American Oak Chips - Untoasted

American oak provides the most intense oak flavour out of all the typical woods used in brewing and distilling. American oak can be used in all areas of brewing from beer, wine and spirits to meads and ciders. Adds an aged character, smoothness and a subtle oak note. 

American Oak chips have large surface area compared to staves or barrels. This means a faster extraction of colour and flavour when compared to both staves or barrels. As with most oak products these chips will produce a small amount of sediment and/or tiny chip fragments. To stop these ending up in your final product we recommend using a hop or grain bag to remove them after the extraction process.

Beer:

Oak is typically reserved for use in darker, more malt driven beer styles. The oak flavours compliment the roasted and rich flavours associated with roasted and kilned malts. Cask style ales such as English ales, Old ales and scotch ales all work well with higher doses of American oak as it imitates cask storage. Typically the longer the ageing process the more flavour will be extracted from the oak. The same can be said with oak dosage. 

Use approximately 2g per litre then titrate up or down to suit your preference.

When using oak in beer ensure to either soak in neutral spirit or boil the oak to sanitise it. If you plan on brewing a naturally fermented beer style such as a Flanders red ale where inoculation of the finished beer by wild bacteria and yeast is desired do not sanitise the oak.

Beer styles to consider using oak in:
- Old Ale
- Stout
- Porter
- English Ale
- Scotch Ale
- Flanders Red
- Belgian Ale
- Imperial Stout
- Brown Ale
- Saison
- Farmhouse Ale

Wine:

American oak adds wood sugar compounds that will increase the body and help to alleviate the harshness that can be associated with wines that have a high tannin content. American oak adds a soft vanilla sweetness to the finished wine. These chips can be toasted to increase the level of flavour and aroma that the oak will impart. A higher toast level will extract more flavour and aroma into the wine than untoasted chips. 

Use approximately 3g per litre until desired flavour is achieved then rack. 

Wine styles to consider using oak in:
- Shiraz
- Mataro
- Chardonnay

Spirits:

American oak chips can be both toasted and charred at home to add both colour and intensify burnt barrel flavours. Untoasted chips also work great to infuse flavour and a smooth finish to spirits even without the charring process. If you want more aged character increase the dosage of chips or increase the soaking time of the chips. 

Use 10-30g per litre and age for 14 days or until your desired flavour is achieved.