How much whiskey should I add? I have an Armenian Imperial Stout (from papazian's book pg 209. I am roughly following his recipe, but wishing to add whiskey and oak chips to secondary....How much whiskey is advised for a moderate-strong whiskey presence?...or how does one determine this?
how much whiskey should I add to my stout
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taste.. do not get in a hurry and add some whiskey...let it set a day to make sure it is mixed then taste it.. if it is where you want it then bottle...if not add a little more...wait a day and taste... repeat until you are where you want to be.
It's usual to soak oak chips in the whiskey while the beer is fermenting. It takes a while for the chips to soak it up while sitting covered in the fridge. For the level you want,4oz of chips & 4 jiggers of whiskey would do. Put all in a small plastic container with a tight lid. Chuck it in the fridge for the whole time the beer is fermenting.
yep, however I was advised to NOT dump the whiskey that the oak was soaked in, into the beer. It extracts tannins from the oak I guess. Also wouldn't keeping it in the container on TOP of ther fridge rather than IN the fridge cause it to absorb the whiskey better?
You won't get tannins (tannic acid) out of dried wood. I didn't. The whiskey soaks wood flavor out of the chips the same as the chips absorb the whiskey. So if you drain the liquid,you're throwing away part of the flavor. When I made my whiskely ale,I added the chips & liquid. It came out with the level of flavor you said you wanted. And that's how I did it.
Whoever told you to toss the liquid was completely wrong. If you didn't soak them first,you'd get the "tannis" leaching into the beer.
Don't worry about it at all. Dried wood chips are not the same as grain husks.
Oak cubes take longer than chips to work their magic. But some say the cubes give more oak flavor. You'll def have to leave them in secondary longer.
Hey guys, first post here and reading this I was wondering what you guys think of using the oak chips from whiskey barrels. They sell wood chips for smoking that are actually from aging barrels. Do you think these would go well? I'm not sure if those are treated with anything to make for better smoking like they're intended. My first brew is sitting in the fermenter right now, but for my second I was thinking of doing an oaked bourbon porter.
As a follow-up question to that, I'm going primary only on my first brew. If I end up doing the oaked bourbon porter can I just add the oak and bourbon into the primary after fermentation or would it be better to rack to secondary to add them?
i'm preparing to oak 2 gal of the superior strong i'm fermenting. i have half a french oak spiral soaking in some bourbon, when my beer's ready i plan on putting the spiral into the secondary and making to flavor. i then plan to add clean bourbon to taste at bottling time. i'd avoid adding the bourbon used to soak the oak, as it becomes very dark with tannins and very strongly wood flavored. (tasted a sip of the 'oaken' bourbon, very strong, oaky and tannic) i plan to add the clean bourbon very slowly, tasting along the way to make sure i don't over do it.
I've used Jack Daniels smoking chips, made from chipped oak barrels used for aging JD. Worked pretty good other than I got a mild flavor, more vanilla than anything. Maybe due to the brand of bourbon I chose, or from not adding enough of it.
Interesting discussion for sure, and near and dear to my brewing heart. So, if you soak the oak in bourbon which extracts oak flavor, and then throw out the bourbon, what is the point in soaking to begin with? Why not use less oak, if you are adding "clean" bourbon at bottling anyway?
i'm only adding clean bourbon to 1 or the two gal i'm oaking. kinda doing an experiment to see what does what. as far as less oak, i'm using half a spiral split between 2 one gal jugs, so a 1/4 spiral in each.
PS: Bourbon soaked oak in my secondary just before racking, a beautiful sight 
My method is to determine how much bourbon and how much oak, soak for a week or so before secondary, add all to the secondary, and then let it sit while periodically tasting until the oak flavor is where I want it. Bourbon can be boosted at any time. Of course, there are many ways to oak a brew
My method is to determine how much bourbon and how much oak, soak for a week or so before secondary, add all to the secondary, and then let it sit while periodically tasting until the oak flavor is where I want it. Bourbon can be boosted at any time. Of course, there are many ways to oak a brew
PS: Bourbon soaked oak in my secondary just before racking, a beautiful sight
My method is to determine how much bourbon and how much oak, soak for a week or so before secondary, add all to the secondary, and then let it sit while periodically tasting until the oak flavor is where I want it. Bourbon can be boosted at any time. Of course, there are many ways to oak a brew
that's what i'm planning on doing. i think i'll try to limit the actual bourbon that goes into secondary, then add bourbon to the one gal to taste. it's my first time oaking or adding bourbon, so i'm really looking forward to seeing how it works out. glad to hear that someone experienced with oaking does it pretty much the way i'm planning to.
thanks weeb. hopefully our cross talk helps the OP out too, i think oak flavored beer is delicious and am thrilled to be able to oak some of my home-brews. :rockin:Similar threads
