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   BrewGeeks

Sniffing Airlocks since 2010

Toasted Oak Cubes - by gregscsu

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)
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