Charred oak chips to clear fusels?

[SteveHeff]

I think I'm going to try adding some charred oak chips to my double blonde in order to help clear up fusels. I can't really think of any downside to this other than imparting some oak/vanillin flavor into the beer. I think I'll char the oak blocks with a propane touch until they are dark dark burned. I'm hoping the charcoal (essentially) will adsorb the fusels. I may just be pissing in to the wind, but I'm this close (holds fingers an inch apart) to dumping this crap.

 

[VCTFernandes]

I have no knowledge if this will work, but as far as I know, fusels age away in a couple of months, so no need to dump it. Just bottle it and save it for Christmas

 

[Xpertskir]

Fusels don't age away....I wouldn't put much more effort into this beer. Focus on preventing the fermentation issues that led to this with future brews.

 

[SteveHeff]

Well, I'll toss the charred blocks in and I'll wait and see what happens. I probably won't end up bottling until December anyhow. So I'll see/taste first hand how aging effects the fusels. It's split right down the middle. Some say "it's toast" others "aging works," That's what I get for pitching my Notty too warm.

 

[VCTFernandes]

Well, I'll toss the charred blocks in and I'll wait and see what happens. I probably won't end up bottling until December anyhow. So I'll see/taste first hand how aging effects the fusels. It's split right down the middle. Some say "it's toast" others "aging works," That's what I get for pitching my Notty too warm.

I'm not an experienced brewer at all, I'm more of a mead maker and still a newbie at that too... but in my small experience, I've had fusels aging:
I once made a clove mead that tasted like gasoline + kerosene... It went down like pure vodka and was very unpleasant.
I bottled it and now, about six months after that, you can still taste some hotness, but it has diminished considerably. It's actually quite drinkable, although not perfect...
Perhaps, it's different with beer, but I'm quite sure it will get better with the help of brewer's best friend, Mr. Time.

 

[SteveHeff]

Today I used my propane torch to cook a handful of oak chips. The brew store didn't have blocks, but I think this will work out just fine. About 50% of each chip is charred while the other 50% didn't get too much heat. I soaked them with sanitizer 1. to put out the fire and 2. to sanitize. Waited 10 mins, then threw them in. I'm going to allow them to sit in the beer for about a month and test it to see if the charcoal adsorbs any of the nasties. To be continued.

 

[SteveHeff]

I taste tested the beer today. Probably a result of time more so than the charred chips, but the beer is getting better. Not great, but better. I don't expect this to be a great beer but it's at least at the point that I can drink it warm and uncarbonated. I'm going to test it again in 2-4 weeks to see where it's at.

 

[daksin]

It sounds like you're looking to use the benefits of activated carbon, but just making char isn't going to do that. Activated carbon is processed to greatly increase microporosity, and just burning wood isn't enough. What's the mechanism by which you are proposing the char removes fusels? I would be worried about introducing a burnt wood flavor to my beer.

 

[SteveHeff]

I realize that simply charring the wood may not be enough. However any bit of charcoal or a burnt product like this may adsorb some of the fusels. A similar technique can be used to cure hangovers very quickly too. I figure, why not at least give this a shot? Besides, I'm not too worried about adding any other bad flavors to this beer. It already has enough of them. Besides, it's better than just tossing in a few natural briquettes, although I did think about that as well.

 

[peterj]

I soaked them with sanitizer 1. to put out the fire and 2. to sanitize.

I don't really have anything to add, I just wanted to point out that if the chips were on fire then you probably didn't need to sanitize them. No bacteria that I know of can live through fire and I wouldn't want to meet one that can!

 

[SteveHeff]

I don't really have anything to add, I just wanted to point out that if the chips were on fire then you probably didn't need to sanitize them. No bacteria that I know of can live through fire and I wouldn't want to meet one that can!

True. But I did want to give them a chance to soak up some liquid prior to tossing them in the beer.