Are Oak Wood Chips Worth It?

[BrewingWisdom]

Hi there
On aliexpress I've seen some Chinese suppliers selling Oak Wood Chips. They are meant to drop it in the bottle of wine, beer or distilled whisky for aging in the oak wood so the alcoholic beverages develop an Oak Wood character, smell, and taste.
The result is the same if we use the Oak barrel instead of Oak Wood Chips? How efficient Oak Wood Chips are Or has anyone here tried it?

 

[Coffee49]

I am not in the least racist but i would not use any drop liquid made in China for any distilled or brewed product. Oak chips can be purchased at a brew shop and should be added at the secondary time frame for the best results.

 

[davidabcd]

I know this is a wine question but I've had great results with oak chips in the fermenter for a period of time. There's no reason the simulation wouldn't provide results at least as good when fermenting wine. Totally worth it for me since I can skip buying an empty barrel for $100 which can have a limited number of uses.
I gather that the correct amount of char (light, medium, etc.), correct volume of chips and the correct amount of time that the chips are in contact with the liquid are very important.

 

[McMullan]

I used some oak chips supplied with a wine kit recently. Added just before the yeast and left in primary for 2 weeks, as per instructions supplied. Definitely got a nice oak character from it. From memory, it was about 100g oak chips in 23L must. If not from a reputable supplier I think I'd prefer to make my own. Plane or chisel away at some nice oak then char the chips.

 

[BrewingWisdom]

I am not in the least racist but i would not use any drop liquid made in China for any distilled or brewed product. Oak chips can be purchased at a brew shop and should be added at the secondary time frame for the best results.

Here we are not talking about any Chinese drop liquid but just the Chinese selling platform where you can buy French and American oak wood.

 

[madscientist451]

The result is the same if we use the Oak barrel instead of Oak Wood Chips? How efficient Oak Wood Chips are Or has anyone here tried it?

No, using a barrel and chips will not produce the same results, however using a barrel isn't convenient or cost effective for most home brewers so using chips is good alternative. I usually use Jack Daniel's barrel chips, which are made from old whiskey barrels and sold to use for smoking meat in your outdoor smoker/grill. I've added the chips directly to a keg of beer or jug of cider or wine, and that works OK, but you need to keep checking it to make sure its doesn't get too much oak character. Another method I use is to put the chips in a glass jar and add cheap bourbon or vodka and let it sit for a few weeks or longer and then add the flavored liquor to the beer/cider to taste. If the chips are hard to get, you can re-use the chips for this several times before the flavor is all gone. As mentioned above, you can char/toast your chips or leave them un-un charred. There are many you tube videos on this subject.

 

[BrewingWisdom]

No, using a barrel and chips will not produce the same results,

So the barrel aged spirit is superior or inferior to the one aged in wood chips? Which one produce better results that's all I want to know.

 

[madscientist451]

Better or not better is a matter of perception, you may or may not notice any difference or may prefer chips/staves. Many commercial wine makers use oak staves in stainless steel tanks and don't use barrels at all.

 

[bwible]

There are several articles and sources of info out there if you search for barrel aging beers or wood aging beers.

The biggest thing the scientific minds focus on is the ratio of liquid to exposed surface of the oak. Different sized barrels have different ratios so all barrels themselves are not equal and you can’t even compare barrels one to another let alone compare barrels to cubes or chips or staves.

For homebrewers I like the oak cubes. They are not flat like chips so each cube provides more surface exposure. There are also different kinds of oak and they are all different. American oak vs French oak vs Hungarian oak seem to be the biggest ones.

I was on a bourbon barrel kick a couple years ago. I was using a little less than 1 oz of cubes per gallon and soaking them in bourbon. I tried a few different bourbons, the end results weren’t noticably different. You have to check on it periodically. That said I have left a 3 gallon batch on 2.5 oz of cubes for several months with good results. Oak flavor also diminishes with age.

 

[bracconiere]

I am not in the least racist but i would not use any drop liquid made in China for any distilled or brewed product. Oak chips can be purchased at a brew shop and should be added at the secondary time frame for the best results.

he lives in pakistan....

@BrewingWisdom i've had good luck with the chips in booze, but never tried them in a stout beer or anything else for that matter...

the chips will devolpe flavor much faster then a barrel...and make sure they're toasted....

 

[bracconiere]

American oak vs French oak vs Hungarian oak seem to be the biggest ones.

on the american oak, it would also depend on west or east coast...valley oak on the west coast tastes like a vanilla bean....

 

[BrewingWisdom]

he lives in pakistan....

@BrewingWisdom i've had good luck with the chips in booze, but never tried them in a stout beer or anything else for that matter...

the chips will devolpe flavor much faster then a barrel...and make sure they're toasted....

By booze you mean hard liquor or a spirit like whisky, Rum , Brandy etc?

 

[bracconiere]

By booze you mean hard liquor or a spirit like whisky, Rum , Brandy etc?

yes, all of them. takes about 1-2 weeks of aging to flavor, color it. but that's at 65% ABV...and i have drank store bought wine that was aged in oak barrels, to me it's a must! (no pun intended) i've also used cherry wood, and maple for aging...feel free to get creative with any wood they use for smoking food....

it is good!

 

[BrewingWisdom]

yes, all of them. takes about 1-2 weeks of aging to flavor, color it. but that's at 65% ABV...and i have drank store bought wine that was aged in oak barrels, to me it's a must! (no pun intended) i've also used cherry wood, and maple for aging...feel free to get creative with any wood they use for smoking food....

it is good!

1-2 weeks is quite short time. I have heard they age spirits for years. On bottles it's often written 5,10 years old.
65% abv wow. I once drank green coloured absinthe at 70% abv and one shot of it was enough for me lol.
Do you also distill at home?

 

[bracconiere]

On bottles it's often written 5,10 years old.
65% abv wow.

in my head that's marketing, most of the flavor comes in play from chips in just a couple weeks.. although i do have a bottle of brandy from 2008 still aging on valley oak...

and yeah 65% is hard core, i assure you when i do drink it i add enough water to get it down to 20-30%

and only when i'm forced to....

 

[BrewingWisdom]

in my head that's marketing, most of the flavor comes in play from chips in just a couple weeks.. although i do have a bottle of brandy from 2008 still aging on valley oak...

and yeah 65% is hard core, i assure you when i do drink it i add enough water to get it down to 20-30%

and only when i'm forced to....

So you are saying all those super expensive 10-15 year old whiskies is a scam?

 

[bracconiere]

So you are saying all those super expensive 10-15 year old whiskies is a scam?

do you want them because they cost more? there's a, or was, a start up that used flaked wood because it was faster...i can atest to the fact i can get a gallon of 65% aged in 2 weeks tops....

i don't know how much american TV you consume....but that's Dr. Evil, and it's a comedy.....