How long should I leave this beer on Oak Cubes?

Hey All. I'm relatively new to the forum and I don't post much (although I have found this site to be an invaluable resource). I have done a lot of searching and there seems to be a lot of different opinions on oak cubes and time.

I brewed a Brown Ale with some Dark Brown Sugar and some Grade B Maple Syrup at flame out. I'm at 6.6% ABV (5 gal) after a smooth primary fermentation.

I ordered 3oz of Medium Toast American Oak cubes. I steamed them and placed in the carboy and racked over the brown ale.

The beer has been on these cubes for about 10 days. I tasted it on Day 8 and there was a nice oak flavor. Part of me thinks I need to pull the trigger and bottle. The beer is good, right? The other part of me thinks I may be cheating myself and not getting the depth of flavor that may be possible by letting it sit for more time.

I guess my questions is, how much more complex/smooth/oaked can this get and can it get there without being dominated by oak flavor?

I had initially planned on 8 weeks in the secondary w/ the cubes but I'm getting a little worried.

Any suggestions would be great. Do i keep my foot on the pedal? Thanks.

I made a 10 gallon Pils once and split the batch up and tried an experiment very similar to what you are asking. It wasn't entirely scientific, but it was good enough for me. I took 5 gallons and kept it plain as a kind of control, then evenly split the remaining 5 gallons into 2 3gal carboys. I put 2oz of oak chips into each fermenter (although one was soaked in bourbon) and kegged one at 2 weeks and the other at about 6. The bourbon soaked carboy was racked and kegged first because I couldn't wait and it was excellent. At 6 weeks the oak flavor was starting to dominate such a light beer. When I do it again I plan on doing an entire 10gal batch and oaking it w/4oz + bourbon for 3 weeks. For a darker beer like your brown ale, I think you could benefit by letting it sit for at least 4 weeks to let more of the oak flavor come out. I think you will be pleasantly surprised after you wait.

You are using cubes, and not chips correct. If you are using cubes i would suggest you leaving the wort on the cubes for around 5-6 months (or as long as you can take it). This will allow you to extract many different flavors from the cubes. If you are using chips, i would leave the wort on the chips for around a week. With chips flavor is imparted a lot faster and after about 2 weeks you can start to get off flavors.

I know it may be hard to resist but i know people who have left cubes in old ales and barley wines for well over a year with excellent results.

Chromados

3oz is a lot of oak, even if they are cubes. Just taste it as you go and once it tastes how you like it bottle/keg away. You could even go a little more than you wanted and the oak should age out over time.

I would let the cubes go for at least 3 months. Just depends on what you like. I did 6 weeks w/ 3 oz of cubes in a robust porter and I wish I had gone 3 months.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm wondering if this beer isn't "big" enough to withstand the medium oak. I guess I'll just keep tasting it. If anyone else has experience with this let me know. Thanks!

chromados said:

You are using cubes, and not chips correct.

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What is the difference between cubes and chips (related to end result)? Why would I choose one over the other?

Sorry

Haputanlas said:

What is the difference between cubes and chips (related to end result)? Why would I choose one over the other?

Sorry

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Chips are like slivers or chopped up wood that are charred on both sides. They are thin in comparison to the cubes. Cubes are thicker and are only charred on 1 side. You can think of cube as like they cubed up a whiskey barrel into a bunch of small pieces. Chips impart flavor much much faster than cubes do. I leave chips in for 1 week, and i leave cubes in for 5-6 months. I much prefer cubes as i feel that it imparts many different flavors from the wood, and you can really start to sense them after they are on the wood for many months.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Chromados

Thanks Chromados, actually I do.

If I wanted to soak the Oak in Bourbon, would the cubes or chips be preferred? I'm assuming that chips would emit the bourbon a little bit quicker? Chips are a quicker means to the end (At the expense of complexity)?

