Should I Oak it??

[orangeandblue302]

Finally getting around to doing my 90 Minute Clone and was wondering, since I have waited for so long to brew this up, should I throw some oak chips in the Secondary to make it extra special?

Let me know how you think this would be. Take in account I am a huge fan of oaked brews!

 

[eschatz]

Hell yeah you should. I'm assuming this is your first version of that clone. If it is then you might want to split the batch in half and oak half of it, just to know what the original beer was like. If you're interested in oaking I recently wrote a tutorial of how to oak beers. I would definitely use chips with a beer so hoppy. You're gonna want to drink it soon I'm assuming. Here's the link.

 

[orangeandblue302]

Yea this is the first 90 min and thats a good idea splitting it up. Maybe i can get some use out of the old Mr. Beer keg lol. Thanks!! Im definetly going to check that tutorial out!!

 

[weem25]

I agree split the batch. I did that recently with a Stone Arrogant bastard clone but I went one further by splitting it again when I bottled. You get completely different beers from the same batch.

I did:
Oaked Arrogant bastard bottled with molasses
Oaked Arrogant bastard bottled with honey
Arrogrant Bastard bottled with molasses
Arrogrant Bastard bottled with honey

I wouldn't do more than that because it becomes a pain to bottle. I did everything the same through primary fermentation. After i split into two secondary fermenters. I left the oak in for 2.5 weeks.

Only problem with the approach is that you don't have as much of each variety of beer.

 

[orangeandblue302]

how did they turn out bottled with the honey? Are you having long carb times or pretty much normal time?

 

[weem25]

Takes the same amount of time. I am a big fan of using something other than priming sugar but it depends on the beer that I am brewing. It leaves a hint of the sugar in the aroma and the taste. I noticed the biggest difference by using Molasses. It seems to have a thicker head and a molasses flavor. You really have to watch it with Molasses as it can produce a very overpowering flavor.

The amount of each bottling sugar depends on the fermentability of the sugar. Honey is about 80% fermentable versus the corn sugar at 100%. This requires that you use more honey, 4.7oz versus the 4 oz for a 5 gallon batch. If you check out John Palmer's How to Brew, it has a table for the different bottling sugars and the amount needed for your batch size. If you split up your batch you need to calculate the percentage of sugar accordingly.

I want to see how brown sugar and maple syrup turn out. I made an Newcastle Brown Ale which I thought to use Brown sugar but didn't go to the store to get it.

I could see honey being the best pairing for the 90 Minute clone but that is really my personal preference. If you want the hops flavor to stand on its own then just use the corn sugar.

 

[orangeandblue302]

Yea I planned on just using corn sugar for the first batch so I have a base line. maybe do a few individual 12oz. with honey and one with brown sugar just to see how it goes.

 

[orangeandblue302]

Ok so I just purchased 4 ounces of light oak for my secondary of this beer. I think its going to turn out very well. My LHBS owner said he never really sanitizes them but he only uses it for wine.

Should I bake them for 20 min or boil them and then add the chips and juice?

 

[orangeandblue302]

any suggestions?

 

[user 22118]

If worried about the sanitation of the chips, you can always throw them into a pot of boiling water and turn off the heat. You will take out some of the flavor, but I personally think it a good idea as the oak chips/cubes are rather harsh.

 

[orangeandblue302]

would four ounces be to overpowering?

I like a nice oak and the guy at my LHBS said to test it once a week until I achieve the flavors i desire.