Oak IPA

[Liebz15]

I have a well received double IPA recipe that is just asking for some oak. I’ve brewed it a couple of times and it consistently has a nice amount of hops (Approximately 74 IBUs using Tinseth) yet it's well balanced by malt (OG approximately 1.093).

Like any wannabe good homebrewer, I’ve decided to tweak this brew by adding some oak. I’ve purchased a one pound bag of white oak from my LHBS. Last Sunday, I completely submerged said white oak in a nice smokey scotch. I plan to do this brew this coming Sunday and – after my primary is complete in a week – I plan to add 4-5 ounces of this two week marinated oak into the secondary (keg).

Any feedback would be most welcomed as I am still rather new to this hobby (obsession). My concerns are as follows:

• Should I place the oak chips into a cheese cloth with a stainless steel weight inside or some other type of container to weigh it down? Or is it okay for the oak to float?

• Is 4-5 OZs okay for a 5 gallon batch with IBU = 70 and ABV = 10%? Should I add more or less?

• How long should I keep the oak in the brew?

• Should I remove the oak after the above time period or does CO2 and cold temperatures deactivate oak as it does dry hops?

Again, any words of advise would be most appreciated!

 

[android]

are they chips or cubes? this is a really good read for folks new to oaking:

http://morebeer.com/content/using_oak_in_beer

you want to be careful with chips, 4-5 oz sounds like way too much to me and you don't want to leave them in for that long, chips obviously have a higher surface area of oak exposed to the beer. cubes will take longer to give you the flavors, but they will be more complex. so, you got american oak (white oak)? i've heard american oak can give off very strong flavors quickly, so be careful, you'll have to taste it a few times during a week or two period I would think to get it where you want it. please let us know what you end up doing and how it works.

 

[Liebz15]

are they chips or cubes? this is a really good read for folks new to oaking:

http://morebeer.com/content/using_oak_in_beer

you want to be careful with chips, 4-5 oz sounds like way too much to me and you don't want to leave them in for that long, chips obviously have a higher surface area of oak exposed to the beer. cubes will take longer to give you the flavors, but they will be more complex. so, you got american oak (white oak)? i've heard american oak can give off very strong flavors quickly, so be careful, you'll have to taste it a few times during a week or two period I would think to get it where you want it. please let us know what you end up doing and how it works.

Thanks Andoid for the informative response. The link definitely helped and lends much information. I plan on using American white oak chips. Do you think I should place the oak chips in a sock weighted down or simply let them float?

 

[dwarven_stout]

No need to weight them. They'll soak up beer and sink after a while, or at least they always have for me.

 

[Liebz15]

No need to weight them. They'll soak up beer and sink after a while, or at least they always have for me.

Since I plan to do my secondary in a keg, perhaps then I should add the oak to the primary after all the yeast has gone dormant? The reason I ask is that if I place them in the keg, it would be tough to get them out if they are all on the bottom. Typically, when I dry hop the keg I just simply carb it up and leave the hops in.

 

[android]

if you're gonna put them in the keg, i would have a way to get them out, otherwise you'll end up with too much oak flavor IMHO.

 

[dwarven_stout]

Agreed. Either put in a bag of chips on a string, or oak in a fermenter. Chips in a keg is asking for trouble imo.

 

[dcHokie]

Whoooaa nelly...4-5 oz of oak is a ton!

What android said: American oak is the harshest and chips are harsher than cubes. And they will impart their oak flavor much quicker than cubes.

Personally, I'd suggest closer to .25 or .50 oz of chips and definitely use a sanitized hopsack/cheese cloth with some string or fishing line attached to retrieve them. Oaking in the keg will allow you to better judge the oak presence you like will the hop profile is still fresh. You can always add more oak to taste, but once its in there...its in there.

Question: did you boil or microwave them a bit before their scotch bath?

 

[Liebz15]

Whoooaa nelly...4-5 oz of oak is a ton!

What android said: American oak is the harshest and chips are harsher than cubes. And they will impart their oak flavor much quicker than cubes.

Personally, I'd suggest closer to .25 or .50 oz of chips and definitely use a sanitized hopsack/cheese cloth with some string or fishing line attached to retrieve them. Oaking in the keg will allow you to better judge the oak presence you like will the hop profile is still fresh. You can always add more oak to taste, but once its in there...its in there.

Question: did you boil or microwave them a bit before their scotch bath?

I did not sanitize the oak chips in the microwave nor boil because I assume the alcohol will kill any fungus or bacteria…but judging by your question perhaps I should?

Thanks everybody for the feedback, your time and information is most appreciated. As you suggest, I will start with a little amount of chips (.25-.50 oz) in a hop bag in the keg as it will be nice to be able to sample every couple days to determine oak flavor.

 

[dcHokie]

I did not sanitize the oak chips in the microwave nor boil because I assume the alcohol will kill any fungus or bacteria…but judging by your question perhaps I should?

I don’t think the alcohol will completely sanitize the oak on its own. Most will recommend some degree of steaming/sanitizing to be safe (Jamil Z said he uses a pressure cooker on a Brewstrong podcast), but if you put the chips directly from the package and into the scotch you should be fine.

Looking forward to hearing how your batch turns out!

 

[Liebz15]

I don’t think the alcohol will completely sanitize the oak on its own. Most will recommend some degree of steaming/sanitizing to be safe (Jamil Z said he uses a pressure cooker on a Brewstrong podcast), but if you put the chips directly from the package and into the scotch you should be fine.

Looking forward to hearing how your batch turns out!

Thanks dcHokie! My brew date got pushed back to this afternoon but I will definitely update this post with the results.

 

[Franzi]

I strongly agree that 4 to 5 oz for a 5gallon batch is WAY too much. I made a similar beer to yours (in terms of IBU and alcohol) back in January and put 1.5 oz of medium roast cubes in 5 gallons. I let it sit in secondary for close to three months. The first beers from that batch tasted like an oak tree and didn't really allow for other flavors to shine as much. Since then it has mellowed out A LOT and has a smooth malty/oaky flavor...not so much bitterness/hopiness that I was hoping would be retained.

 

[jonmohno]

2 0z for 5-7 days of light american oak should be fine

 

[android]

I strongly agree that 4 to 5 oz for a 5gallon batch is WAY too much. I made a similar beer to yours (in terms of IBU and alcohol) back in January and put 1.5 oz of medium roast cubes in 5 gallons. I let it sit in secondary for close to three months. The first beers from that batch tasted like an oak tree and didn't really allow for other flavors to shine as much. Since then it has mellowed out A LOT and has a smooth malty/oaky flavor...not so much bitterness/hopiness that I was hoping would be retained.

which was the country of origin for the oak you used?

 

[Franzi]

I believe they were of the French variety.