Vanilla oak aging

[crash568]

So yesterday I moved a small test batch of a simple stout into secondary with some medium toast oak chips that I had soaked in vanilla bourbon. I did .5 oz of oak soaked in 1.5 tbsp of the vanilla bourbon extract into 1 gal of stout. I plan on aging for 7-10 days just wondering if this sounds right I've never messed with oak or anything and don't know how long it needs to age to really pick up any flavor. All input is great so thanks in advance.


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[Valtyr]

I've only used oak a couple of times, so take this with a grain of salt. I'd let it sit for a couple days, then taste it to see where you're at. Too much oak will overpower the stout, and can take a very long time to age out. If you do plan on aging though, you should be okay with just a little bit more oak than you want, as it does fade a little bit with age.

Good luck. Sounds like it should be a tasty brew.

 

[dobe12]

It's tough to say. It all depends on your batch size, how much you added, and how much you want to get out of it. I also have no idea what vanilla bourbon extract is. I personally would have used a vanilla bean and actual bourbon. That's how I did my Russian Imperial Stout last year. I added 1 vanilla beans, 1/2oz of French oak chips, and a cup of bourbon. Soaked it all for 3 days, then added it all to the fermentor. Let it all sit for 2 weeks than bottled. It took about 6-8 months for the bottles to mature and the flavors to meld together, but around 9-12 months, it was fantastic! I was disappointed I didn't dose the entire 5 gallons.

But back to your question. You should start tasting it after 4-5 days and continue to take some tastes until it's where you want it.

EDITED FOR BAD INFO

 

[crash568]

awesome thanks guys i will taste it in 4 days see where its at and go from there.