Aging with oak chips

[LynnHomeBrewer]

My stout is ready to be aged with oak chips that I have been soaking in whiskey for a month.

How long should I age the stout with oak chips before I bottle?

 

[masonsjax]

Start with two weeks, then sample using a sanitized wine thief once a week until it tastes right to you. Just remember that the oak flavor, like hop aroma, will fade with time. I usually age slightly past my target when dealing with oak chips.

 

[LynnHomeBrewer]

Right now the oak chips and special whiskey smell like Butterscotch. Ill try a week then sample with Thief.

Tanks much and cheers

 

[CompassBrewing]

Start with two weeks, then sample using a sanitized wine thief once a week until it tastes right to you. Just remember that the oak flavor, like hop aroma, will fade with time. I usually age slightly past my target when dealing with oak chips.

Will this continue to occur even after it's been bottled?

 

[Golddiggie]

Keep in mind, that oak chips flavor WILL change over time. Once it's in bottles, don't expect it to remain the same. I did two batches with medium toast oak chips. While I got the nice oak flavors and aroma's early on, after about two months, the flavor changed to vanilla. Not getting the same reaction from oak cubes though. Same toast level. Of course, it could be partially (at least) to do with the oak strain. The chips I used were French, where the cubes are Hungarian... :rockin:

How is the aroma you're getting from the chips, while soaking, different from the whiskey's normal aroma? You could take a sip of the whiskey to taste the change before you add them to the brew. Just to get an idea. Of course, you'll have extracted some of the oak flavors/etc. into the whiskey.

Are you planning on pitching just the chips, or the whiskey too?

 

[LynnHomeBrewer]

1 oz. American Oak chips fit perfectly into a sanitized salsa jar. Topped off with Maple whiskey...

After over a month and a half the oak chips have soaked three quarters of the whiskey. Opened it and smelled like BUTTERSCOTCH!!!

Gonna age my stout for a week with oak chips. Not dumping in surplus whiskey

 

[unionrdr]

I brewed a dark ale that I aged with 4oz of the same medium toast French oak chips & 7.5oz (5 jiggers) of Beam's black. It's an 8 year old bourbon. The oak chips soaked up 3/4's of the bourbon in the time it took the dark ale to reach FG. Conditioning in secondary,it took only 8 days to get a strong bourbon flavor. But the dark brown ruby tinted color degraded as well.
I did use 3lbs of Munton's plain amber DME,but the color does seem to be coming back as the ale clears up again.
I'm actually looking forward to getting back the vanilla cream/bourbon flavor. The cooper's dark ale/Munton's plain amber combo,with the hops used,made that vanilla cream flavor on it's own. & the bourbon being double oaked (distillery & my French oak addition) should give a good amount of that with aging in the bottles. It's been about 4 days now.

 

[masonsjax]

Here's an older thread that has a lot of good information about brewing with wood.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/tips-wood-aging-119445/

 

[ChillWill]

I oak aged half my arrogant bastard clone far too much (too much oak for 2 weeks), was horrible at first while the un-oaked half was awesome. Couple of months later and the oak had faded and smoothed and it was amazing. It does fade an awful lot I've found over various batches.

 

[unionrdr]

I'm waiting for it to smooth out. Should be great with the vanilla/bourbon flavor,& the creamy flavors from the dark ale.

 

[robaincltnc]

I used bourbon soaked oak chips in my Imperial Stout 8% ABV beer. I kegged my 5gallon's on 5/21. I'm not planning on drinking the beer until November. How long do you suggest I leave the oak in the keg?? I def want the flavor but don't want to overpower the beer. Thanks for the advice!!! Cheers!

 

[unionrdr]

How much oak/bourbon did you use? I used 4oz of medium toast French oak chips with 5 jiggers of Beam's Black in mine in a secondary. 8 days later,the flavors were fairly strong.
It's going to age in the bottles (4 days so far) till around maybe the 3rd week of August till I even try one. Was shooting for Halloween or turkey day.

 

[robaincltnc]

I soaked 4oz oak with 2-3 oz of Jack for a few weeks and then added to beer. I tasted yesterday and it was pretty good except the beer definitely still has a bit. Maybe that's why they say age for 6+ months on the instructions. So you think its aged enough?? 6 weeks? I swear somewhere I saw on here said to age it like 3 months but that scares me...

 

[unionrdr]

Well,I bottled mine on 7/2,& I'm going to wait till the 3rd week of August to chill one & sample. just to see if the flavors have mellowed to my liking. It may be 6 weeks,it may be a couple of months. It depends on the gravity of the ale used.
I used a dark ale,so it may be 6-8 weeks. I'll know then,& report back.

 

[makomachine]

I must not be a fan of oak as my oaked imperial stout got overpowered in two weeks on oak chips. Been in the keg for 6 months since and don't care for the tannin bite I get from it. I say check periodically and don't go off of what others say as preferences differ obviously.

 

[unionrdr]

I deliberately used 4oz oak to 7.5oz bourbon soaked for the whole ferment time to get enough strength by volume to not need a long secondary time. 8 days was plenty at that volume/strength to give the ale some serious flavor. That flavor will break down to a creamy vanilla & oak thing in the right amount of time.
The dark ale I made had some of that quality on it's own,so with the right amount of aging,it'll be glorious with holiday food.

 

[LynnHomeBrewer]

I added about 1/2 oz. Of maple whiskey soaked American oak chips yesterday. The Stainless Steel strainer tube I got for carboy would only for about 1/2 oz. Wish I could have fit the whole oz. in it.

This heat wave might have ruined my stout. Been about 80 in the house during fermentation. I probably should have brewed my Saison, seeing its optimal fermenting temp for it.