Bourbon Soaked Oak Chips

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by amantini, Jan 24, 2013.

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  1. SeaOfShells

    SeaOfShells Initiate (0) Feb 22, 2011 California

    Yeah, I plan on doing a 4 week primary before adding the vanilla and coffee in secondary. I think I'll start out with 3 oz of oak, and go from there. I definitely don't want it to be overpowered. Maybe I'll rack a gallon or so into a growler and add an oz. of oak.
     
  2. MacNCheese

    MacNCheese Initiate (0) Dec 10, 2011 California

    This is entirely subjective, I know guys who hate bourbon but love the Eclipse beers which to mean, a bourbon lover, is pure bourbon beer.

    Untoasted oak chips will add a very very strong vanilla component. I've yet to find a mix of cubes to mimic the deep barrel flavor you get from a barrel.

    My adivce: use a mix, maybe a 1/2oz white oak chips, 2oz heavy char/toast cubes, 2oz medium char cubes. All soaked in bourbon (2 weeks) then throw everything in (bourbon + oak) into your beer. If it's too strong, make another batch of RIS and then dilute, easiest if you keg.

    If you prefer a much lighter oaking to your beer, cut that in half. But in reality, this is something you achieve to your taste via trial and error.
     
  3. reverseapachemaster

    reverseapachemaster Zealot (722) Sep 21, 2012 Texas

    Oak chips are designed to produce oak flavor quickly. They are all surface so the flavor leaches out fast. It is really, really easy to overdo it. 1-2oz per five gallons is usually enough within a few days. I wouldn't go more than a week but I would taste it after a couple days and each day after to see when it hits a happy place for you.

    You can add the bourbon for more oak flavor or keep it aside and use it to "oak" another beer. If you taste the bourbon itself it's probably overbearingly woody in flavor because there's way too much wood to bourbon and the alcohol has extracted a lot of the harsh character from the chips. If you let that bourbon sit for a few months the harshness will mellow and you can use it in a future beer. I wouldn't use it in a beer until it had mellowed a bit first.
     
  4. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    Add 1 oz of oak and sample weekly...if it's a big beer RIS or BW...probably be fine for quite awhile. I've had a BW on 1 oz French Oak for 4 months and it is fine...lighter beer, more chips, or American Oak...might be a different story.

    If you want to approximate a large barrel...use just a little in the way of chips and age longer.
     
  5. Jesse14

    Jesse14 Initiate (0) Jul 21, 2011 Massachusetts

    I heard from a couple of people that just add the bourbon and throw out the oak chips. I tried one of the beers and did not detect any harshness but it might have been because is was a small amount (16 oz in 10 gal). I've been planning out a RIS with an oak/bourbon component too. I'm also curious if anyone bothered to use a decent bourbon (i.e. knob creek) or just using a cheaper one (jim beam).
     
  6. reverseapachemaster

    reverseapachemaster Zealot (722) Sep 21, 2012 Texas

    Depends on your initial liquor-oak ratio. If you are just adding enough liquor to cover the chips then you have tremendous oaking of very little alcohol. If you use a lot of liquor and little oak, you won't see as much harshness, particularly if you only leave the oak in there for a few days.

    I've used maker's mark in beer before and some cheaper stuff. At a low level you aren't going to really tell the difference unless you're using some real foul stuff. If you are really boozing it up where the bourbon flavor is more noticeable I'd spend the money to make sure it's something you want to taste. You might be ok with the flavor of JB. In that case, maybe a more expensive bourbon isn't necessary even at a higher volume used. If you're going to use a small or moderate amount but want to drop some cash on a good bourbon I'd rather find something with a unique flavor to add something more than the typical bourbon flavor. Depends on the beer it's going in as well...
     
  7. GreenKrusty101

    GreenKrusty101 Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2008 Nevada

    I've done it a multitude of ways...but a small amount (1 oz or less) of chips, sanitized with just enough spirits of your choosing to cover the wood...left for 2 weeks (if you want the liquor flavor) or 2 hours if you don't, seems to work for me. Like I said earlier...I dryhopped them in a keg for 4 months with no problem...but, they were cold and in a big beer. YMMV.
     
