I have some Nut Brown and Caribou Slobber in my carboys at the moment. I’ve read here about soaking oak chips in some bourbon or whiskey. I wanna do that and happen to have Jack Daniels on the shelf. Research tells me that a “handful” of chips and about a cup of whiskey/bourbon should do it.
So I’ve been soaking the chips for a few days and will bottle both batches this weekend.
I’ve had the Nut Brown before so I’m tempted to add the chips to that to see what kind of diff’ it makes. If I add it to the Caribou Slobber, will that be kinda like putting ketchup on a filet? What have you tried and what did you like?
Also, the only chips I had were some big oak chunks that have been a plastic bag under my grill for about 2 years. I hacked them up and put them in a Tupperware to soak. Before I do something stupid, is “fresh” oak necessary?
[quote=“jimexcelcs”]I have some Nut Brown and Caribou Slobber in my carboys at the moment. I’ve read here about soaking oak chips in some bourbon or whiskey. I wanna do that and happen to have Jack Daniels on the shelf. Research tells me that a “handful” of chips and about a cup of whiskey/bourbon should do it.
So I’ve been soaking the chips for a few days and will bottle both batches this weekend.
I’ve had the Nut Brown before so I’m tempted to add the chips to that to see what kind of diff’ it makes. If I add it to the Caribou Slobber, will that be kinda like putting ketchup on a filet? What have you tried and what did you like?
Also, the only chips I had were some big oak chunks that have been a plastic bag under my grill for about 2 years. I hacked them up and put them in a Tupperware to soak. Before I do something stupid, is “fresh” oak necessary?[/quote]
I don’t know about “fresh” oak, but 2 years under the grill just seems wrong to me.
I’m a fairly new brewer and a year ago i did a kit that contained oak chips. The kit stated the oak chips came from chipped up bourbon casks.
That kit required you to boil the chips to sterilize them before you add them to your secondary. I did that and them soaked them overnight in some bourbon. There was about a “hand-full” of chips in the kit, probably a cup and a half or so. I added both the chips and the bourbon they were soaked in, to the fermenter.
As a side comment, i bottled the first half of the batch as it came out of the fermenter. The second half of the batch, i added an additional cup (plus…) to the beer and bottled it. I actually liked the first half better… it was a better balance of beer to bourbon. The second half had a stronger bourbon flavor - not a bad thing… Both went away pretty fast!
[quote=“JMcK”]…
I don’t know about “fresh” oak, but 2 years under the grill just seems wrong to me.[/quote]
I wouldn’t sweat it. I have a big bag of oak chips much older than that which I reach for from time to time when aging certain beers.
Unless the contents are infested with termites or smells like mold, the wood doesn’t ‘go bad’.
Unless there’s obvious defect, I’d just just boil 'em, soak’em, and use 'em.
