Oak in IPA

[emacgee]

I've got an IPA about to finish up the primary and was going to use some oak chips while I dry hopped and was looking for suggestions as far as amount and time. I obviously don't want the IPA to sit for a long time on oak so as to preserve the freshness of the hops so I'm trying to find a way to use enough oak chips to impart an oak character in about 10 days. I'd imagine I should stick French oak, should I use chips that have been charred? Suggestions welcome

 

[UpstateNYer]

I just bottled an IPA in which I used an oak spiral from "the barrel mill".. Left it in the secondary for 4 days before I bottled.. It was an american medium toast spiral, one I usually use for winemaking.. A taste test at bottling revealed just a slight hint of oak flavor, and expect it to be perfect for my needs.. Hope this helps

 

[Edcculus]

Oak chips or cubes will give you plenty of flavor in that time. Chips will be the fastest since they have the most surface area.

 

[moti_mo]

I've also used chips - American light or medium, can't remember, I think I used 4 oz. for 5 days, but all of the exact details are at home in the brew-log.

 

[llazy_llama]

+1 on the oak spirals. If you want oak flavor fast, you can't beat the spirals. Link here, towards the bottom: Flavoring Agents :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

 

[tekhna]

At least in the wine world, french oak is thought to be a little more mineraly, whereas American oak is more vanilla and overwhelming. French oak might be good, but American oak might impart a vanilla that could seem out of place in an IPA.

 

[jds]

I have an oaked IPA in my fridge right now. I used the Stavin oak cubes, from Austin Homebrew Supply. 2-1/2 oz of the French oak at house toast for about ten days left a nice subtle oakiness in the beer, without overpowering the malt or hops flavors.

 

[emacgee]

I believe all I will have access to will be cubes/chips. So for about 10 days how much chips or cubes should I use and of what if any level of toasting or charring?

 

[UpstateNYer]

At least in the wine world, french oak is thought to be a little more mineraly, whereas American oak is more vanilla and overwhelming. French oak might be good, but American oak might impart a vanilla that could seem out of place in an IPA.

Very good point.. I should have mentioned that in my other post. One should be very careful with spirals, they work very quick compared to the chips I used to get.. Learned the hard way unforunately.. Made a beer and kept the spiral in too long(2 weeks).. In winemaking terms, it tasted like chateau plywood for the first few weeks, but is just starting to mellow a bit.. You can get french oak spirals, just a little more money though..

 

[Blackhawkbrew]

I'm planning on doing an oaked IPA for my next PM. I got the recipe from The Homebrewer's Recipe Guide (Oak Tree IPA). They call for 2 oz. oak chips. It says to boil the chips for 10 minutes to sanitize and place in secondary for 7 to 10 days. Did you do an AG?