  8. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    There was a variable I didn’t consider:” If you are just adding enough liquor to cover the chips then you have tremendous oaking of very little alcohol. If you use a lot of liquor and little oak, you won't see as much harshness”

    What was the ratio of bourbon to cubes that you utilized in your beer?

    Cheers!
     
  9. ShanePB

    ShanePB Initiate (0) Sep 6, 2010 Pennsylvania

    I probably used about 4-5 oz of bourbon. Enough to cover the cubes in a small glass container.
     
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  10. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society


    Maybe that was the problem? Maybe if you used 16 ounces you would obtain less harshness?

    Cheers
     
  11. ipas-for-life

    ipas-for-life Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2012 Virginia

    I
     
  12. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    “I soaked the cubes for 1 week in 12oz of makers mark and then added everything to the secondary for 2 weeks.”

    Have you considered just having a contact time of 1 week for the oak cubes vs. 2 weeks?

    I suppose an alternative consideration could be 1 oz. of oak cubes vs. 2 oz. of oak cubes?

    Cheers!
     
  13. dbc5

    dbc5 Savant (1,093) Jun 18, 2009 Arizona

    I will throw out a technique I've used with some success. I take about 1.5 ounces of oak cubes and toss them in cheap vodka (just enough to cover them in liquor. I allow the cubes to sit in the vodka for about a week, which tones down the intense lumber flavor and harshness that some have spoke of when using fresh cubes. Then, after a week has passed, I pour out the vodka and add the desired amount of spirit I intend to mix with my beer (typically bourbon). Allow that to sit for a week or two, then add both the bourbon and cubes to the beer.
     
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  14. ipas-for-life

    ipas-for-life Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2012 Virginia

    I think both would be worth trying and dbc5's suggestion sounds good too. So how many gallons do we need? Split into how many batches?
     
  15. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I think I am hearing the message you are sending.

    This whole oaking process is starting to sound too complicated. I am starting to re-think my plans on brewing a Bourbon Barrel Porter; there are just too many variables here.

    Cheers!
     
  16. ipas-for-life

    ipas-for-life Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2012 Virginia

    It was more of a joke than anything. When I did my research it seemed people had good and bad experiances with most methods. I did not see many negative responces when people just added the liquid and this goes for any type of ingrediants being soaked. Also one person might not like the oak taste as much compared to the next. One thing I didnt do is test it after a week which I should of. That might be the way to go. Taste until you think it is enough and then bottle or keg.
     
  17. amantini

    amantini Initiate (0) Jul 7, 2009 Georgia

    I wanted to post an update on the beer I brewed. It turned out really well. I ended up using about 6 ounces of oak that had been soaked two separate times in bourbon. I let the beer sit in the primary fermenter for 2 weeks and then added the chips and bourbon for five days. The beer has a big roasted taste up front with dark chocolate. It mellows out and some sweetness from the bourbon lingers a bit. I'm liking it a lot and hope the flavors continue to blend as it ages in bottles. Thanks again for all the input.
     
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  18. ipas-for-life

    ipas-for-life Initiate (0) Feb 28, 2012 Virginia

    Thanks for posting this. Glad it turned out well. I appreciate it when people post follow ups. There are so many threads out there that you read and get to the end and have no conclusion.
     
  19. axeman9182

    axeman9182 Initiate (0) Aug 5, 2009 New Jersey

    For what it's worth, I've heard Jamil Zainasheff say a couple times that most bourbons aren't a high enough proof to effectively sanitize. I don't personally know anything about that, but I usually treat him as a reliable source, and I've boiled my oak cubes for 5-10 minutes before soaking them in bourbon in the past. I've also heard that less oak and a longer contact time will pull a more nuanced, complex flavor out of the oak.
     
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  20. amantini

    amantini Initiate (0) Jul 7, 2009 Georgia

    I am definitely happy with the final product and and happy to report back. Maybe I'll try and send out a few photos of a pour once I open a new bottle. Wish I could send out small samples, but five gallons only goes so far.
     
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