I am brewing a 5 gallon malt extract whiskey barrel stout. I brewed this yesterday and it's in the primary fermenter now (6.5 gallon bucket) the original gravity read at 1.063. The recipe calls for adding the whiskey barrel oak chips when racking to the secondary.
1. When is the right time to rack to the secondary? Ive read once the gravity has dropped 75%. When I brewed my last beer I followed that same rule which took about 6 days. I was told I racked to the secondary to soon. Please help.
2. Would you recommend not racking to a secondary and just pitch the oak chips directly to the primary? And would you sanitize the oak chips?
3. Would you recommend soaking the oak chips in whiskey prior to pitching to really add that flavor as long as the chips are dried before pitching?
4. When would you suspect the beer be finished? 5-6 weeks?
Your advice is appreciated!
Cheers!
Signed,
Rookie home brewer
1. When is the right time to rack to the secondary? Ive read once the gravity has dropped 75%. When I brewed my last beer I followed that same rule which took about 6 days. I was told I racked to the secondary to soon. Please help.
2. Would you recommend not racking to a secondary and just pitch the oak chips directly to the primary? And would you sanitize the oak chips?
3. Would you recommend soaking the oak chips in whiskey prior to pitching to really add that flavor as long as the chips are dried before pitching?
4. When would you suspect the beer be finished? 5-6 weeks?
Your advice is appreciated!
Cheers!
Signed,
Rookie home brewer