Oak in lager/pilsner?

[MaxSpang]

Has anyone added oak to a pilsner?

One of my favorite breweries, Branch & Bone, just so happens to be right down the street from me, and they have made several oak lagers. They are so, so good. Clean, crisp, dry, and just enough oak character without being overpowering.

I'd like to make something similar - a crisp pilsner with a touch of oak character. I'm thinking of adding either the lightest oak cubes or staves I can find and add them in secondary (in a keg) for as long as it takes to get the character I want.

Any thoughts about quantity/technique/oak type for a ~5% pilsner?

 

[OldDogBrewing]

I'm actually planning on the same thing, my idea is to use half the amount I use for impys

 

[MaxSpang]

I'm thinking 2.5-3 oz of oak cubes (not chips) for 5 gallons of Pilsner, then check it every few days after a week until it tastes to my liking. I made an imperial stout and used only 3 oz of oak cubes but I knew I wanted to age it for at least 6 months and didn't want to over-oak it.

Any thoughts?

 

[Matteo57]

Who has done this? My brother went to a brewery where they had one and he said it was a phenomenal beer. Said it was a German pilsner oaked for a few weeks.
I'd imagine while lagering, throw in maybe some French oak, 1-2oz. Thoughts?

 

[Bramling Cross]

People that know how to make tasty pilsners don't think about this sorta thing because pilsners, properly made, are interesting enough to not require oak. If you're actually good at making pils the last thing you want is oak getting in the way of your proud declaration that you're an excellent brewer.

F'd it up?! Just oak it! The muppets are sure to love it because it's barrel aged on oak! Charge an extra four dollars, that'll make them think it's special!

Yeah, French oak for sure, maximum contact time...two days at most? Get it off the oak ASAP if you want it to remain a pils.

 

[DuncB]

I believe pilsner urquell is served from oak conditioned barrels at the end of their brewery tour.
Not on general release though.

 

[Kickass]

Oaking light lager seems to be gaining steam. I listened to the “Drink beer, think beer” episode with Jack Hendler, author of Modern Lager and owner(?) of Jacks Abbey. There was a little discussion of wood/foeder/pitch lined barrels/etc aging.

I might be making up words that weren’t said so this is an opinion. I think the “wood” contact used in the traditional sense wasn’t necessarily so the beer would taste like oak. I think other biological and chemical reactions took place in those environments that drove the final product but maybe weren’t purposefully driven. I think people have romanticized these traditional notions of beer (we want to brew beer like it was done in the 1800’s, but would we want to drink it?) and are now bring oak to light lager.

Personally, with a very light touch of oak, I’d drink that lager.

 

[Matteo57]

Thank you for the responses. The pilsner tastes great without the oak. Just curious to oaking one. I threw 1oz of med. toast french into the keg and tasting it each day. I'll take it out soon. It's only been a couple days, so far haven't gotten much flavor from the oak.

 

[ClaudiusB]

Who has done this? My brother went to a brewery where they had one and he said it was a phenomenal beer. Said it was a German pilsner oaked for a few weeks.
I'd imagine while lagering, throw in maybe some French oak, 1-2oz. Thoughts?

I must correct you, he had an oaked golden or pale lager, not a German Pils. All classical Pils characters are gone during the barrel aging.