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OAK ALTERNATIVES
WOOD WITHOUT A BARREL
If you don’t want to spend on a wooden barrel
try this alternative
Oak chips
Oak chips quickly and easily add distinctive
flavour to the beer. As always, sterilisation is the key. Wash the chips with
warm water, some brewers recommend baking the chips first (375o for 10 minutes)
to increase flavours, though chips can be purchased with different “toasting”
levels.
Oak chips can be added at any time, either in a
muslin bag or directly during fermentation but are best when added to the
secondary, two days prior to bottling. Oak chips are thin and flavours are
usually leeched out in that time.
When adequate oak flavour as been achieved,
rack the beer to the bottling bucket and leave the oak chips behind, chips are
available at most homebrew supply shops, including us.
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