Oaking an Imperial Stout

[archthered]

I am preparing to make my first Imperial Stout. It is also the first time I am adding oak. I have taken about half of the oak cubes and have been soaking them in Scotch, I want a fairly oaky flavor with a touch of the Scotch.

Several of the things I've seen have said that what ever you add the oak to first will take most of the oak flavor out. This means that my oak in the Scotch will add more Scotch flavor than oak, this is why I only added the Scotch to half. I know that the Scotch will sterilize the oak.

My question is how can I sterilize the rest of the oak cubes before adding them to the secondary fermenter? I'm concerned that boiling them will take too much of the oak flavor out of the cubes, and into the water, and I will be lacking oak flavor. I've heard of people steaming them but I'm not sure how long it will take to get them sterile and I'm not convinced it won't leech out most of the flavor. Thanks for any attempts at helping.

Primary: Peat Smoked Porter
Secondary: Dark Belgian Strong Ale
Long term secondary: Raspberry Heather Melomel

 

[BPal75]

Just use enough alcohol to barely cover the osk chips. after sitting in alcohol for several days, the oak chips will absorb most if not all of the alcohol. The oak flavor can't have leached out because all the alcohol soaked in! Then just dump the oak into fermenter and you will also be getting the scotch flavor that soaked into the chips. I personally wouldn't add additional scotch because you don't want the flavor to overwhelm.

Or, you could just roll the dice and toss the chips in. This is probably a reasonable option in a high gravity beer like an imperial because any nasties in the oak won't so well in a high alcohol environment. There is a risk though, but I know people that have some it with getting an infection.

I'm not aware if any other options. I wouldn't recommend boiling them in water for the reasons you mentioned. I'd be worried about oak flavor leaching out into the water during the boil.

Good luck!

 

[archthered]

OK but what if I was oaking an ale and didn't want to use any liquor? How would I manage that?

 

[BPal75]

Hmm...I would still personally soak in alcohol but use something neutral like vodka that won't impart much flavor. If u use just enough to soak into the oak chips (and hopefully kill any bacteria lurking inside) it shouldn't be enough to alter the flavor in 5 gallons if beer.

 

[Calder]

Toss the oak into boiling water for a few minutes. It will take a little of the harsh tannins out of the oak. There will be plenty of oak flavor left in them.

The amount of alcohol it takes to soak a few cubes is not going to be noticed in the beer. For alcohol to make a statement in beer, you need somewhere of the order of half a liter in 5 gallons. That's 2 teaspoons in a single beer. Go pour yourself a decent stout and see what effect it has if you add one or two teaspoons to it.

 

[archthered]

Thanks. Thinking about half a liter in 5 gal really put this in perspective. It also makes using vodka or something like that in beers that I'm not looking for alcohol notes in.

 

[Peanutbuttermustache]

I would soak the oak in scotch or bourbon then toss it all into the secondary. I did that with coca nibs and vodka and it came out fantastic.

 

[archthered]

I hate doing a search for my problem/question and discovering someone else had the exact same problem/situation, finding a wonderful discussion, and then at the vary end, NOTHING. No results, so I am going back through some of my stuff to let future HBT users know how it went.

In this case I ended up soaking the oak in just enough Scotch to cover it and let it sit for about a week. I threw it all in the secondary and let it sit for about a month and half.

 

[Acidjazz54]

So...... how did it turn out?

Sorry to necro post but I'm interested for my RIS.

 

[archthered]

Actually I'm glad you did. I meant to come back and post about that. It has been one of the best beers I have ever made. It has about the perfect amount of oak. In fact I am making another batch with the same recipe. There is the slightest hint of the Scotch but it is not boozey.