Hey all lookin for some insight into aging on oak, I want to brew an imperial stout and age it, my questions are what type is best? cubes, chips, spirals and how much for a 3 gallon batch? If I’m using port how long should it soak on it. cheers and thanks
I have no experience with port & oak. Below is something I posted in a past thread about brewing a Bourbon Oaked Porter: “A few months ago I brewed a Bourbon Barrel Porter. This was my first time I have used bourbon and oak cubes in making a beer. I did a bit of research prior to making this beer and it appears that there are a lot of variables to be considered. Below is a list (and I may have missed a few items). Type of oak: American, French, Hungarian, … American oak is stated to impart the most oak flavor(s). Format of oak: cubes, chips, spirals, …. Chips are reported to impart the oak flavor the quickest. Toast level of the oak: heavy, medium, light How long to leave the oak (contact time) How much oak to add Etc. For a bourbon/oak aspect there is also the variables associated with the bourbon: How much bourbon to soak the oak Add the bourbon to the beer or just add the oak What type of bourbon to use Etc. For my Bourbon Barrel Porter I decided to do a two stage bourbon soak for my 2 ounces of American medium oak cubes. I first soaked the cubes in Jim Beam Bourbon for a few days to extract ‘extra’ tannins from the oak. I discarded the Jim Beam Bourbon (it did not smell too good; I did not taste it) and then soaked with 20 ounces of Makers Mark for a week. I added both the bourbon and the 2 ounces of cubes to the secondary for a duration of 16 days. I did not periodically taste the beer for the level of bourbon/oak. It is my experience that tasting an un-carbonated beer is not the same as tasting a carbonated beer so I was uncertain what the incremental tasting process would yield in a final product. I am very happy with the resulting beer! The amount of bourbon/oak is just right for this style of beer and my palate.” Maybe there is something in the above which is useful for you. Cheers!
Your question comes up a few times each year, so there are other threads that may give you some help. https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...='oak+aging'&o=date&c[title_only]=1&c[node]=8 I don't recall ever reading about oak aging and port wine, so that may be a new twist that will cause some educated guesswork. The process of aging on oak has so many outcomes, and everyone who does it will have different taste desires from what you'd like so that you will have to rely on how well someone can put into writing a description of the results of their attempt at this. But hopefully you'll get enough of a general feel from these other results in other threads to give you some guidance. And it's likely that you'll have to experiment over several future batches to dial in to the level of taste that hits your hot button. Good luck. P.S. There are one or two members here who have done a lot of experimenting on this topic, so maybe they'll chime in. I can't think of their usernames to tag them here, but I think the threads in my search link will give you an answer to that.
I would go with cubes or spirals. I use my own oak sticks but, a spiral or cube would be close for comparison. I pal of mine did use port in a imperial stout and he soaked the oak for a couple weeks, then put the cubes in the secondary for a month. It was a very good brew with the oak and port notes coming thru softly. He used medium toasted oak. If you used heavy or light toasted oak , you will have a different outcome. For myself I use 4-5 oz of oak and or sugar maple for a month or 2. Boil wood in water for 5 minutes then discard water to remove excess tannins. Longer time in the secondary will yeild more oak taste, so, I would start sampling after a couple weeks and see how it's tasting. Rack and bottle or keg when it's where you want it. Then , if possible, don't drink it for 3 months minimum. Longer is better for me.
