Oak Chips, for Barrel aged taste in small batch

$4-8 per batch isn't cheap but what is the opportunity cost to have to treat and turn lumber yard oak into something You would want to soak something that you have already paid a premium for and invested time into? The cost of buy, sizing, and chafing the oak is likely probably greater and way less predictable. I just chalk the cost of these types of unique ingredients to the cost of doing business in Homebrew.

 

And you can reuse the oak cubes, etc, too, before they turn into neutral wood.

 

Edd, the overall cost of adding brewing/wine quality oak chips is actually fairly low. I just looked in my brew area, a 4-oz bag of American oak chips cost me $1.89. Bag states can be added up to 25 gallons.

Another option for you is check out the grilling/BBQ area at your hardware store. You can usually find bags of oak/pecan/maple locally for smoking meat. This can work too.

I would steer clear of structural wood/lumber. Who knows what's in it? If its coming from China its probably loaded with lead!!

 

I would not put any kind of wood in my beer unless I knew it was safe. As @EdRoss pointed out, wood that is intended for use in food preparation is likely safe. With anything else, all bets are off.

Most people advise using cubes or spirals, because the surface area is controlled. The problem with chips is that they have a lot of surface area and the beer can go from no oak flavor to over-oaked in a very short time period.

 

I conquer with MinderBender too. Adding wood gets trick do to the added surface area. I use to macerate with oak chip for flavor. There can be drastic flavor changes in a short period of time, like from 2-4 weeks. When I did this with store brandy I sampled weekly. However that was 40%, and had no concern with infection/bugs. The more you have to dip in your pot of gold to check it, you open it to the nastiest more often.

 

ISO 2x4 bourbon stout.

 

As pointed out, oak chips are cheap and you definitely don't want to use the whole 4oz bag in a 5 gallon batch. $2 in oak chips will do you good for at least a couple batches of beer. If you have never used chips before, I suggest starting with 1oz for 5 gallons and sample regularly to avoid tannin hell.

 

I prefer to use pressure treated wood in my oak aged beers; it helps keep the bugs out!

Seriously though, don't use something you'd find in the lumberyard. Who knows what it's been treated with? The increased cost of something packaged specifically for the homebrewing application is well worth it IMO.

Also, a little bit goes a long way. I aged an 5 gallon batch of imperial stout on 2 oz of oak cubes for ~2-3 months (can't recall exactly, don't have notes in front of me), and it was an oak bomb. Pretty tasty, but I definitely could have added less and probably got something a bit more balanced.

 

The advice I always use for my Dad is, you've already invested time and money into your beer, why go cheap at the end and risk ruining it? $4 or $5 for oak cubes will last you 2 or 3 batches.

 

Know that you're now making a beer that would sell for roughly $4 a bottle at a store and $8 at a restaurant.

 

I'm also getting ready to do a imperial stout and was wondering if you did it again would you use less chips or less time or both?

 

Get yourself some local white oak firewood (I cut my down my own so I know where it came from) then cut some cubes out with a circular saw, sawzall, whatever. Boil them for 10 minutes to leech tannins out. Fire up your propane burner, get your grill tongs, and toast them bitches to your desired char. Soak in spirit of choice. Sounds like a lot of work but these cubes will last for a while, depending on type of beer you're oaking.

 

........

seriously?

I feel like this is a trick question.

 

I would probably use less. I seem to recall reading somewhere that longer contact time with oak leads to different flavors being infused into the beer. I don't know if this is only when using barrels though. The flavors that I got from the oak (medium toast American soaked in bourbon) gave the beer a smokey, somewhat earthy aroma and flavor. Just what I experienced.
Of course, cubes will take more time than chips. I've only used chips once, and think cubes work out better.

 

Thanks Ski!

 

I would use cubes if you could only use one or the other.

Cubes will take longer, but that longer will lead to a more rounded flavor. Chips have always been very fast to oak a beverage, and the flavor is very one note.. just.. earthy wood. Nothing like you'd expect a barrel aged beer to taste like.

Cubes aren't bad though- probably the best bet, even over spirals, if you can't put the beer in a barrel.

 

Was thinking along the same lines.
Nothing cheaper or more authentic than the gatherer / harvester route.

There are pin ... white ... and red oak in my wood.
Would be a interesting experiment.

As for tannins and boiling;
What do you think about putting the chips / cubes in a toaster oven instead of boiling?
Boiling seems like rather harsh treatment.

Spirit soak once dried /toasted; although ... the spirit addition is all good ... this 'purification' step may not be absolutely necessary.

 

Lots of fear in this thread!!!!Wow!.......However, I will confess that I'm a woodworker.

I've have never seen Oak treated (with chemicals) and there is good reason. Oak is naturally rot, bug resistant and CRAZY hard. There is no reason whatsoever to treat oak with preservation chemicals.
That being said, it would be hard for the average person to know the difference between Oak species. Especially considering that "American Oak" could constitute many species. If you are going to buy hardwood lumber (for brewing) I would suggest getting White Oak.
Cedar is a tricky one, moreso than Oak. The Cedar that Cigar City uses is the same used for cigar humidors(go figure). In the woodworkers world this is known as Spanish Cedar. You DO NOT want to use Eastern or "aromatic Cedar".

The treated wood that people are referring to is a heavy metal/copper based preservation meant for softwoods aka conifers used in the construction world typically for outdoor/weather exposed purposes. It must be labeled as treated lumber by law!

I have personally toasted and used Oak in brewing. To toast the wood I use a blowtorch. The portable type you can buy at HD for soldering pipes and what not. Sold in the same spot as most of you use for oxygenation of wort.

I apologize for any grammar mistakes. I am a few Booming Rollers in.........