Just started brewing not too long ago and would like to try a cedar beer,any suggestions on where to get spanish cedar and how to prepare it for the beer. Would you put it in the secondary fermentor?
I've heard bad things about cedar oil being toxic when used for smoking meats. There's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_oil I suppose when you grill with it, the oil soaks into the food regardless. I usually like to sneak in those disclaimers for poisoning yourself before I get to my point. It's probably more dangerous to use black pepper or make your own root beer. So punish the liver, for it is evil! This would be a secondary project in the same way that oak would be. If you can find chips or cubes they'll soak in some decent bourbon, (please not vodka), for a couple of weeks to months. Strain the bourbon and add the cedar to the secondary. Rack your beer over the cedar and give it time. Where do you score Spanish cedar? Amazon, said box hardware store, or a lumberyard probably.
infusionspirals.com is a good place to check. You might need to contact them about cedar, though. Jester King uses Spanish cedar in El Cedro, and it is awesome.
I made a Spanish Cadar aged black farmhouse beer fermented with all brettanomyces. I got the Spanish Cedar at Woodcraft. Was a three inch wide strip 1/4 inch thick. I used a hand saw to cut 1 inch strips. Weighed out 2 ounces. Boiled them in water for 10 minutes. Cooled and added to secondary. Aged on the wood for about a month.
