Oaking an extract oatmeal stout

[Kiwipatch]

Hi all,

Relatively new to homebrewing. I recently brewed Midwest Supplies oatmeal stout and I plan on oaking it with 2oz of medium toast american oak cubes soaked in 16oz of bourbon in the secondary.

I have read a few articles on oaking homebrew and I am under the impression that it is a good idea to do taste samples to ensure the right level of oaking. I believe the oak cubes will float on top of the beer in the secondary.

My question is, will the oak flavor distribute throughout the beer in the secondary if they are floating, or should i stir it gently before taking the sample to give and better representation of the true flavor?

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated thanks!

 

[altotom]

If you have let the bourbon soak all the way through the chips they will probably sink. My "whiskey barrel" ( a mason jar with medium toast America chips, a year old whisky - well 2 year old now, and vanilla beans) has been sitting for about 8 months and the chips sink to the bottom.

I have a sour milk Stout that has been sitting since February and it has some chips in it. I try to give it a good shake every so often. Since it is still sealed I'm not worried about oxidizing it. And I tried some a few weeks ago and it tastes amazing.

I do recommend you sample a little periodically to find how long it takes to reach your "ideal flavor"

 

[Mismost]

You can drill holes in the cubes and use a piece of string to make a chain....tie a stainless steel spoon on the other end to weight it down....now your cubes are held under the surface. Let a good tail so you can fish it back out when the flavor is where you want it. Never did this with beer, but I have with wines...crude, but effective.

 

[unionrdr]

16ozs of bourbon is a bit much for only 2ozs of cubes. A cup or so would be plenty to give the flavor in the background, rather than dominate the flavor. Cubes take longer than chips do as well. Chips can be good @ 7-8 days. Cubes a couple weeks. I soak the chips & bourbon in an air-tight container in the fridge during primary. Then pour all through/into a clean, sanitized hop sock into secondary with a radiator funnel, which is a Better Bottle.