Whiskey infused Oak Cubes in Secondary

[wulf]

This is my first time aging on oak and I wanted to get some input on some details. I've read up quite a bit on peoples aging habits, but they forget to say their preference.

For example one person would say X amount of days on X oz of cubes for the right amount of oaked/whiskey flavor- but they wouldn't say whether or not they liked whiskey, or if they preferred the flavor addition to be more subtle. I like the taste of whiskey and would like to be prominent.

That being said, I have 3oz of American medium toast cubes that have been soaking in 16oz (bourbon and rye mixture) for 2 weeks and its time to put my porter in secondary. Should I


Throw in just the oak
Throw in just the whiskey- which now reeks of oak and tastes awful on its own (but may mix well?)
Throw in the oak with fresh whiskey
Some other idea

Thoughts? and thoughts on length of time in secondary? Thanks

 

[DromJohn]

1) I drink good whiskey straight. Beam or Jack needs Coke, though I'd rather have the Coke straight.
2) "Reeks of oak" is why you are doing this. The reeking will mellow. Toss it in.
3) Go to 1) for what to do with fresh whisky.
4) OTOH, 16 oz is a lot of whiskey, at least for a 5 gallon brew. My default has been 4 oz chips soaked in 140 ml (basically enough to cover). Save the excess whiskey for the next oaking.

 

[wulf]

I also drink my whiskey straight

Ok good. Because I drank some of the whiskey, and upfront was a quite harsh and unpalatable smoke/oak taste. Though it was followed by quite the vanilla aftertaste.

I soaked on 16oz of bourbon per recommendation of a few online recipes (basing this batch on NB's bourbon barrel porter) which instructs to dump the cubes with the bourbon with the secondary. But I do like the idea of saving the excess for my next oaking attempt.

Last question: Can I toss the cubes/bourbon into primary? I understand that doing this before/during fermentation is not recommended, but my FG has been stable and I'm considering skipping racking to secondary.

 

[CJ-3]

If you are planning on leaving the oak cubes in for months (and sone people do that in order to get a deeper flavor) I would move to a secondary and get it off the yeast.

 

[wulf]

Ok thanks my original plan was to follow recommendations I've seen online, which are to leave them in for 2 weeks

 

[myelo]

I've done NBs version of this twice. I used 16 oz Bourbon and 2 oz medium oak cubes in secondary for 2 & 4 months. I moved it to secondary because I use a plastic bucket for primary and I'm worried it's not quite air tight for prolonged aging.

The oak and bourbon flavor/aroma were prominent but not overwhelming IMO. It definitely changes for the better after a few months in the bottle. It's really good at 1 year.

 

[arnobg]

I've done NB version before and used 1oz medium American oak and 1 split vanilla bean soaked in12 oz of Maker's Mark for 1 month. I then pitched the entire thing into secondary with the Porter and let it sit for a month before bottling. The result was fantastic. I like bourbon but I'm not a huge fan so to speak. To me the oak and bourbon balance was perfect. The hardest part about this beer is not drinking it all before it is at its prime. I'm at about 11 months in the bottle so far and it tastes better every month when I crack one for a taste check.

 

[kh54s10]

I used 4 ounce of chips soaked in enough Bourbon to cover them. They soaked for a week. All that went into the secondary for 2 weeks. The initial taste at bottling was like drinking a tree. It mellowed over time and now at a year my Russian Imperial Stout is great. If you want to taste more whiskey, I would just drink whiskey, but in the beer use less oak......

 

[wulf]

Thanks for all the input, will be racking to secondary tomorrow.