• Home
  • Hops
    • DIY Projects
    • Dry Hop
    • Grow Hops
    • Videos
  • Grain
    • DIY Projects
    • Dog Treats!
    • Toasted Oats
    • Weigh And Mill Grain
    • Videos
  • Yeast
    • DIY Projects
    • The Life Cycle of Yeast
    • Harvesting, Rinsing and Re-Pitching
    • Videos
  • Water
    • DIY Projects
    • Ward Labs Water Report
  • Process
    • Brewing Guides
  • Equipment
    • DIY Projects
    • Homebrewer's Guide to Plastics
    • Store Hops And Specialty Grains
    • Organize Keg Supplies
  • Polls
  • Lists
  • Charts
  • Creative
  • Favorite Things
  • Coming Soon
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Hops
    • DIY Projects
    • Dry Hop
    • Grow Hops
    • Videos
  • Grain
    • DIY Projects
    • Dog Treats!
    • Toasted Oats
    • Weigh And Mill Grain
    • Videos
  • Yeast
    • DIY Projects
    • The Life Cycle of Yeast
    • Harvesting, Rinsing and Re-Pitching
    • Videos
  • Water
    • DIY Projects
    • Ward Labs Water Report
  • Process
    • Brewing Guides
  • Equipment
    • DIY Projects
    • Homebrewer's Guide to Plastics
    • Store Hops And Specialty Grains
    • Organize Keg Supplies
  • Polls
  • Lists
  • Charts
  • Creative
  • Favorite Things
  • Coming Soon
  • Contact Us
   BrewGeeks

Sniffing Airlocks since 2010

gregscsu's Toasted Oak Cubes

8/8/2012

0 Comments

 
Toasting oak cubes can give a beer interesting flavors that cannot be obtained any other way. Using this chart, determine what kind of flavors you want and at what temperature they come out. The y-axis shows the amount of each flavor produced at a specific temperature.
Toast the oak cubes in the oven at the desired temperature for about 3 hours
Picture

Additional toasted oak information:
Toasting of the oak creates melanoidins:
  • Heat breaks down carbohydrates into sugars in the wood
  • Heavier toasts create maliards and charring, also confectionary compounds (custard/caramel/butterscotch flavors)

Does wood character remain stable or deteriorate over time?

  • It does lessen to some extent, it is slow though
  • Tannins (good body and mouthfeel) can come from wood
  • Oak chips last about 2 weeks before tannins start to leach into the beer (body/complexity tannins) too long and it can become astringent (bad tannins, sour puckering). Can also add to dryness of finish
  • “Doing it right” requires slow dosing of your beer over the course of months
  • Higher alcohol beers possibly draw out more compounds form the wood.

Preparing your wood for the beer:

  • Usually just throw the wood in (no sanitary steps)
  • Some people put wood in water in microwave (steam)
  • Some people boil water, throw chips in, shake a little, let cool, throw juice and wood in 
    fermenter. (Jamil sometimes pressure cooks his wood)
  • Usually only sanitize for long aging beers (never any chemicals like starsan, iodophor)
  • Brett (and other sour critters) can live in wood (takes a long time to become problematic)
  • You can pasteurize the wood at 170 F for 5 min.

How much oak is used for a 5 gal batch?

Cubes: (impart flavor much slower) for aging after primary (in keg) use about 1-2 oz in 5 gal for 5 months to 1 year
  • The longer the beer sits on the cubes, it penetrates deeper causing a variety of flavors
  • The more oak you apply, the shorter amount of time it takes to show itself
  • The flavor is different depending on amount placed and time left
  • The flavors that come out first from the oak only become more defined with age
  • It takes 3-4 weeks to notice flavors are melding (especially with cubes)
  • Vanilla and caramel are first, then spices and cloves later on
  • Toasted coconut for lighter toast oak
  • Oak cubes will dissolve to “little nubs” after 1½-2 years of keeping them in a keg (Jamil did this with an English Barleywine, which became an award winning beer)
  • Too little oak for too long creates bad tannins
  • Too much oak does not create complexity of flavors before it becomes overwhelming (varies between different styles of beer)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Thanks for visiting BrewGeeks!

    This site is dedicated to sharing information about homebrewing and beer. We hope you find something here that helps your brew day go a little more smoothly.

    If you like our site, please help spread the word. We really appreciate it!

    Cheers!


    Popular Articles

    Make Starters
    Grow Hops
    Dry Hop
    Track Your Beer
    Clean & Sanitize
    Carbonator Cap 

    Have Feedback or Suggestions?
    Contact Us

    Archives

    January 2022
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    October 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Categories

    All



    [ Powered by Yeast ]
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.