Wood age in a keg?

[JayInJersey]

Anyone ever done it?

I'm a one fermentor convert and was thinking about what I was going to store my next brew in for about 6 months while it ages with Oak Cubes.

I'd love using my keg as A) it sits in there anyway for 6 months+ B) I have lots of them and C) it would be one less transfer for crap to get into.


Can't see a reason why it wouldn't work and cubes aren't going to get clogged in the keg lines.

Thoughts?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

Oak can get to be an overpowering flavor in certain beers. I prefer to let mine age in secondary for a few weeks and check the flavor. I suppose you could do it in a keg, but some of the oak will sink to the bottom and be difficult to retrieve.

 

[JoMarky]

Anyone ever done it?

I'm a one fermentor convert and was thinking about what I was going to store my next brew in for about 6 months while it ages with Oak Cubes.

I'd love using my keg as A) it sits in there anyway for 6 months+ B) I have lots of them and C) it would be one less transfer for crap to get into.


Can't see a reason why it wouldn't work and cubes aren't going to get clogged in the keg lines.

Thoughts?

I did this with a cider using oak chips. Oak flavor peaked after only a few days, and has been pretty constant for the past 2 months. It seems like its mellowed a bit but it could just be I've gotten accustomed to it.

 

[bigjoe]

I've done a few IPA extract kits in a brew class I teach and put oak in the primary when pitching. I've been really surprised with the result after only 2 weeks in primary and 2 weeks in the bottle before we sample.

So I guess if you have a beer bold enough to handle the oak it shouldn't be a problem, but like someone said I think 6 months might be a long time.

 

[cactusgarrett]

You'll definitlely have to pull the cubes out, as the wood flavor would get stronger & stronger over time. You could do something similar to dryhopping in the keg - put the oak in a bag and suspend it from the lid of the corny keg. Then, when you wanna "take the beer off oak", just pop the top and remove the bag.

 

[JayInJersey]

Yeah I was figuring to have to pull them out...maybe

A porter usually doesn't last a month in my home and it might be interesting to see how the taste changes from start to finish.

 

[Sedge]

You'll definitlely have to pull the cubes out, as the wood flavor would get stronger & stronger over time. You could do something similar to dryhopping in the keg - put the oak in a bag and suspend it from the lid of the corny keg. Then, when you wanna "take the beer off oak", just pop the top and remove the bag.

This is definitely the way to go. Its even better than dropping the cubes into a fermenter imo because you can give it taste tests along the way without disturbing the beer or exposing it to O2. Just make sure to sanitize the bag as well as oak. You can soak the bag in starsan or some bourbon for extra kick.

 

[rmolledo]

I'm planning on using kegs as secondaries when they arrive.