Oak Chips for Coffee Porter - How Much / How Long?

[ultravista]

I brewed a decent coffee porter a few months ago and would like to oak it with Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey Barrel Chips.

The oak chips smell very boozy through the packaging - should be perfect for adding another layer of flavor.

What is the general oak rule of use per gallon and for how long?

Looking for feedback

 

[kh54s10]

I'm not sure there is a general rule since everyone's taste is different.

I used 4 ounces of French Oak Chips soaked in bourbon in 5 gallons of Russian Imperial Stout, 5-7 days I forget exactly. It was VERY oaky. If I did it again, I would use less.

 

[ultravista]

Where the chips wet? In other words, did the bourbon add to the weight?

 

[nolasuperbass]

In 2014, I put half a 10 gallon sweet stout on 2 oz of (dry) oak chips. Even after 6 months of warm aging, it just tasted like straight-up tree. Not bourbon per se, but like when you rake leaves in the yard. It also tasted completely different from the other half, despite being the same beer. Some people liked it, but I thought it was too much. I haven't felt the desire to mess with oak since. If I ever did it again, I would use cubes not chips, and start with one oz and work up to taste from there.

 

[joegbeer]

I used 1 oz of French oak chips soaked in 1 cup of bourbon for a week. I added the chips and bourbon into secondary storage with the beer for 3 months.

Bourbon flavor was good. Some friends said I should add more bourbon, but I think the bourbon flavor was strong enough. Oak flavor was very light to me. Possibly overpowered by all of the other adjunct flavors: coffee, chocolate, bourbon.

When I do the next batch, I'm going to go with 2 oz of oak chips, but I'm also going to change my process. I'm not going to secondary. I'm going to let primary go for 2 weeks, then add the 2 oz of soaked oak chips and remaining 1 cup of bourbon. Wait 2 weeks then bottle/keg. At the 5 gallon homebrew level I want to see if I can expedite the simulation of barrel aging and infuse the oak flavor faster.

My reference point that I started with:KBS clone recipe

 

[madscientist451]

The oak/bourbon character of the oak chips you can buy is going to vary from bag to bag because the barrels are different.
However, you should be able to establish some kind of ballpark amount by running some test batches.
I'd get some 1 gallon jugs and put 1/2 oz in one 1 oz in the next and so on. Taste the results every 4-7 days to see what you get.
If you want to skip all that, just use 1/2 oz per gallon and see how you like it. You may want to soak the chips in bourbon to help sanitize them and add bourbon character.
If you're not getting enough bourbon aroma/taste add straight bourbon to the keg. But take it slow, 1-2 oz for 5 gallons adds quite a bit bourbon flavor.
Note if you use raw wood cubes or chips, boil the cubes/chips in some water for a few minutes to get rid of the raw wood taste and simulate the oak you would get from a used barrel. Discard the water then soak the chips in bourbon for a few weeks before using.
If your chips are made from used barrels, you can skip the boiling.

 

[kh54s10]

Where the chips wet? In other words, did the bourbon add to the weight?

It was four ounces of chips soaked in enough bourbon to cover them. I poured the bourbon into the wort, bagged the chips and left them in there for 5-7 days, removed them and aged the beer in secondary for a month.

I finished the last one a couple weeks ago 1 year 8 months after brew day. I felt the flavor had just started to decline.

 

[ultravista]

I estimate about 4 gallons remain in the keg, it's been a few months kegging. As a high gravity brew, this is more of a slow drinker than anything else.

I may try 4 ounces of chips at serving temperature for a few days and see how it turns out. Now the question is should I soak them again of put them in as-is?

Is there a risk of infection by using the chips from the bag?

 

[Bullshivit-brew]

I just did 6oz dry oak then soaked in 8oz whiskey. Soaked for 4 days in a imperial Russian Stout. Oak came through just write