Appel Cider Barrel aged beer

[Tiroux]

So! The title is lying a little bit, but here's my idea!

-Buy an Apple Cider bottle
-Drink half of it
-Put the rest of it in a mason jar with pre-boiled oak chips (to reduce raw oak flavors)
-Let it sit for weeks/months
-Use it to age a beer in secondary for a month or so


Few questions about this idea...

1-Would a 12%abv cider strong enough to ''sterilize'' the chips? (They probably will be boiled several minutes right before they'll be added to the cider)

2-What kind of beer would fit great with it? I was thinking maybe a dry/clean strong blonde ale, really simple... or maybe a Saison!

3-Any experiences on beer aged in some kind of barrel that is not raw oak or whisky barrel? (red/white/port wine, by example?)

Thanks!

 

[Ticebain]

I think this is a great idea. I think months is the way to go though. A nice lagered blond ale would be what I use for the first attempt. I would put the chips in cider now for the entire summer and then once you can lager again due to weather (or anytime with one of those fancy refrigerator thingies) oak age the beer. I would go for a pretty sweet cider though. I think if you used a dry one you would only get a small apple flavor. Not sure of the strength needed for the chips but since you are talking about a mason jar, why not can it like a can of veggies and make sure it is sealed for the time the oak is soaking up the apple flavor? If you do it right it will be totally sterile and since it is oak you won't have to worry about over cooking it. You can just boil the crap out of it. Come to think about it, this method would allow you to use non alcoholic cider so you could buy some really "appley" stuff

 

[Tiroux]

I think this is a great idea. I think months is the way to go though. A nice lagered blond ale would be what I use for the first attempt. I would put the chips in cider now for the entire summer and then once you can lager again due to weather (or anytime with one of those fancy refrigerator thingies) oak age the beer. I would go for a pretty sweet cider though. I think if you used a dry one you would only get a small apple flavor. Not sure of the strength needed for the chips but since you are talking about a mason jar, why not can it like a can of veggies and make sure it is sealed for the time the oak is soaking up the apple flavor? If you do it right it will be totally sterile and since it is oak you won't have to worry about over cooking it. You can just boil the crap out of it. Come to think about it, this method would allow you to use non alcoholic cider so you could buy some really "appley" stuff

A lagered ale is a great idea...!

I am not really seeking for an apple beer... I don't really looking for a fresh apple flavor... I'm more after a woody/complex slight tartness. That said... I ain't say no to had some fresh apple cider in the beer... or sliced apples in secondary, because even to add a wild wyeast caracter to it..!

 

[Tiroux]

So I prepared the chips today!

I selected a really simple strong still cider, 12%abv. It's a semi-dry really tart and woody cider, very delicate.

I starsan-ed a jar in wich I added 50g of oak chips that I had pre-boiled for 10m (2x5m, changing the water in between), then filled with the apple cider.

I found the oak chips aroma really strong even after 10m of boil. It was a strong vanilla, bourbon style aroma... not sure if it quite fits with the cider, but my plan is maybe to let it sit for weeks, then drain the liquid, and re-fill with fresh cider to again for a while.

 

[Tiroux]

Finally, I decided to go with a lambic!

Thats is gonna be a 1050 very fermentable wort (pils/wheat), between 5 and 10 IBUs.

Here's some ideas I had for it

-Ferment first with a fruity ale yeast (maybe WLP023 burton ale with its pear caracter??) and let it complete fermentation.
-Rack to secondary and top with apple cider (non-alc.) or apple juice
-Wait a day or two
-Add brett, lacto and peddio to it (possibly a WL or Wyeast blend), with about 1/2 to 3/4oz of those cider soaked chips
-Wait 6 months or so, and see if I rack on apples and more chips, or If I let it go, or if I bottle it.