Bourbon techniques and advice

[Lmanning507]

I will be brewing a 5 gallon all grain imperial red this weekend and I would like to split the batch in half and add bourbon to about 2 gallons and leave the rest alone. I've read others use around 2oz of oak chips into 16oz bourbon for 48hrs per 5 gallon batch. Any advice how to break down this technique to a 2 gallon beer?

 

[MaxStout]

I will be brewing a 5 gallon all grain imperial red this weekend and I would like to split the batch in half and add bourbon to about 2 gallons and leave the rest alone. I've read others use around 2oz of oak chips into 16oz bourbon for 48hrs per 5 gallon batch. Any advice how to break down this technique to a 2 gallon beer?

The quantities would be scalable. Use 6.4 oz of bourbon on .8 oz oak chips. Same amount of time to soak them.

 

[Lmanning507]

Thanks a lot for the feedback any previous experience with this?

 

[MaxStout]

Thanks a lot for the feedback any previous experience with this?

I did something similar with a batch of RIS. I soaked 2 oz of toasted oak cubes in about 8 oz of Maker's Mark for a couple weeks, then poured them (with bourbon) into the secondary. It added a nice barrel-aged note to the flavor and aroma. I used cubes, as they were to sit in there for a few months.

 

[Lmanning507]

Great thanks for the advice!

 

[MaxStout]

Oak chips are OK if you're not keeping them in the beer more than a couple weeks, otherwise, tannins from the wood can leach out (chips are thinner and have greater surface area). If you want to leave the oak in the beer for any long-term aging, use cubes.

A good primer on oak aging.

 

[Broken_Spoke]

I've had good luck using chips soaked in makers for a week. I placed them in a sealed container in the garage where I knew the temperature would cause the wood to breath in the makers a lot quicker than inside the house. Dumped in all into secondary and racked on top of that. Turned out quite well