Beechwood aged?

[petey_c]

Recently I had to have a rather large Beechwood tree taken down from the front of my house. As I played lumberjack and hewed the wood into smaller pieces, I began to wonder about Bud's old slogan "Beechwood aged..." I saved two small logs (about 8 pounds dry, heartwood). In my research (wiki), I found out that Bud, "While beechwood chips are used in the maturation tank, there is little to no flavor contribution from the wood, mainly because they are boiled in sodium bicarbonate [baking soda] for seven hours for the very purpose of removing any flavor from the wood." I'm wondering, A) Has anyone used beechwood chips in making homebrew, B) When to add them if you did; right away after pitching, or after 7 - 10 days like a dry hop?, C) How much to use for a 5 gallon batch, 4) What kind of beer would you suggest? Cheers, Pete

 

[BeardtreeBrewing]

A few weeks back I was at a seminar where a guy from bud was speaking on brewing. He said that the beechwood aging was so that the yeast would settle on top and the beer would have more contact with the yeast.

 

[unionrdr]

If I remember the video correctly,The beachwood is added to the bottom of the tank to give the yeast something to cling to. Something like that.
But you would add it in secondary after the beer hits FG & clears pretty well. A week or two with about 4oz should be good. Maybe soak the chips in plain vodka for a few days in a tight lidded container for a few days.

 

[Airborneguy]

The chips aren't for flavor, they provide surface area for the yeast. Unless you are lagering, with our batch sizes, it seems pointless to me. Even when lagering, it's still probably more trouble than it is worth.

 

[unionrdr]

Well,Bud soaks the chips to remove any flavor they might impart. If we don't,they'd add some woody flavors. Just not sure how much & what it'd taste like,since I never used it for this.

 

[petey_c]

Airborneguy, et al, As I was waiting for responses, I was doing more research and got the general impression "Beechwood Aged" was more for marketing than flavor enhancement. Okay, so it looks like I've got a couple more pieces of firewood.

 

[unionrdr]

I'd still try it. Since you won't be pre-soaking the resins out of the chips,you'd get some flavor from them. Squirrels love beach nuts,& they look a lot like Hickory nuts. So the wood from the tree should have a flavor akin to them.

 

[PVH]

Why not give it a go? Kind of like Schlenkerla's "really triple hopped" miller lite clone, but "really beechwood aged."

 

[Airborneguy]

Airborneguy, et al, As I was waiting for responses, I was doing more research and got the general impression "Beechwood Aged" was more for marketing than flavor enhancement. Okay, so it looks like I've got a couple more pieces of firewood.

I don't think I categorize it as a gimmick per se. At the batch sizes Bud is brewing, the chips would provide a ton of extra surface area for yeast growth, which would certainly speed up lagering times. Yeast is active during lagering, so more should be better. I just don't see it making at difference in a 5-10 gallon batch.

 

[unionrdr]

In this case,they wouldn't be used in primary to aid yeast growth. But rather in secondary for flavor. You'd be surprised how much flavor can be had in 5-6G of beer with a mear 4oz of chips.

 

[Airborneguy]

I see your point about using "naked" chips, so to speak. Evey fresh wood has its own flavor. Are you familiar with the flavor beechwood imparts?

 

[unionrdr]

No,beachnut trees are few & far between around here. The nearest one is some 50M+ from here one way. But the roasted nuts (in shell) taste a lot like Macedamia nuts. So maybe the wood is similar? Never got to use it in the pit,but I'd like to.

 

[Squatchito]

Probably not all that comparable, but I will chime in that beech is a lot like oak in a smoking capacity. I'd say it is a little more delicate than oak, but overall lends a negligably different flavor. I'd think it would work nice for something that you don't want an intense wood flavor on.

In an alternate reality where I was able to lager, I would throw a Marzen on it. Odell did/does a Double Marzen on oak called Woodcut #4 that I'd say is the best Lager I've ever had. Mmmmmm. Beechwood O-fest.

 

[petey_c]

I was thinking along the lines of an American Wheat (AHS) split between two 2 gallon batches. One with and one without. The things I do for the hobby! This research is hell.

 

[petey_c]

Okay, Sunday morning looks like it'll be the 4 gallon, beechwood/liquid starter experiment day. A one liter starter split between both batches (2 gal. each) and beechwood chips in one. Now, how much to add and do I have anything to weigh the bag down? Where are my damn marbles when I need them?

 

[petey_c]

So, Sunday turned out to be the day (even though I was cutting it close to when we had to leave for the city). Two ounces of beech wood chips weighed down with some marbles. Oddly enough, the batch without the wood looks like it's got more goin' on. Three weeks from now we'll bottle.
I'm not expecting some sort of flavor epiphany. As Airborne guy pointed out, I'm not even sure what flavor to expect. I could take this in another direction using the trees we have locally; white oak, maple (not sugar), cedar (Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale, matured in cedar casks), walnut (English and Black), etc., but I don't think so.

 

[sammytag]

Thanks for going through with this! The idea struck me the other day of doing a creative interpretation of budweiser - a (real) bohemian lager aged with (flavour-intact) beechwood. Hope all goes well with your brew. I'm anxiously awaiting your results!

 

[petey_c]

Well, had the first taste test tonight. So far, beech wood leads. By a significant margin. Three out of three preferred the beach wood, to the sans version. Tomorrow, I'll try and do a more specific review.

 

[boscobeans]

Beech, which is very common around here, won't add any flavor. It is used for making spoons, mortars and pestles, bowls as well as other food prep items because of it's lack of flavor. It is great for carving and firewood as well as lumber. I think the only reason Bud uses it is to clarify their "water". I liked it because it split easily and burned clean once seasoned.

The bark, leaves and nuts (squirrels love em) might have some flavor and have been used in medicinal teas.

bosco