wood stick in brett saison
- Thread starter Pdaigle
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
If I were going to put wood in my beer, I would probably give is a good baking first.
What is your purpose though? What kind of wood? Is this a 'beechwood aged' thing?
What is your purpose though? What kind of wood? Is this a 'beechwood aged' thing?
I use a (self) toasted oak dowel run through a typical carboy stopper (with hole) to age my Flanders reds. Similar to this. It imparts oak, while also providing small amounts of oxygen for a good balance of acetic.
You should clean it first, but I wouldn't worry about sanitizing it. One thing I would concern yourself with, though, is whether or not it'll be a closed system - as in: are you going to throw the "stick" in and close the system with an airlock, or are you going to leave it open and exposed to air, similar to that link above? I would worry about being open, as a brett Saison isn't necessarily a style that would benefit from oxygen exposure.
You should clean it first, but I wouldn't worry about sanitizing it. One thing I would concern yourself with, though, is whether or not it'll be a closed system - as in: are you going to throw the "stick" in and close the system with an airlock, or are you going to leave it open and exposed to air, similar to that link above? I would worry about being open, as a brett Saison isn't necessarily a style that would benefit from oxygen exposure.
it's going to be closed
just some oak stick... brett likes wood so want to get some flavors out of this
mashpaddled
Well-Known Member
There are a lot of factors to consider when adding wood to beer. You didn't ask about them so I'm not going to lecture, but given the question you asked I suspect you may not have considered other relevant issues.
Assuming the wood is clean and free of mold growth you may not need to try to sanitize the wood because whatever yeast or bacteria are on the wood will likely lose in competition in the beer to the sacc and brett you added. That said, I would suggest boiling or steaming the wood to extract some of the tannins, which will have the effect of killing off some of whatever might be living on or in the wood. If you go that route you should use distilled or RO water to avoid added chlorine/chloramine from tap water back into your beer.
Assuming the wood is clean and free of mold growth you may not need to try to sanitize the wood because whatever yeast or bacteria are on the wood will likely lose in competition in the beer to the sacc and brett you added. That said, I would suggest boiling or steaming the wood to extract some of the tannins, which will have the effect of killing off some of whatever might be living on or in the wood. If you go that route you should use distilled or RO water to avoid added chlorine/chloramine from tap water back into your beer.
not all brett can ferment wood.
the brett has everything it needs in the beer, so no need to add the stick for the brett's benefit. however, add it if you want to add oak flavor to your beer (in which case some toasted oaks chips or cubes would be a better idea).
but hey, this is homebrewing - do whatever you want. do let us know how it turns out
Similar threads
