add the chips, but many people like a subtle oak taste. I for one enjoy a slightly oaked IPA. I would add a week to 10 days before you bottle. It's definitely possible to over-oak, and no one likes woodchip beer.

Check it at 2 weeks. If you've hit your gravity and the beer tastes good, dump the chips right in*. Taste it again after a week, then every few days. Bottle when the oak is where you want it (or just beyond - it'll mellow some in the bottle).

*And search for forum for how to sanitize the chips. A lot of folks don't even worry about it, some boil, some steam, etc.

And as for moving to all grain, totally a personal decision. For me it was a money issue. I was planning on doing an extract brew, then saw the price of dry malt extract next to the price for a 50 pound sack of grain. I bought the grain and stopped at Home Depot on my way home and build a cooler mash tun. But don't let anyone tell you you can't brew awesome beers with extract - you totally can. Keep reading the forum and watch some youtube videos. Mashing intimidates a lot of people, but it's really simple.

 

[nebben]

It depends on how oakey you want the IPA to be. With an IPA, you're already going to have increased bitterness and possibly hop flavor and/or aroma, so the oak might end up getting lost somewhere in there.

Personally, I would leave them out on an IPA. If you want to do it (no big deal!), I would recommend having the oak in contact for a couple weeks in secondary.

You can experiment doing only extract, partial mashes, or full on all-grain. Do whatever is most comfortable to you. I've heard of people jumping into all-grain on their first batch, and I've heard of people that have done hundreds of extract batches and never touched the grain. Either way works!

I used steeping grains on my first batch through my third batch. On the fourth, I figured that the jump to doing a full mash with all-grain wasn't that far off from the whole steeping grains process. I made some mistakes, but that is what learning is about. There are no hard fast rules about this. If you feel comfortable making oatmeal, you can do an all-grain mash. If you like extract for its simplicity and time savings, then stick with that. If you want to do partial mashes so you can use all sorts of crazy grains, but still use extract for the majority of your fermentables, it works great.

 

[Sippin37]

Yeah if you want a little oak flavor and perhaps some aroma then toss them in for the last week of fermentation. Just simply boil/steam them to ensure they are sanitized before tossing in.

As for new ways to make better beer or progress in your brewing, you can always start doing full boils (if you're not already), work on pitching the correct amount of yeast (use MrMalty pitch calculator), and even work on fermentation temps. Those are the 3 things that I have heard numerous people on this board say will contribute to better beer. I personally made my first 6 batches doing extract partial boils. Now I'm doing extract full 5 gallon boils. My next step will be moving to Brew in a Bag method going All Grain. Lots of things you can improve on, and I know the feeling of always wanting to challenge yourself and try taking things to the next level. Best of luck!