Using Wood Chips

[quantum24]

Has anyone here ever used wood chips (oak or otherwise) and been happy with the outcome. ive seen them for sale on a number of homebrew websites and thought about picking some up, they are pretty cheap. also i imagine that they would be used in secondary only, but i wasnt sure how i would remove them from a carboy. thanks for the help in advance.

[YamahaXS]

i put some in a IPA speciality kit i bought... the beer turned out very good.

from wine and hop shop in madison Wisconsin, they have a webpage, rajah indian pale ale.

[shughes600]

I just read Noonans New Lager Brewing where he talks a bout using beechwood chips. Apparently to do it right you boil the chips in baking soda? for 2-24 hours then rinse three times hot cold hot last rinse being neutral water. Place them in secondary in a lattice fashion in the bottom. Add beer with fresh wort (krausening). The kick off in fermentaiton caused by the krausening creates a circulation of the beer from top to bottom which will cause the beer to filter through the beechwood. I now know why Budweiser brags about Beechwood aging. Doesn't sound like a very easy process compared to artificial filtering methods.

[matt]

Beechwood aging is specifically used as a clarification technique. It doesn't impart any flavor. Oak on the other hand can impart a lot of flavor, I use it with english style barley wines and I'm pretty happy with it. I heat the oak chips in 200F water for a few minutes, allow them to cool and then age the beer in the secondary on them for a long time. You can also simulate bourbon cask aging, by first soaking your oak chips in cask-strength bourbon for a day or two and then throw them in. The oak imparts an earthy vanilla-ish flavor, that complements earth hops very nicely (I mainly use Goldings). I don't like the oak flavor with very citrusy or high-alpha hops though.

-Matt

[b3s]

i would have thought that baking the oak chips would be better to remove moisture from the wood so that it was more efficient at transferring taste to the beer.

[quantum24]

thanks for the replies, but two more questions? first is it a real pain to remove the wood chips from a carboy? and how long should you use them ( i assume there is no way to remove them with the beer still in the carboy), so do you just add them for a few days before you rack to bottles?

[Moboy]

I would toss the chips into the carboy at the same time you start the secondary ferm and leave them be for at least 1-2 weeks. As far as removing them, I have never used oak chips but it seems that rinsing them out of the carboy would not cause too much of a headache.

[shughes600]

Saw this in Brew Your Own. First tiem i read it and I must say it was very good.

Add bourbon char from real bourbon barrels in 1/2 cup / gallon increments. Leave in fermenter >2 weeks.

A source listed for char is:

Bob Capshaw
7720 Corydon Ridge Road
Lanesville, IN 47136
rcapshaw@epowerc.net
$5/lb

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by quantum24
thanks for the replies, but two more questions? first is it a real pain to remove the wood chips from a carboy? and how long should you use them ( i assume there is no way to remove them with the beer still in the carboy), so do you just add them for a few days before you rack to bottles?

you could put them in a grain sack, that would make fishing them out a bit easier.

[Tweek]

I have never used wood chips for my beers but I have for my wines. I just dump them in the carboy with the wine and at rack time the chips just stay behind with the trub. I have not found it necessary to use a sack although some people do, a few people I know use panty hose seems to work pretty well.

[hnrblbrbrn]

I'd received an ad for winmaking that talked about using wood chips, but I didn't pay much attention.


I wonder if the chips can be used in a smoker when you're done?

[shughes600]

That could be real cool using "spent" flavoring chips in a smoker. Serve the meat with some beer bread.

[hnrblbrbrn]

here's an article from the local brewclub:

Hi Lawrence Brewers and other brewers and future brewers:

May 3, 2003, is the date of the annual Big Brew, which is sponsored by
the American Homebrewers Association. I have been brewing on Big Brew
day for the past several years here at my house. Sometimes there has
been a crowd of brewers here and other times it was just me. I am
continuing the tradition this year, but will not be brewing the official
AHA recipe. This year, Lawrence Brewers Guild will be brewing a stout
to age in a bourbon barrel. Brew Your Own magazine has an article about
aging in a bourbon barrel in this months issue.

Here is the deal: I will buy the barrel with guild funds, you can leave
your beer here to ferment during the primary or bring it over when I
rack to the barrel, I will leave the beer in the barrel until it is
ready and then rack it into corny kegs to return to you, if you brew 5
gallons, you should get approximatly 5 gallons of beer back, if you brew
10 you get 10. You see how it works. The barrel is 50 gallons (I think)
and I would really like to see us come close to filling it, so if you
can brew, please do. For those of you that are not mobile, brewing at
home and bringing it over in a corny keg or two is another option.

For those of you that would like to brew, the recipe is on the LBG
website: http://www.sunflower.com/~homebrew/bigbrew2k3.html
I will be firing my kettle up around 9 am, so feel free to come over
anytime thereafter. There will be a syncronized toast at noon. Bring
grillables for the grill and other stuff if you want to eat. Bring
homebrew if you've got it and other beer if you don't...

see you soon.
Joe Yoder
http://www.sunflower.com/~homebrew/bigbrew2k3.html