Using oak chips

[aorrick]

Anyone out there that has experience aging on oak chips mind sharing what they did, and what went well/not so well? Thanks.

[Woolsocks]

I'd recommend the infusion spirals from barrelmill.com over chips. Then make sure you don't leave the beer on them too long lest you over-extract and harsh it up.

[timbro81]

Tried some chips out a while back. Was told 1 ounce per 5 gallons should do the trick, not enough. I am experimenting with the spirals currently. How long is too long, Woolsocks?

[MatthewS]

Barrel Mill Spirals are the way to go

I have used both chips and spirals, though I much prefer the oxidative character you get from barrel aging process than just the wood flavor you receive from wood aging in steel. But if that's what you like, try this...

Post Primary Ferment, drop 5 4foot spirals in through PRV opening for 40 barrels for 4 weeks contact time for enough wood character to be noticed by most palates, but not at all OVERpowering. I think at 6 weeks it get s little too much 2by4 for me...

Obviously you will be tasting the beer as it ages so go with your own palate to decide when to transfer off the wood.

Also Note... if the spirals come broken call the company and tell them and they will send you more hopefully they won't break too. Removing the small bits SUCKS! .. but when whole, they are easy to remove after transfer.

Good luck and tell us how the beer turns out.

[drinklocal]

Oak Chips

We use Oak chips for our stout. 3.5 lbs per 50 bbl. We soak the chips in 180F + water in the bag and bring the PH down to about 4 with phosphoric. After fermentation we crash the tank to 10 degrees Celsius, keeping it a little warm. Then transfer onto a freshly CIP'd and purged fermenter. We also add Vanilla beans at this point. WE get a nice suttle oakiness with no harsh flavors. After a few days we crash down to cold contionding temps. Also we make sure to tie the bags to a string otherwise it will mesh up your filtering

[Woolsocks]

You'll have to taste to decide when it's been too long, but the barrelmill people claim that "full extraction" happens in 6 weeks or so.

[aorrick]

Thanks for the info everyone. A local winery is willing to help us out with a used cabernet barrel. French oak, I believe. About 60 gallons. I understand that using wine barrels can be a little touchy, in that the beer can sour pretty quickly (within a couple months). I have no interest in aging a beer on oak for months and months and months. Not right now anyway. I will look into these spirals though. They sound pretty user friendly and affordable. It would be nice though, to work with a local winery on a barrel aging project. Out here in WA, that local community togetherness thing is important to people.

[ChristianSA]

We use Oak chips for our stout. 3.5 lbs per 50 bbl. We soak the chips in 180F + water in the bag and bring the PH down to about 4 with phosphoric. After fermentation we crash the tank to 10 degrees Celsius, keeping it a little warm. Then transfer onto a freshly CIP'd and purged fermenter. We also add Vanilla beans at this point. WE get a nice suttle oakiness with no harsh flavors. After a few days we crash down to cold contionding temps. Also we make sure to tie the bags to a string otherwise it will mesh up your filtering

What is the reason for dropping the PH to 4?

[rudge75]

In the past when we've used chips, we pressure cooked them for 15 minutes or so. We'd cook them in a bag, then tie them into the brite tank while they're still hot. This way you get quick extraction and the room smells lovely during the transfer.

For the spirals, I've been soaking homebrew lengths (about 8 inches worth) in alcohol for a week or so prior to adding directly to a 1/2 bbl keg. The finish is much more tannic and needs more aging time, so we save it for our barleywine and use a different bourbon every year.

Neither compares to the finish we get from our barrels.

[SRB]

We just started pouring our Black Happy IPA that was conditioned with light American oak chips. We went .75 # per bbl. We quickly soaked the chips in 185 F water and then tied them off with our hops in the grundy.
5 days was all she got in conditioning as the oaky flavor and aroma was already pretty intense. In the future it looks like we will reduce our # per bbl so we can get another week in conditioning.
Post carbonation delivered a much more mellow though still strong oak character that we are quite pleased with. Pub goer's totally love it so that is good. I am curious what time does to the oak flavor and aroma. As the zen master says,"we will see!"

Thanks for the info ya'll It was very helpful in designing this beer.