Id suggest a minimum of 8 weeks. Think of them like an oak barrel, no one can say this time or that time, but he longer you let it go the better it will most likely be. You can also test it with a wine thief for flavor over the time (dont forget to sanitize it every use). I use the oak cubes as well now, much better than paying so much for the barrel and so far they seem to be doing well. I soaked mine in whiskey for 2 months before i used them. Good luck and I hope all goes very well!

Both would work really well and i have used both. When i oak DIPA or anything lighter like that i want to drink early i use chips so that i dont lose hop flavor. You can soak them for a few days before hand to allow them to pick up the flavor. For strong stouts, Barley Wines, etc i soak the cubes in Makers Mark (my preferred bourbon) for a week or so before. I have taken them out of the bourbon or tossed the cubes with the bourbon into the secondary. I prefer the first because when i tossed it all in, the stout was over powered with bourbon flavor, it mellowed with time though but i just throw the soaked cubes in now (be sure to drink the Makers Mark or save it for a later batch though).

Sorry that was long but to answer your question there really isnt a preferred choice, its all up to you. Be sure you use the right amount though (like 1/2 and ounce of chips or 1.5 oz of cubes) and be patient and you will get awesome beer.

Chromados

Thank you. I appreciate the more thorough responses.

Sorry Jbrew33, didn't mean to steal the attention of the thread

What was the SG/FG of your brown ale? The problem you may run into is all that oak sitting near your dip tube. If you just pull off a tiny bit, you are getting the oak flavor right there, but it may not be how the rest of the beer tastes. Also, the surface char flakes off and settles down near the dip tube, and this will throw you off as well. I have started to rinse my cubes with a little beer first before adding them in, to shake off that char. I think it makes a softer initial oak flavor. But then again I also think the Sharks will win the cup this year so ... That being said, still taste the beer every 2 weeks or so, you will be amazed at how much things change.

For my oatmeal stout, which is a 1.054ish beer, I put one ounce on for a good 5-6 months, and this is a really mellow flavor impact. The benifit of cubes is they have different layers of flavors (as stated above) and you gain a lot from extended aging.

Jipper said:

What was the SG/FG of your brown ale? The problem you may run into is all that oak sitting near your dip tube. If you just pull off a tiny bit, you are getting the oak flavor right there, but it may not be how the rest of the beer tastes. Also, the surface char flakes off and settles down near the dip tube, and this will throw you off as well. I have started to rinse my cubes with a little beer first before adding them in, to shake off that char. I think it makes a softer initial oak flavor. But then again I also think the Sharks will win the cup this year so ... That being said, still taste the beer every 2 weeks or so, you will be amazed at how much things change.

For my oatmeal stout, which is a 1.054ish beer, I put one ounce on for a good 5-6 months, and this is a really mellow flavor impact. The benifit of cubes is they have different layers of flavors (as stated above) and you gain a lot from extended aging.

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Thanks for the feedback everyone. I appreciate it.

The OG was 1.061(roughly) and the FG was 1.010 (roughly)

As for the tasting, I swirled the beer in the carboy before I sampled. IDK if that's enough to disperse the oakiness (?) or not. Thanks.

I want to keep my foot on the pedal but I think i used too much oak initially.

chromados said:

Both would work really well and i have used both. When i oak DIPA or anything lighter like that i want to drink early i use chips so that i dont lose hop flavor. You can soak them for a few days before hand to allow them to pick up the flavor. For strong stouts, Barley Wines, etc i soak the cubes in Makers Mark (my preferred bourbon) for a week or so before. I have taken them out of the bourbon or tossed the cubes with the bourbon into the secondary. I prefer the first because when i tossed it all in, the stout was over powered with bourbon flavor, it mellowed with time though but i just throw the soaked cubes in now (be sure to drink the Makers Mark or save it for a later batch though).

Sorry that was long but to answer your question there really isnt a preferred choice, its all up to you. Be sure you use the right amount though (like 1/2 and ounce of chips or 1.5 oz of cubes) and be patient and you will get awesome beer.

Chromados

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I'm going to try this method on my upcoming American Barleywine I plan to age. Think you've sold me on it