Oak Aged Brown Ale

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by EMH5, Jan 28, 2016.

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  1. EMH5

    EMH5 Initiate (0) Apr 21, 2015 Massachusetts

    I'm looking to make a simple brown ale ~ 7 ABV, ferment in primary for 21-28 days then rack to secondary over 1.5 oz of oak cubes.

    Here's the issue... I see a wide variety in the time ranges - from 2 weeks to 5-6 months.

    I want to transfer it and forget it for months (5-6). Let the oak do its magic. Keep in mind I will bottle condition it for about 1-2 months so the oak will have time to mellow too.

    I'm wondering if anyone has aged a beer over cubes that long.
     
  2. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    My longest time is about four weeks. Unless you want a lot of oak taste and character I would taste once a month , at least. Personally I taste w
    Every 2 weeks, others do differently.
     
  3. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    "I want to transfer it and forget it for months (5-6). Let the oak do its magic."

    I have only aged using 2 ounces of oak cubes that were soaked in bourbon; a total of 2 weeks of aging.

    For long term aging do not use oak chips since they impart oak flavor very quickly. Maybe a 1/2 ounce of oak cubes would be the right thing for several months of aging?

    The other consideration is that a Brown Ale is not a very 'robust' beer so a little bit of oak will likely go a long way for this beer style.

    Hopefully somebody who has conducted long term oak aging will chime into this thread.

    Cheers!
     
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  4. EMH5

    EMH5 Initiate (0) Apr 21, 2015 Massachusetts

    Thanks guys. This brown may be more like a brown porter than a brown ale.

    Maybe I'll drop the oak amount down to 1 oz then. I don't want to overdo it but I do want to age it a while. Maybe I'll taste every 6-8 weeks.
     
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  5. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    That would be prudent.

    Cheers!
     
  6. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    Stavin, the maker of various oak products for beer and wine suggests no less than 2 months for cubes. This how long it takes to extract from the center of the cube which tastes different from the outer layer. The center is where the good stuff is like vanilla, coconut and toasted almond. The outer layer is where the harsher burnt components are. They get extracted first.

    I've done 1, 2 and 3 months with cubes using 1-2oz. I don't soak them in booze most of the time. If you are determined to age the beer for 6 months on oak before packaging, 1oz is probably what you want.

    Sampling flat, oak cubed beer can be very misleading. For example, you dump some oak in there. Three weeks later you taste it and it's a harsh oak bomb, so you panic and bottle it. Eventually, it smooths out to the point where it's drinkable, but it's missing the most desirable notes associated with oaked beers. That's because you didn't give the oak enough time to spill its goodness.

    Following a reasonable dose and contact time produced better results for me. Post oak conditioning time is also important.
     
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  7. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    @Brew_Betty very interesting, so, going on your post, is it possible to split the oak when one wishes to put it on beer and thus, extract the center sooner due to less time spent waiting for the beer to soak thru?
     
  8. wspscott

    wspscott Pooh-Bah (1,958) May 25, 2006 Kentucky
    Pooh-Bah

    Based on this, you would say a smaller amount of cubes for a longer time is better/recommended? It makes sense, but I don't think I have ever seen anyone state it.

    Also want to know about @GormBrewhouse's question about splitting the cubes to expose the center. Never heard that either.
     
  9. OldBrewer

    OldBrewer Maven (1,385) Jan 13, 2016 Canada (ON)

    I've had similar results (beer tastes significantly more bitter than as calculated), but I attributed it to two factors:

    1. it usually occurs when I make a double batch (10 gallons instead of 5). Thus I assume that the larger the batch size, the proportionately less amount of hops that are needed to achieve the same amount of bitterness;
    2. because of the larger volume, it takes much longer to chill - thus the hops stay at a high temperature for longer, adding to the length of time they are contributing hop bitterness.
     
  10. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    I suppose you could do that. If the center is exposed it should extract sooner than a whole cube.
     
  11. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

  12. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    It's only my best guess. The longest I've used cubes is 1.5oz for 3 months. An extra 3 months for the same batch would have extracted way more oak than I wanted. So, 1oz for 6 months sounds reasonable to me.
     
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  13. OldBrewer

    OldBrewer Maven (1,385) Jan 13, 2016 Canada (ON)

    Sorry - I posted this to the wrong thread - please ignore.
     
  14. EMH5

    EMH5 Initiate (0) Apr 21, 2015 Massachusetts

    Thanks for all the feedback. I am giving this a shot and I will most likely use an oz over a longer period of time.
     
  15. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    I recently did a coffee/oak/bourbon breakfast brown ale. I added a pot of coffee during chilling and suspended an oak honeycomb soaked in makers mark for 2 weeks during primary. I also added the half cup of makers I had soaked the oak in. It came out pretty damn good for doing it on a whim
     
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  16. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    I tend to go the use less/age longer route. I like spirals, and tend to use 1/2 spiral per 5gal (1 spiral per 5gal is recommended, but I like a more subdued oak flavor and always put off bottling anything that goes into secondary). Last week I bottled an Imperial Porter that I had aged on 1/2 bourbon-soaked oak spiral for 9 months. Basically, I just kept putting bottling it off until I needed the carboy again. Between the bit of diacetyl from the 1084 and the oak-aging, it reminded me of a "butter-bomb" California Chardonnay. Not unpleasant, just different, and it worked well with the richness and roast level of the beer.
     
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  17. EMH5

    EMH5 Initiate (0) Apr 21, 2015 Massachusetts

    Well... I made it. ABV is ~ 7.35. Transferred to secondary over ~1.25 oz of medium toast french oak. I'll check it in 2 months.

    Before transfer it was tasty.
     
  18. MarkGP

    MarkGP Initiate (0) Jan 28, 2015 Rhode Island

    I find that 4 weeks is the sweet spot on oak with brown ales. If you really want to step it up a notch add a pound or two of smoked malt when you brew!
     
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  19. EMH5

    EMH5 Initiate (0) Apr 21, 2015 Massachusetts

    Thanks. I think I'm going to test after 2 months (I don't want to keep tasting and exposing oxygen to it). I really want to extract the most flavor I can out of this plus I plan on bottle conditioning at least 2, maybe 3 months so that oak will mellow and smooth out. This will be an interesting winter beer.
     
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  20. EMH5

    EMH5 Initiate (0) Apr 21, 2015 Massachusetts

    This recipe turned out pretty great. It's very light on the oak (but you can smell and taste it) and more stout like than a brown but delicious. I will keep this recipe and make different variations for the winter... I would attach a picture of I knew how!

    I just made a variation that I lightened a bit to around 6% and added a 1 1/2 of toasted oat flakes for an oatmeal brown.
     
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