Questions about Oak Chips

[bcray]

I'm making the extract version of the Endiku Winter Ale from AHS. They include a small bag of oak chips that you add to the secondary, according to the instructions. I'm firmly in the "no secondary" camp, so is there a problem with just adding them to the primary as long as the fermentation is complete?

Also, they're in a sealed bag so should they be sanitized with Star-San or what?

 

[RomanNumeral]

You could thro them in the primary after the krausen has dropped and fermentation is complete. As for sanatizing them I would boil some water kill the flame and throw the chips in a grain bad and let them soak for 15 min. Allowing the woods pores to open and kill any wild yeast. I just kegged a cascading IPA and that's what I did. Came out amazing.

 

[Yooper]

If they are in the "original" bag then no need to sanitize. but if their in a baggy or something, then just spray with some star-san and let sit a bit. I wouldn't put them in boiling water, as the oakiness will then be in the water and not so much in the beer!

I'd use a secondary for oak. Only because if you drop in the oak chips, they'll sink pretty quickly and then fall into the yeast/trub layer and do very little good.

 

[ArcaneXor]

Either way is fine. As far as sanitizing them, there are lots of different opinions. Some people will boil them, some will soak them in vodka, rum or whiskey, some will dunk them in StarSan, others just throw them straight in. I personally just dunk them into StarSan, which sanitizes the surface and doesn't cause flavor changes, but doesn't do anything to bacteria that are deeper within the wood and may end up making their way into the beer, potentially spoiling it. Boiling or soaking in a neutral alcohol are probably the safest options, but you are also extracting and possibly changing some of the flavor and aroma qualities of the wood.

 

[bcray]

Either way is fine. As far as sanitizing them, there are lots of different opinions. Some people will boil them, some will soak them in vodka, rum or whiskey, some will dunk them in StarSan, others just throw them straight in. I personally just dunk them into StarSan, which sanitizes the surface and doesn't cause flavor changes, but doesn't do anything to bacteria that are deeper within the wood and may end up making their way into the beer, potentially spoiling it. Boiling or soaking in a neutral alcohol are probably the safest options, but you are also extracting and possibly changing some of the flavor and aroma qualities of the wood.

I have seen some topics suggesting a soak in bourbon or some such spirit and was actually debating about doing that. I'm guessing it would be just enough to cover in a small bowl or something, right? And then the whole lot of it just goes in? What's the recommended soaking time for something like that?

 

[biochemedic]

I would agree w/ Yooper that boiling/hot water will extract some of the "oak" from the chips...this also holds true with a neutral spirit... If you use either of these techniques (personally I prefer the alcohol), there's no reason you can't just add the water/vodka right into the brew with the chips. And it's absolutely OK to add it to the primary after things have slowed down and you're just letting things finish up.

 

[ArcaneXor]

I have seen some topics suggesting a soak in bourbon or some such spirit and was actually debating about doing that. I'm guessing it would be just enough to cover in a small bowl or something, right? And then the whole lot of it just goes in? What's the recommended soaking time for something like that?

The main consideration with using bourbon is that you'll basically only taste the bourbon in the finished beer, and little of the wood. It depends on your preference and recipe whether or not that is desirable or not. I tried it once and didn't like the results, but I am sure there are others who can give you feedback as to soaking times, etc.

 

[Rladd]

I was wondering if soaking wood chips right from the original bag in wine for a few days wold be ok