Appendix B: Wood Primer for Homebrewers

There are as many ways to use wood in homebrewing or small batch brewing as there are brewers. This primer should get you started. If you are new to using wood, follow the advice of many quoted in this book and taste often, especially when the wood you are using is “new” wood—it doesn’t take long for wood flavor to overpower your beer if left in too long. While it can’t literally be “undone,” it can be aged to allow some of the tannins to dissipate. And of course there is always blending after the fact. Aging with wood takes some experimentation to recognize what values and intensities the wood contributes so you can adjust it to your taste.

Things to remember:

• Make sure to use untreated wood if cutting, toasting, or preparing your own wood. This means there so should be no finish or chemical treatments. Woods commonly used for smoking foods can be a good choice since they are approved for contact with consumables. They should still be sanitized, however.

• Most woods used in barrel making and for use in aging are hardwoods—oak, cherry, chestnut, etc. Be sure to research a wood if it’s unknown to you in conjunction with food/beverage use, in order to rule out any possibility of toxicity.

• Don’t use chemicals to sanitize your wood. Steam or steep in spirits.

• Wood makes a great home for microbes of all kinds: Brettanomyces, Pedioccocus, and Lactobacillus for starters. Great for sour beer, not so great if you are shooting for a clean beer. If you pull your wood from a sour beer and want to keep your “zoo” for the next batch, dry the cubes completely on all sides and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

• Keeping a batch of spirit, wine, port, or sherry-soaked cubes around isn’t a bad idea. If diminished by second or third use, some of the soaking spirits can be added to the finished beer, or the batch could be split for blending.

• To get an idea of the flavors that a particular wood might impart, you can make a wood tea by steeping a small amount (1/2 tsp or one cube) in a cup of hot water, or do a cold steep. Taste and evaluate what flavor components can be noticed in the aroma and with a small sip. Different lengths of steeping and interaction with the beer will also affect flavor, but this can give you a starting point when designing your recipes. The tea can also be added directly to finished beer, both for testing and as a flavoring technique in itself. This will give an idea of what the wood itself will taste like, but perhaps the best method is to try it out in beer. The presence of alcohol aids in extraction, and you can get an early feel for effect by agitation. This can be as simple as adding a measured amount in a bottle of beer, recapping and shaking it, and getting a quick idea of effect.

• You can reuse cubes, spirals, etc., but keep in mind if you are making clean beer that wood is a great home for microbes. You can try sanitizing them and re-using them, recognizing the reduction in tannins and other active flavors over time. Steam, soak, and re-use as needed until satisfied with flavors and aromas.

Preparation:

Soaking cubes: Toss cubes into a small pot of hot water for about five minutes or steam them (covered) in a microwave, allowing a few minutes of standing time before removal. Drain and rinse in a colander. Add cubes to a mason jar and proceed with soaking.

Spirits: Add spirits just until covered. Soak for one day to two weeks to infuse the cubes with flavor.

Wine: Add wine to fill the container to prevent enough head space that acetobacters take hold and turn it to vinegar. Soak for one to six months depending on preference. The longer you soak, the deeper the flavor will penetrate.

Two-stage soak: Put new cubes into a mason jar, cover with spirits, and allow to soak for a week or so. Discard spirits (it will have leached out some of the harsher flavors) and cover again with fresh spirits of your choice. Age for four to six weeks before adding to your secondary fermentation vessel (buckets are easier than carboys for introduction and removal).

Wine: This technique is primarily used with spirits but can also be used with wine. When charring cubes, you may want to allow three to six months for soaking in wine as it will take the wine longer to penetrate.

Most commonly used wood-aging techniques for homebrewers:

	Preparation	Contact time	Advantages	Caution	Amount
Chips	Rinse, steam, or soak with hot water to reduce harsh flavors; soak in spirits if you choose (1 week for regular toasts and for up to 6 months for charred wood).	From hours to a week. Taste test regularly.	Fast flavor extraction, good for short aging (like IPAs and APAs where you want to retain fresh hop flavor).	Easy to overdo it, one dimensional flavor (but nice base for later wood additions), high surface to beer ratio can lead to high extraction of flavors.	.5 oz for a 5-gallon batch. You can always add more but you can’t take the flavor back out easily!
Cubes	Rinse, steam, or soak with hot water to reduce some of the harsher flavors; soak in spirits if you choose (1 week for regular toasts and for up to 6 months for charred wood).	Several months to a year.	Good for long aging processes (think imperial stouts and barley wines).	It takes longer for the beer to get to the heart of the cube but it will add great depth and complexity.	1–2 oz per 5 gallons (depends if first use or if it has been used multiple times). Too little oak for too long will emphasize the tannins.
Spirals	Rinse, steam, or soak with hot water to reduce harsh favors, soak in spirits if desired.	1-3 weeks depending on whether new or well-used.	More surface contact with the beer and easier to remove than chips.	Because there is more surface area, the exposure time should be shorter to avoid over-oaking.	One spiral is adequate for a 5-gallon batch and it can be steamed or soaked and reused.
Staves	Cut or split for use in carboy or bucket secondary fermenters, or in finished beer in a Cornelius keg. Sanitize like other wood or bake in the oven.	Soak up to 6 months if heavily charred—like cubes they can take take a long time for absorption.	Great for long-term aging.	This method can take longer if the stave has had a long history or is heavily charred.	You may be limited by how you are using it. Taste frequently and adjust as needed.
Powders or essence additions	Powdered or granulated oak (most common). No preparation.	Adds flavor instantly. Use sparingly and taste often.	Instant gratification.	Easy to overdo.	Follow instructions generally provided.