Oak cubes and bourbon in primary?

I am planning on making a Bourbon Barrel Porter which calls for oak cubes and bourbon. Can I just add these to the primary after fermentation has settled down? That way, I can let the beer sit on oak for 1-2 weeks (or whenever my taste buds say it has had enough) and then rack off to secondary to bulk age for a couple of months.

Are there any real downsides to doing it this way over oaking in secondary (then moving it to tertiary)?

 

ive done this with dryhopping but never with oak, If your going to do it make sure you give your brew a good few weeks to finish before you add the oak. The downside is that once you rack to secondary, you have the ability to oak indeffinitly because you removed all the yeast and hop sediment which could cause off flavors. If you do it in primary your still limited somewhat by time. If your only going to oak for a few weeks then you should be fine doing it this way. I rack before 2 months or when the yeast sediment is over a a quarter inch (after primary for secondary or tertiary)

 

I did a bourbon barrell porter kit that turned out fantastic. The directions called for adding the oak and bourbon to the secondary. I did it that way and it is was really good.

 

My only concern with adding the oak to secondary is that I have heard that leaving it on the oak for more than a couple of weeks imparts way too much oak flavor and I would like to bulk age it for a couple of months

 

put it in a musling bag and yank it out when ready? just a thought

 

That may be true of oak chips but I have found it takes much longer for oak cubes.

I think oak cubes are a much better way to oak a beer or wine as it more closely replicates the depth of oak a real barrel provides. I find that 2oz of oak cubes in 6gal of mead for 4 months to still be quite subtle. You not even notice the same amount in 5gal of porter. I would use 2-3 oz of oak cubes in the secondary. Check the flavor after a month to see if it is noticeable. If you can't detect the oak then consider adding more. If its quite noticeable then consider bottling. If its detectable but needs a little more oak then just leave it for another month. A couple weeks will barely touch a cube.

Craig

 

I agree, I did mine and soaked the cubes in 3/4 liter of Makers Mark. Racked and let it sit in secondary for 3 weeks with 3oz of cubes and it turned out awesome. Oak level is to each his own though.

 

Sorry to hijack/revive an old thread. I am going to rack a dark strong belgian style ale to secondary in a couple of weeks. I just bought some medium toast american oak cubes. I was planning on doing 2-3 oz that I soak in whiskey for about 2 weeks. I planned on leaving it in the secondary for about 6 months, then bottle condition til xmas time and beyond. Any opinions about this being too much oak? Or can I get away with less oak and more time?

 

I just toasted some oak cubes and soaked them in bourbon. Do you think it matters any if the soaking container is kept covered or uncovered. I figure if its left uncovered the booze will evaporate.

 

I believe you figure correctly...

I made that mistake the first time I did this for a Dragons Milk Clone... Now I use a ball jar for infusing...whether it be vodka for cocao nibs, vanilla beans.. or bourbon for wood chips...you want the alcohol to do a couple things...partially sanitize and extract the flavoring you are after. I leave my oak soaking for about a week, or until I can see a noticable color change in the infusing liquid.

 

That's a good idea.

Traditionally, around my neck we have poured a shot or rum into our porter.

Those were the days!