Bourbon French oak in RIS

[urg8rb8]

So I put 2oz of French oak chips in a mason jar and filled it with Jim Beam until all the chips were submerged. I let it sit in the jar for a week and the bourbon became very dark. I dumped everything in the jar into the primary.

I swirled the beer a bit with the bourbon and oak... Took a taste and can definitely taste the bourbon and some of the oak.

At this point, do I keep it longer on the oak? Another week? I don't want to over oak this. How often should I sample it? Do I need to swirl the beer before I taste?

 

[IchLiebeBier]

When I brewed the NB Rebel Rye Porter, I did the same thing with the whisky and oak, but poured it into the secondary, and let it sit for 5 weeks. I don't know if adding it to the primary will accomplish what you want. What you may be able to do is transfer to secondary, and just add new oak (without more whisky). Maybe toast the chips to sanitize them first.

 

[madscientist451]

What's the beer volume? I'd check it every 3-4 days. You can always add more bourbon for aroma/flavor.

 

[urg8rb8]

When I brewed the NB Rebel Rye Porter, I did the same thing with the whisky and oak, but poured it into the secondary, and let it sit for 5 weeks. I don't know if adding it to the primary will accomplish what you want. What you may be able to do is transfer to secondary, and just add new oak (without more whisky). Maybe toast the chips to sanitize them first.

Why does it matter if it's in the primary? The beer was done fermenting like two or three weeks ago.

 

[urg8rb8]

What's the beer volume? I'd check it every 3-4 days. You can always add more bourbon for aroma/flavor.

5 gallons. I'll check it in a few days then. Do I need to stir the beer before sampling?

 

[kh54s10]

I used Jim Beam and French Oak chips in a Russian Imperial Stout. 4 ounces of chips. When I tasted before bottling I thought "I'm drinking a tree". It mellowed some but was still oaky. But I loved it. I finished the last 2 bottles last week. It was brewed on August 14, 2015. I had it on the chips for 7 days.

 

[urg8rb8]

Should the 7 days include the time the chips were soaking in the jar? I would guess yes since the bourbon in the jar has lots of oak.

 

[spittybug]

I did a bourbon soaked oak chip imperial stout (Imperial Dark Vader I called it). It went through many different taste profiles before settling down after about 4 months. Seriously, the taste would change every week or two. Sometimes the bourbon was very pronounced, sometimes the coffee/chocolate notes. The worst was when the tannins would rear their ugly heads....it was undrinkable and seemed salty. This too passed and now it is a great, deep, complex beer that I would put up against any other. Weird chemistry.

 

[urg8rb8]

I did a bourbon soaked oak chip imperial stout (Imperial Dark Vader I called it). It went through many different taste profiles before settling down after about 4 months. Seriously, the taste would change every week or two. Sometimes the bourbon was very pronounced, sometimes the coffee/chocolate notes. The worst was when the tannins would rear their ugly heads....it was undrinkable and seemed salty. This too passed and now it is a great, deep, complex beer that I would put up against any other. Weird chemistry.

That sounds awesome! How much oak and bourbon did you use? How long did you have the oak soaking for?

 

[IchLiebeBier]

Why does it matter if it's in the primary? The beer was done fermenting like two or three weeks ago.

I generally follow the rule of getting it off the yeast cake pretty quickly to avoid autolysis. I never leave it in primary more than 2-3 weeks (for an ale). But other folks may think it's ok. I err on the side of caution. A big beer, like RIS, I'd leave for closer to 3 weeks to let the yeast finish up and clean it up.

So if you want to leave it on oak for 5 weeks, for example, you'd do it in secondary.

Also, putting the whisky in the primary could stress the yeast because of the additional alcohol if you put it in too early. But it depends on the yeast. Since the RIS is already higher alcohol, putting extra alcohol in it may push it too far. Again, that's why secondary is a better choice IMO.

 

[spittybug]

IIRC, I used about an ounce of chips? It was a half full plastic snack bag. I used a cast iron skillet and browned (not too far, didn't want black) them on the bbq. Put in snack bag and added about 2 - 3 shots of bourbon and let sit in fridge while beer was fermenting. I put the chip solution (nasty looking) into secondary. Now here's where old age is kicking in... I don't remember removing them. They *may* still be in the bottom of the yet unfinished keg. I have 6 beers on tap at a time, so the bigger, heavier beers last me a while.....

 

[urg8rb8]

I haven't washed the mason jar out that had the bourbon and med french oak. And it smells so good! Smells like chocolate liquor!