Adding to secondary

matrim

I'm plan on starting my new brew next week. It's a Murtons Export Stout.

One thing I was thinking of doing was racking off some to some demijons and seeing what happens when I add something to the secondary.

Some options I was thinking of were
* Oak Chips
* Whiskey aged Oak chips
* Banana
* Hops

I only want to do about 2 demijons with this and leave the rest to go as normal.

What do I need to do this and what would you recommend?

If I do a whisky oak aged version, how long do I need to soak the oak chips? And where do I get them?

Given that I'll be racking to a demijon how do I add them, do I just put them in and let them settle or use a bag? Same question if I do a version with hop pellets?

tteknulp

I never used oak chips but i would imagine its same as hops put in a muslin bag ,2wks for oak chips and 5-7days for hops ,fuggle is good for stout or goldings,a nice bourbon would add good flavour ,4 demijohn be careful as hop leaves expand when wet as u probably know already ,can be hard to retrieve from neck of D.J. Some strong string needed ,you should get on homebrew west or homebrew company ,hope this helps ,great idea by the way re.whiskey

I used oak chips in a stout a few weeks ago, got them from the homebrew company. I soaked them in Jameson for about a week. I used the full pack of them, put them in a muslin bag and left them in the beer. Tasted a sample every day and after four days it was oaky enough for me.