At the party last week Oskaar mentioned that the Santa's Helper I brought we be good with some oak. I think I'm going to give it a shot with the second keg, but I've never done any wood aging before and I've got a bunch of questions.
First off, the beer's already kegged and carbonated. I saw a post on here a few years ago from Rezzin that he was going to add oak to a carbonated beer but he didn't say how it went. I think it will probably be ok though.
What's your preferred form of oak? Chips, Cubes, Spirals? I plan on steam sanitizing since I'm not really looking for a whiskey flavor or to add any additional alcohol to the beer. How much oak should I use and how long should it soak in the beer?
Since it's a German style beer I'm thinking about staying on the continent for the wood, so either French or Hungarian. I'd still be open to American, but I don't really know what to expect from the different types of wood.
Finally, I"m not sure what kind of toast to go with. What kind of different flavors should I expect to get as the toast gets darker?
Oak aging questions
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Re: Oak aging questions
I don't have much experience to speak from but did get cubes. I like the proclaimed benefit of the regular surface area providing more linear, predictable, and repeatable outcome. I guess that's mostly compared to chips.
I would be careful with carbonated beer. The oak will provide lots an nucleation sites and you might get a big mess.
I would be careful with carbonated beer. The oak will provide lots an nucleation sites and you might get a big mess.
Re: Oak aging questions
Last time I did any oak it was cubes, in secondary, and a stout .. I doused 'em with a little vodka first. Medium as I recall. Turned out good but I think I should've let 'em sit longer to extract more flavor.
I've also done oak with mead but that was under Pete's tutelage.
Dan
I've also done oak with mead but that was under Pete's tutelage.
Dan
Re: Oak aging questions
Ok, I just added 3 oz of Med+ Hungarian oak cubes to the keg. I sanitized them with a little water in the microwave per the instructions at the bottom of this little article from Zymurgy: http://morebeer.com/content/using_oak_in_beer.
Interestingly, there was a little bit of foaming when I put the cubes into the carbonated beer, but nothing excessive. Then when I dumped the 1/4-1/2 C of oaky water into the beer it started foaming like crazy! I had to get the lid on quick and then hit it with 30psi to set the lid to keep the foam from coming out. The water was still pretty warm so my guess is that the temperature difference was was pushed the gas out of solution but I'm not really sure.
Interestingly, there was a little bit of foaming when I put the cubes into the carbonated beer, but nothing excessive. Then when I dumped the 1/4-1/2 C of oaky water into the beer it started foaming like crazy! I had to get the lid on quick and then hit it with 30psi to set the lid to keep the foam from coming out. The water was still pretty warm so my guess is that the temperature difference was was pushed the gas out of solution but I'm not really sure.