Oak chips american heavy toast

The Ideal Alternative to the Barrel

Oak chips represent a quick and economical method to add a “barrel-aged” aroma to your beer. While barrel aging is a delicate art in home brewing, chips are a very interesting alternative to reproduce the organoleptic effects.

Moreover, they are not limited to beer... Enhance your wines, kombucha, or spirits with American oak chips as well.

Our chips are made from staves (barrel slats) of dried American oak, reduced to chips and toasted to create flavors similar to those obtained with a barrel.

Heavy Toast American Oak Chips offer an aromatic palette of coffee, roasted almonds, spices, and brown sugar. They can be easily combined with less toasted or French oak chips.

The roasting levels of our chips are “Light”, “Medium”, and “Heavy”. Each degree of toast will give different flavors in the oak, not an increased intensity in the beer. These are not weak, normal, or strong levels; each presents a distinct flavor profile. In addition to these roasting profiles, American oak chips will offer flavors reminiscent of bourbon, rum, or other spirits, while French chips will emit aromas closer to wine.

Dosage of Oak Chips:

• - 2.5g/L: for a complexity effect without a dominant woody marker
• - 4g/L: balanced dosage
• - 6g/L to 8g/L: a pronounced woody character that clearly marks the bouquet and structure of the beer recipe used.

Of course, if you plan to age the beer for a long time, these dosages should be reduced. Oak chips are an oenological product, they mainly come from the wine world, and as in wine, the best guide will be your palate. Regularly taste your aging beer to determine if the woody flavors suit you.

Possible Introduction Phases:

• - End of boiling
• - End of primary fermentation
• - During beer aging

Contact Time:

With the dosages given above, 3 weeks will be enough for sufficient extraction. However, there are not many rules and the exposure time can range from a few days to 3 or 4 months.

Ideal Beers with Heavy Toast American Oak Chips:

• - Strong Brown Ales
• - Quadrupel
• - Barley Wine
• - Imperial Stout
• - Christmas Beer
• - Wild Beers
• - Brett Beers
• - Wine/Beer Hybrids