How to Use Oak Chips in Beer (7 Steps)

Barrel-aged beers are a special treat. Some can be smoky and smooth, while others are funky knock-your-socks-off bombs with 15 percent alcohol content. Like all beer, there is a huge range of flavors that can a home brewer can play with. A barrel is almost always too expensive for the home brewer, and also not at all practical -- unless you brew 100-gallon batches. Thankfully, a simple, affordable and easy-to-find means of maturing your beer with a barrel-aged flavor is oak chips. Oak chips provide plenty of flavor and require much less storage space.

Things You'll Need

2 oz. oak chips
2 cups quality bourbon, whiskey or sherry
2 medium-size bowls

5-gallon batch of beer (ready for secondary fermentation)
6.5-gallon glass carboy or brewers bucket

Instructions

Soak your 2 oz. of oak chips in a medium-size bowl with 2 cups of whiskey, bourbon or sherry for one hour. This will sterilize the oak chips.
Pour the whiskey, bourbon or sherry into another medium-size bowl and reserve the liquid for later.
Place the sterilized wood chips into a cheese-cloth bag. Tie the bag closed.
Follow your beer recipe as always. When fermentation is complete, pour or siphon the batch into your carboy or brewers bucket.
Drop the bag of oak chips into your carboy or brewers bucket.
Add 1/4 cup of whiskey, bourbon or sherry at a time to taste (optional). Agitate the brew each time before sampling and adding more.
Age the sealed concoction for at least one week and preferably longer. If you're kegging, you can leave the oak chips in with the beer.

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