Probably an obvious problem

[TannerHowell]

I took a Russian Imperial Ale recipe and made the following modifications:
Added .5 lb of french oak chips to 2 gallons of brew during secondary.
Cut amount of hops from 1.5 oz total to .5 oz during brew
Added an additional 16oz of pure honey to LME

I took a taste test after two weeks and it taste very strong and somewhat like wine. Anyone know why?

 

[Hammy71]

You need the bitterness from the hops to help counter act the alcohol taste in a RIS sometimes. So, putting a third of the hops didn't help. To compound the problem, adding the pound of honey will dry the beer out and make the alcohol more pronounced. Nothing to horrible, but will explain the strong taste.

 

[TannerHowell]

Thanks! Too late to do anything now right?

 

[pdxal]

Also, two weeks is really early for a big beer like that. Many RIS need 3-6 months of aging to become drinkable, and do even better with 9-12+. That's going to be a ton of oak flavor for a 2 gallon batch too. You could age it for months, remove the oak chips cautiously to maintain sanitation and avoid oxidizing your beer, or you could blend it with another batch that will balance it out.

 

[wonderbread23]

A half pound of oak chips into 2 gallons of liquid is WAY too much. Typically people do 1-2 ounces in 5 gallons. I'd remove those ASAP (unless you enjoy liquid saw dust).

 

[Cyclman]

For the hops, you should add some dry hops. Won't add much bitterness, but it would help.

Or, you could brew the same recipe, make it super hoppy, and blend them.