So my local store has some oak spirals, and I was thinking of buying some to add to an Imperial Stout I plan to make. I have read that the spirals are stronger then the chips (which the store also offers). So how much spiral do I need? I believe they are French medium, but they might have others or the color/char could be something else. Also if I was inclined, how much bourbon/scotch would I have to soak these in to sanitize and add a little bourbon/scotch flavor? How long should I leave them in secondary too (I was thinking 3 to 6 months)? Also complete newbie question, would peated malt give the same flavor as scotch?
I used one spiral in a barleywine and it ruined it. I used medium french, soaked in rum for a couple months. I threw it into five gallons of beer for a week. After carbing up the beer tastes like straight wood, and it hasn't faded in three months. I'm pissed, the base beer awesome awesome.
If you are looking for just oak taste, boil the spiral or chips for 5 minutes, throw out the water and use the oak, sampling every week or so till u get the taste you want. I use 2-4 oz of oak per 5 gallons lettin the oak sit from 1 to 4 months, depending on taste. If you are looking for a scotch or bourbon taste you can always add a shot or more before bottling.
Hmm. Well they are french medium. I told the guy at the store I plan to secondary for 3 or 4 months and might add scotch or bourbon to it too, and he said "Soak the whole spiral in the booze and then let it sit the whole time in secondary". That seems odd based of what you guys say. Perhaps half or a quarter spiral that was soaked and then put it in towards the end? Also dump any remaining booze in with it or save that out?
Soaking wood in booze, like boiling, wil remove tannins and harshness from your wood. You only have to take a small sip of the soaking booze to experience it. Most people dump out the booze, or boiling water. Again, this is all personal preference so sample and use/do what you like best.
A friend used spirals. He got a nice flavor after soaking it in rum. But he did dump and replace the rum at least once, if not twice, before using the spiral. You need to get rid of some of the tannins from the wood.
That's a common problem,,,don't feel bad. I had the same problem with my very first oaked batch of beer, and many homebrews I've tasted (and some commercial ones, too) tasted like a barrel. The oak taste gets pretty insipid pretty fast. best thing to do, as was suggested, is to taste it pretty regularly and at the right moment, rack the beer off of the wood into a new container. Many a delicious beer has been totally ruined by an over-expression of oak.
Funny thing, my taste samples didn't express the tannin flavor that the beer has now. I bottled simply because I was sick of waiting for it to hit its sweet spot. I am pretty finicky about my beers, so I am unsure of what happened. Since wood isn't my jam anyway, I won't be making the same mistake again. It is odd though, I used twice as much light French oak soaked in Sauvignon blanc in a grissette, and it has zero oak expression on the palate. The barleywine used medium American spirals.
I've been researching oaking a bit recently. I have an English barleywine recipe that I want to rebrew as a 3 gallon batch with some oak aging in secondary. I'm looking for a subtle, complex oak flavor. Based on what I've read, to achieve this it sounds like using less oak for a longer period of time is a better option than using more oak for a shorter period of time. I think I'll use oak cubes which I'll pre-boil to remove tannins, then soak in some bourbon for at least a few weeks. Then I'll pitch just the cubes (no bourbon) into the secondary. The amount that I should use is currently my big question mark. If I'm looking to let this sit on oak for 6 months or so, would 2-3 oak cubes be sufficient? Too few? Too many?
I've used oak cubes one time for a smoked RIS. Assuming that too little was better than too much, I used a half package (2oz?) medium toasted French oak cubes. I boiled the cubes briefly before adding the cubes (and dumping the liquid). I left them in the RIS for about a month. The oak flavor was obvious but not overwhelming.
I've experimented with a similar process on 5 or 6 batches now, here's what I've been the happiest with. Use 0.25 oz/gal of American medium toast oak cubes, boil in water for 3 minutes, ditch the water, add oak cubes to secondary for 6+ months. I add liquor at bottling/kegging. I did this with a Bourbon County clone, which has been on the oak for 8 months now and its starting to get a nice round oaky vanilla flavor.
I'd go by weight and not cubes. Some may weigh more than others. For a 6 month soak and subtle flavor desired I say no more than 2 oz , boiled and testing starting at 1 month continuing every or every other week till perfection is reached.
I have only brewed using oak once. I used American oak cubes: 2 ounces of medium toast. I was brewing a Bourbon 'Barrel' Porter. I pre-soaked the cubes in cheap Bourbon (Jim Beam) for a few days to extract the tannins from the oak. I dumped the 'liquid' and then soaked the cubes in 20 ounces of Makers Mark for a week. I added both the oak and Makers Mark to the secondary and aged the Porter on this for a couple of weeks. This method achieved what I wanted for this beer. Cheers!
