Grandpa Ray's Red (oak aged Irish red ale)

[plaplant]

So my Grandfather recently passed away. He was a great man, served in the army, raised 10 children, and put himself last in almost every situation. I am making a beer in his memory. I plan to share it with my family on the 1st anniversary of his passing.

He was born in Ireland and loved his Irish whiskey and Irish red ales so I thought it would be a good idea to combine the two.

I have an Irish red ale that has worked very well for me in the past, good and malty - english 2 row, munich, crystal 90, and roasted barley.

I am planning on ageing it on oak.

I have never used oak in a beer and I would love a bit of advice. I have 1/4 oz heavy toasted oak soaking in Jamesons right now and another 3/4 untouched.

I would like the beer to definitely taste like an oak aged beer, but not too overboard. I'm thinking of leaving it on the oak for about a week and kegging right after.

Any thoughts or advice on oaking for the first time would be awesome.

Thanks all.

 

[ChadRabbit]

I'm actually doing the same deal with some oak chips soaking in Single Barrel Jack Daniels. What size batch are you making?

 

[plaplant]

its a 5 gallon batch.

 

[OhReally]

What a fitting and thoughtful tribute, especially if he liked those two flavors.

When you say you've got 1 oz. of oak, what form is it in? Cubes? Chips? The amount to use and the length of time to leave it in depend on this. Generally speaking, smaller pieces will impart their flavor faster, so chips will get it "oakier" faster than cubes, which may or may not be what you're going for. You'll often see chips left in for only a week or two (longer starts to leach tannins), whereas cubes impart their flavor over the course of weeks or months.

I made a Wee Heavy last year and used 2.5 oz. of medium toasted red oak cubes that were soaked in Oban single malt. I left them in for 5 weeks, tasting every week or so. There is definitely an oak character in there, but not unpleasantly so. It's only been in bottle 2 months, and time will let it blend.

If you have a year before you're serving it, you've got some time to get the flavor exactly where you want it. If you're using chips, start with a week and see how it tastes from there. Remember, you can always add more, but once that flavor's in there it ain't comin' out. Just keep tasting occasionally.

You also might want to steam the untouched 3/4 oz. for a few minutes to take care of any nasties and sanitize it; Jameson (or any other hard alcohol) will take care of the other batch.

Hope this helps.

Sláinte

 

[Gunfighter04]

What a fitting and thoughtful tribute, especially if he liked those two flavors.


If you have a year before you're serving it, you've got some time to get the flavor exactly where you want it. If you're using chips, start with a week and see how it tastes from there. Remember, you can always add more, but once that flavor's in there it ain't comin' out.

Hope this helps.

Sláinte

This is Key.

I did a bourbon oaked porter with medium toasted oak cubes soaked in Makers Mark for 2 weeks.

I Bottled this batch (glad I did) After conditioning I popped one in the fridge and the bourbon was pretty strong, and the oak was just present in the aftertaste. I put it in the closet and waited. At 6 months it was Pretty good, much more melded. At 1 year it was incredible. I'm down to the last 6 pack and going to cry because I didn't do another batch. (I've just ordered the grains)

 

[plaplant]

Awesome input! Thank you.

I am using Heavy Road Oak Chips. Unfortunately I do not know where they are from.

I have read a few threads that where people dump whatever alcohol they are soaking the chips into secondary as well. What do you think about this? I was thinking about sifting mine out.

 

[dawgmatic]

Awesome input! Thank you.

I am using Heavy Road Oak Chips. Unfortunately I do not know where they are from.

I have read a few threads that where people dump whatever alcohol they are soaking the chips into secondary as well. What do you think about this? I was thinking about sifting mine out.

No need, the jamesons will add flavor too

 

[OhReally]

No need, the jamesons will add flavor too

+1

Yep, when I did it I just dumped everything in. Get all the flavors you can.