Oak Chip, How Much And How Long?

[dug]

I've got a Raspberry old bruin that brewed a little while ago, Its an AG version of one I did last year that turned out great. But I want to do something different with this one. I want to get an oaked flavour into it. So I've bought some french oak chips, but I don't know how much to add and for how long. Any suggestions?

I'm after a mild oaked flavour as I still want the raspberries to be the star flavour.

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.00 kg Fruit - Raspberry (0.0 EBC) Adjunct 37.04 %
5.00 kg Pale Malt, Traditional Ale (Joe White) (5.Grain 61.73 %
0.10 kg Carared (Weyermann) (47.3 EBC) Grain 1.23 %
14.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.80 %] (60 min) Hops 15.0 IBU
14.00 gm Saaz [6.80 %] (15 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -

 

[Muggus]

How big is you batch?
I'm assuming your racking your brew off onto the chips.
Going by the recipe you have which isn't too hoppy or have roasted malts, 100g per 20L should give you a nice subtle oakiness. Give it a week of maturing on the chips and you should be able to notice it.
Sounds like a good brew! Hope it turns out nice.

 

[goatherder]

100g is a lot of oak chips for a 20l batch. I put 30g in my Flanders Red and the taste was noticeable. Start small, you can always add more if the flavour isn't strong enough.

 

[user3673]

I agree 100g is too much, I made an IPA and put 100g of french oak chips in and the beer tastes like liquid oak barrels <_<

 

[blackbock]

French Oak is a much stronger flavour than, say, American white Oak. It will also colour the beer a lot more.

 

[Doogiechap]

Jamil did a pretty informative podcast on this subject . Linky link.

 

[chiller]

Does Tassy oak work? When I was in California they had poison oak but that may be a bit bitter and poisonous.

But seriously when is too much oak not enough?

Hasn't someone made an essence of oak for adding to the keg?

 

[dug]

Muggus, yeah its not really hoppy or malty, so just a taste of the oak is all i'm after.

Its a 20l batch, Just pulled it off the raspberries today. The aroma and colour are great, taste is a bit sour... not like sucking on a lemon though

I think I'll try 30g of chips for a week and see how it goes. like you said goatherder I can allways add more if it is strong enough.

 

[NRB]

I would also STRONGLY suggest you start with a low level, less than 30g. I oaked an English Old Ale (Theakstones Old Peculier clone) with 60g French Oak Chips that were pressure cooked in a little water. I added to 20L (half batch) and left in a cube in the conditioning fridge for a couple of weeks. I converted it into an Oak Beer, not an Eglish Old with Oak notes... I've blended it in a ratio of 2 parts unoaked to 1 part oaked and I still think it's a little too strong a flavour even in such a bold beer. Some of my fellow Melbourne Brewers will attest to the oakiness such a blend has. (Belgrave Brewer, AndyD, wanna share your thoughts?)

Start very low mate, you can always add more but you will never remove it!

 

[kook]

The thing is chips have a variable surface area, there isn't necessarily a consistent amount in grams you can add for the correct flavour. Smaller chips or shavings will add more flavour / weight. The longer it is left in contact the more flavour will be extracted too.

As everyone else has said, add a small amount at first (i'd start at 0.5g/L for a week) and see how it goes.

 

[randyrob]

on a side note a winemaking book i'm currently reading suggests 3-4 g/l of oak chips for 1 to 2 weeks in red wines
& 1-2 g/l for 1 to 2 weeks in white wines

i intend to oak a batch of robust porter and will take ur advice kook!

cheers Rob.

 

[big d]

Hey dug
May be worth giving GMK a pm as he was big on the oak chip brewing awhile back so may have some useful tips/hints to help you out.

Cheers
Big D

 

[dr K]

First of all, romance aside beer and oak are not great companions, oak beers barrels are either lined with pitch or some such or were treated extensively prior to the addition of beer to remove any woodiness imparted by the oak.
WITH the exception of many beers from Belgium where they are indeed fermented in oak and as you are making a Flemish style of beer I can see the reasoning.
Heres where you need to get out your calculator and some old school maths texts.
The casks these dudes use are HUGE, Rodenbach use a small 12000 litres jobby and a large 20000 litres monster.
Now I stand to be corrected on my maths here....it is a bit late, but...
If for the purposes of this we consider a cask to roughly equate a cylinder with a 1.5 to 1 height to diameter ratio then a 12000 litre cask will be about as long as a basic suburban bedroom and will still be claer of the ceiling (it just will not fit through the door) so I make it a tad shy of 220 x 330 cm.
This means that the wall surface area is 2pi*110*330 is 227964 sq cm and the combined lid and base 75988 sq cm.
This means 25.33 sq cm of oak contact per litre, barrels have one side, chips have two (plus)
so for 25 litres thats about half an A4 sheet of paper which seems like an awful lot but i just weighed some hickory and got 40gms or 1.6 grams per litre.
The wood is there to add a yet another subtle note to a highly layered complex beer. It should not dominate so the beer needs be in contact with the wood for months or even yeras in this sort of beer.
I would (no pun intended) either use a low level (say 25-30 gms in 20 litres and let it age or do nothing at all.

K