Has anyone used them, do you have to sterilize them before you put them in the beer? How long do you leave them in the fermentor?
How long you leave them in the fermenter depends on the volume of your beer, the style and how much oak flavor you want to extract. For bigger beers I will leave them in for a month or two, sometimes MUCH longer. Take samples of the beer every two weeks or so to find the sweet spot for your palette. Everyone has a different palette. A lot of people will use sulfur burner sticks or a steam (Place in steamer and steam for a few minutes) to sanatize oak, but I find it unecessary. Your fermented beer/wine/etc will have enough alcohol and left over yeast so that there will not be issues with infection in my experience. I've used them straight from the package and had no issues with infections at all- didn't even rinse them off, just plunked them on in. 99% Of the time when I use oak in beer I am using in conjunction with Whiskey or other spirits anyways- so a good soak in the liquor is going to sanitize it. Oak has some built-in anti-microbial properties as well. You can rinse them off and sanitize in star san too.
Steam them, as their's no downside, and you know you've killed the nastys. As for time, completely dependent...just way too many factors in play. Most people just take samples, until it's reached the desired level.
