Single bottle barrel aging?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by LiquidCourage, Jan 23, 2014.

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  1. LiquidCourage

    LiquidCourage Initiate (0) Nov 1, 2012 Rhode Island

    I'm making a weizenbock that I was considering adding oak cubes soaked in bourbon. If I added a single oak cube to a 750ml bottle after all fermentation and left it in the bottle for several months, would that do anything?

    Basically I'm curious to see how it would taste without trying it on 5 gallons.
     
  2. OddNotion

    OddNotion Pooh-Bah (1,915) Nov 1, 2009 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    I would think that leaving for a few months, you have a chance of over oaking it. You can get a noticeable oak flavor from an ounce of cubes (maybe 20 cubes or so) in a 5 gallon batch for a few weeks.
     
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  3. LiquidCourage

    LiquidCourage Initiate (0) Nov 1, 2012 Rhode Island

    Thanks. Would 1 cube be too much for 1 750ml bottle?
     
  4. Slatetank

    Slatetank Grand Pooh-Bah (3,713) Oct 9, 2006 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    that might be interesting to try until you think it is carbonated maybe 2 wks or have a few bottles and open one every week up to 6 weeks?
     
    jbakajust1 likes this.
  5. OddNotion

    OddNotion Pooh-Bah (1,915) Nov 1, 2009 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    I would recommend taking about a gallon of the beer and putting it in a secondary (1 gallon glass jug) with a small amount of oak in it and take a tiny taste every day or two until it hits where you want it then bottle it like the rest of the batch.

    Edit: Let it sit a few days before the first taste and judge from there... dont want to be oxidizing the beer too much.
     
    jbakajust1 likes this.
  6. Slatetank

    Slatetank Grand Pooh-Bah (3,713) Oct 9, 2006 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Yeah if you are planning on holding on to bottles I agree -I did a split batch about 3 gallons each of barleywine and after 3 weeks it was nearing the too oaky realm. A 1 gallon portion with an ounce would probably get there quicker. I used 3 oz in a 3 gallon split.
     
  7. Drankenstein

    Drankenstein Initiate (0) Jul 15, 2013 Kansas

    TheMadFermentationist did something similar adding one bourbon soaked oak cube to a 12 ounce bottle of beer. The tasting notes articule said it aged for 7 months. The review said the oak really came through, but that one cube in a 12oz bottle was too much. Since the beer in question was a HotD Dave clone, the tannins helped tame some of the sweetness. (http://www.themadfermentationist.com/search?q=oak+cube).

    I say go for it (in a 750ml bottle).
     
  8. FarmerTed

    FarmerTed Pundit (928) May 31, 2011 Colorado

    I've added cubes to bottles many times. Just try it out on a commercial beer first, if you're worried. To me, 1 cube in a 750 will be fine. You may want 2. I've added as many as 4 to a bottle of Stone IRS, and after a couple weeks it was pretty damn good. I just used straight med toast American oak cubes (no treatment), and it tasted like it was aged in a bourbon barrel. I've also thrown single cubes into homebrews at bottling (12 oz), and 1 cube can be a bit much, but if you store it in the fridge after the conditioning period, it will be pretty mellow.

    You can also throw the cubes in boiling water for a minute or two to sanitize and remove tannins.
     
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