Anyone tried aging with oak chips? I love the idea of it, wood always leaves an amazing taste/smell in anything it's used with, and I would like to try it with one of my ciders. I've heard of people adding it as soon as they start primary fermentation, as well as secondary. Which one is best? And how long is the usual time span to get a good flavor in there? How much do I add? Answers to any of these questions would be greatly appreciated!
Aging with oak chips
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jekeane
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Just getting a few batches of cider going and I was thinking of doing one with oak. I have some oak chips sitting in a sour beer right now and I was planning on leaving them in for the life of the ferment (6+ months) but I'm not sure how the taste affects cider...
One of my favourite local ciders (Sea cider Rumrunner) is aged in bourbon barrels for a min of 6 months. It is very dark, and you can really get a sense of the rum flavour.
I'm thinking of adding 1 oz French oak to 5 gal in the secondary, and I'll probably just sample periodically until it tastes right I guess. I'm curious to hear what you ended up doing and how it turned out
One of my favourite local ciders (Sea cider Rumrunner) is aged in bourbon barrels for a min of 6 months. It is very dark, and you can really get a sense of the rum flavour.
I'm thinking of adding 1 oz French oak to 5 gal in the secondary, and I'll probably just sample periodically until it tastes right I guess. I'm curious to hear what you ended up doing and how it turned out
jekeane
Well-Known Member
Chips will decay and become little more than sawdust and tannins in a beer/cider after 6 months. Cubes are for longer term oaking.
I am leaving the chips in for a week and then tasting/racking them off the chips. I'm told with chips you don't leave them in very long. I have 1/8 oz of American medium toast in there right now. If I can't taste a difference in a week I'll leave them in for one more week.
oljimmy
Well-Known Member
I tried chips soaked in bourbon once... left in for 11 days and it was AWFUL. Like drinking a tree. Never again.
The thing is, the molecules that make up oak tannin are very different from those that make up natural apple tannins. We should only add chips/cubes if we want our cider to taste a bit woody. Which is fine, but it's not a substitute for using real cider apples.
The thing is, the molecules that make up oak tannin are very different from those that make up natural apple tannins. We should only add chips/cubes if we want our cider to taste a bit woody. Which is fine, but it's not a substitute for using real cider apples.
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