Brewing with Oak Chips

[user 30639]

I noticed a while back that Jack Daniels is now selling oak chips made out their whiskey barrels. I thought they would be pretty cool to use in a beer.

Having never brewed with oak chips before, how do add them? Just toss a handful in the secondary? My other concern was, how do you sanitize them?

Thanks.

 

[RICLARK]

I noticed a while back that Jack Daniels is now selling oak chips made out their whiskey barrels. I thought they would be pretty cool to use in a beer.

Having never brewed with oak chips before, how do add them? Just toss a handful in the secondary? My other concern was, how do you sanitize them?

Thanks.

You sanatize them with a vegetable steamer. then you put them into the secondary and rack on top of them.

 

[user 30639]

You sanatize them with a vegetable steamer. then you put them into the secondary and rack on top of them.

Thanks for the info.

Grand Ledge, eh? I grew up in Lansing.

 

[RICLARK]

Thanks for the info.

Grand Ledge, eh? I grew up in Lansing.

Me Too and its gone to hell, I think ill be joining you in Texas if this place dont turn around.

 

[Revvy]

Don't Steam the jack Daniels Chips!!!!!...Get a half pint of Jack daniels and let them sit for 1-2 weeks in a mason jar, that will sanitize them, and you wont loose all the great jack daniels flavor like you would if you steamed them....

These a chips are really tasty already, and more jack makes them even better.

Having used the jack ones, only keep them on for a couple weeks then rack it off...and the flavor will need about 6-8 weeks or more to mellow in the bottle. But it will be worth it.

Next time I use them, I'm going to dry toast them a cast iron pan to get them a little more charred.

 

[RICLARK]

Damn It Revvy You make me look Like a Jerk!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't know that about the JD chips im gonna try it for my breakfast Stout!

 

[Revvy]

Damn It Revvy You make me look Like a Jerk!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't know that about the JD chips im gonna try it for my breakfast Stout!

Well he did say they were the JD ones....

If they were normal ones I would have agreed with you..but these have a nifty Jack Flavor already in them, and I'd be afraid of the steam heat driving it off...

and at 7 bucks a bag like this...

You can oak multiple batches...


One thing guys, when using them...Pick through them and make sure you only pieces larger than someone could choke on...in other words make sure there's no long slivers or tiny pieces that could accidentally get sucked up your autosiphon and end up it bottles...I selected pieces that were at least an inch wide.

 

[Saccharomyces]

I have some of these chips and I wanna do a Bourbon Barrel Porter. After having Bluegrass Brewing's Jefferson's Reserve Bourbon Barrel Stout, I am totally inspired.

 

[PseudoChef]

Steaming has never washed away any flavor for me. We essentially steamed our full JD barrel and the resulting beer has plenty of oak and whiskey notes in it.

 

[aswistak]

can anyone recommend a recipe that works well with using the wood chips? I usually use kits from here http://ebrew.com/ since I live in Charlotte and just go with the monthly specials but I'm open for whatever.

for the actual chips... from what i've read on here i'm planning on the following.

using actual JD chips... taking the larger chunks (probably enough to fill 1/2 a 32 oz mason jar?) then soaking in some JD to sanitize for a few weeks. Plan to then char/roast them a little bit in a cast iron skillet on the stove top and will add to the secondary for 2 weeks.

let me know what you think (anyone with experience) and if I should tweak something here/there.

 

[aswistak]

when people recommend 1-4oz of chips per 5gal is this ounce by volume or weight?

 

[foltster]

when people recommend 1-4oz of chips per 5gal is this ounce by volume or weight?

By weight.

 

[ztanner25]

Even if they were regular oak chips it's a great idea to sanitize them by soaking them in either bourbon, whiskey, or rum of choice. I brewed a brown ale with rum soaked oak chips and it turned out fantastic. Reminiscent of New Castle Brown Ale, very smooth and creamy.

 

[aswistak]

thanks... im planning on adding some JD chips (sanitized in JD) to a Russian Imperial Stout and splitting up the batch a little during the secondary stage to be able to try different levels of chips... will leave a bulk of the batch in the normal bucket but plan to have 3 .5 gallon batches in growlers and will experiment with more/less amount of chips and more/less time of exposure. any advice on how much chips to add to such a small amount would be greatly appreciated. doing the simple math if I was going to add 3oz of chips to 5 gall then it would be only .3oz for .5 gall but that doesn't sound like it would/could do much.

thanks for the advice/help!