Using non-oak wood when aging a sour.

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by JohnSnowNW, Mar 17, 2015.

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  1. JohnSnowNW

    JohnSnowNW Initiate (0) Feb 6, 2013 Minnesota

    I'm probably going to brew up a beer this weekend, and pitch ECY20. I'm looking at aging it on some maple, and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on length. I was planning to age the beer for at least a year, in primary, and was going to add the maple some time after primary fermentation had ceased, leaving the maple in until bottling.

    Just wondering if I can treat other woods as one does oak...or if there is some sort of exception when aging on other wood types.
     
    #1 JohnSnowNW, Mar 17, 2015
  2. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    Cubes or chips?

    I'd think you'd be okay with a more neutral wood, maple is somewhat neutral.. If you used somelike like spanish cedar or something like palo santo I'd say no..

    I'd probably cube it for 6 months.. if it gets overpowering.. pull it and hold it else where if need be, worst case.
     
    #2 FATC1TY, Mar 17, 2015
  3. JohnSnowNW

    JohnSnowNW Initiate (0) Feb 6, 2013 Minnesota

    #3 JohnSnowNW, Mar 17, 2015
  4. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    #4 Brew_Betty, Mar 17, 2015
  5. JohnSnowNW

    JohnSnowNW Initiate (0) Feb 6, 2013 Minnesota

    #5 JohnSnowNW, Mar 17, 2015
  6. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah


    More surface area than a cube... less or equal to a chip is how I look at it.

    I'd probably stick to the one-3 month time frame... perhaps let the beer sit longer than planned, IMO...

    Ideally.. off the cuff... I'd say.. 2 months is what I'd try..
     
    #6 FATC1TY, Mar 18, 2015
  7. RashyGrillCook

    RashyGrillCook Initiate (0) Apr 30, 2011 Florida

    Hard to say really. I don't imagine that different woods could be approached the same as oak. Maple(especially Hard/Sugar/Rock Maple) has a much tighter grain structure than Oak. Also the compounds available are different so their extraction may take a longer or shorter amount of time to extract. If I were doing this I would either try a small tincture experiment or split the batch. That way if it goes overboard you can dilute back with some of the clean batch.
     
    #7 RashyGrillCook, Mar 18, 2015
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  8. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    Good points.. Maple is very tight.. MUCH, MUCH tighter than oak.. I know this not for breweing, but I also consider myself a bit of a pro at smoking meats and such.. I use a variety of woods and such, and sugar maple for example is very dense and tight in structe compared to say.. white oak, or post oak.

    I'd expect maple to take longer- hence the 2 months idea I tossed out...

    Here's this.. @JohnSnowNW .. there's a local beer aged on maple staves.. lemme ask the brewery and or send you some of the beer to decide.. ?
     
    #8 FATC1TY, Mar 18, 2015
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  9. JohnSnowNW

    JohnSnowNW Initiate (0) Feb 6, 2013 Minnesota

    I appreciate both offers! I think hearing how they approach maple would suffice...assuming you consider it a good beer.
     
    #9 JohnSnowNW, Mar 18, 2015
  10. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    I'll report back by the weeks end
     
    #10 FATC1TY, Mar 18, 2015
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  11. JohnSnowNW

    JohnSnowNW Initiate (0) Feb 6, 2013 Minnesota

    Thanks, man. I appreciate it!
     
    #11 JohnSnowNW, Mar 18, 2015
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