American oaked rum

[jengis]

Hi all,
Just got a kit of young's American oaked rum beer. It comes with oak chips for adding in, problem is when is best to add them, is it the same principles as dry hopping? And what's the best amount of time to leave them in for? :???:

 

[stout les]

thats one of the Youngs new kits. does it not say in the instructions. i've done the APA & i've got the Amber Ale & the instructions are very good on them.

 

[jengis]

Les, got the mrs to read them, she found it in a couple of seconds, hahaha, should of had a few before opening the kit!

 

[stout les]

excellent. let us know how it turns out.

 

[Coups]

This is going to be my next kit after the festival razorback IPA is out of the FV. Love the idea of adding my own oak chips to it, hopefully the quality is somewhere along the lines of innis&gunn - one of my favourite beers. When I start I'll post updates and hopefully pics.

 

[DoctorMick]

This is next on my list, love innis and gunn run cask so hoping this will be similar. Let me know how it turns out please. :)

 

[Coups]

Bought the kit today from my local HB shop, still got a Razorback IPA in primary for a few days so when its done ill get straight onto the rum ale in time for christmas.

 

[Coups]

Made this kit on tuesday 14/10/14 but made a slight cock-up due to thinking more about work than the more important beer kit. I rehydrated the yeast, which isnt specified in the instructions, but i learnt it from making a brewferm triple at the weekend so i thought rehydrating yeast would get this kit off to a perfect start.
On top of this, once id added the yeast to the 23.5 litres i noticed, i hadnt added the brewing sugar yet, so i quickly added the sugar and stirred it up so i got a nice frothy head.
This morning 16/10, no activity in the yeast it doensnt look like anyway. Im going to leave it another 2 days and it should be frothing away. I forgot to add that i had just boiled the kettle, used 100ml cold water and topped up with a splash of hot from the kettle, tipped in the yeast at stirred up, then chucked it in the FV without checking the temp. Hopefully ive not killed the yeast by adding it to water that was too hot.
Ill report what happends, but on another note i had a quick taste of some drips from the hydrometer and MY GOD! When this beer is done, if its ok, will not last long at all! Absolutely gorgeous at this young stage so it can only get better.

 

[the_kitchen_brewer]

Made this kit on tuesday 14/10/14 but made a slight cock-up due to thinking more about work than the more important beer kit. I rehydrated the yeast, which isnt specified in the instructions, but i learnt it from making a brewferm triple at the weekend so i thought rehydrating yeast would get this kit off to a perfect start.
On top of this, once id added the yeast to the 23.5 litres i noticed, i hadnt added the brewing sugar yet, so i quickly added the sugar and stirred it up so i got a nice frothy head.
This morning 16/10, no activity in the yeast it doensnt look like anyway. Im going to leave it another 2 days and it should be frothing away. I forgot to add that i had just boiled the kettle, used 100ml cold water and topped up with a splash of hot from the kettle, tipped in the yeast at stirred up, then chucked it in the FV without checking the temp. Hopefully ive not killed the yeast by adding it to water that was too hot.
Ill report what happends, but on another note i had a quick taste of some drips from the hydrometer and MY GOD! When this beer is done, if its ok, will not last long at all! Absolutely gorgeous at this young stage so it can only get better.

Good luck with it! I've got one ready to bottle next week, can't wait to try it out because I love the Innis & Gunn rum beer - got high hopes for this one!

 

[Coups]

Quick update, got home from work and no fermentation after 48hrs. Luckily ive got my LHBS owners mobile number and he suggested the yeast may have died, and to use a Gervin Ale Yeast.
Having just done kits before (approx 6) and only doing this hobby for 4 months i dont know a lot about yeasts. Can anyone shed any light on Gervin Ale Yeast? I doubt people can suggest a better alternative seeing as its a new kit on the market apart from that people wouldnt be as daft as me to kill the yeast haha!

 

[Coups]

Another update for those of you taking an interest in this

The yeast eventually kicked off after approx 60hrs, i started it on the 14/10, didnt take a starting gravity because i forgot 'doh!' Just done a gravity check now and after 8 days its at 1032...destructions suggest anything below 1008 is good for the beer. They also advise fermentation on this particular beer should be done after around 15 days. I suspect the added oak chips and other things in the malt might make this a tricky one to get right.

Another side note, my brewferm triple is sat at 1020 after 12 days in FV, tempted to give it a stir to help it along, if anyone is reading this and thinking 'nooooo!' Please post before 8am tomorrow haha cheers, ill keep the updates going for this beer as the hopes are high, very high.

 

[stout les]

my oak chips looked more like dark brown sawdust, was anyone elses the same or have i gotten a dodgy batch, it looks like coffee groundsconfused:

 

[Coups]

Mine was exactly the same les, i was expecting small chunks rather than chips that are only 2-3mm.
The SG i took a couple of days ago produced a little clog in my tap even with a sediment trap. Its day 11 for my brew today so ill take another readig today and hopefully its closer to the 1.008 it recommends. Smells nice though dont you think?

 

[stout les]

Mine was exactly the same les, i was expecting small chunks rather than chips that are only 2-3mm.
The SG i took a couple of days ago produced a little clog in my tap even with a sediment trap. Its day 11 for my brew today so ill take another readig today and hopefully its closer to the 1.008 it recommends. Smells nice though dont you think?

thanks coups, it does smell very nice. mines on day 3 now & its bubbling away nicely. these youngs kits seem to be real quality. i've done the apa & that is the best kit i've done, & i put the amber ale on the same time as the oak rum.
i'll be doing the ipa next after tasting a sample at my lhbs, it's very similar to the apa nice & citrusy. can't wait:

 

[norm]

my oak chips looked more like dark brown sawdust, was anyone elses the same or have i gotten a dodgy batch, it looks like coffee groundsconfused:

Yes, I was surprised to find a bag of dust in my kit. Suppose it must be ok if they're all the same.Mine's bubbling away at the moment and the kitchen smells quite rummy.

 

[the_kitchen_brewer]

Yup mine was sawdust too - you get it a lot with wine kits.

I bottled on Friday and had a sneaky taste - very similar to Innis & Gunn Rum Cask though obviously flat at this stage - can't wait for this one to carbonate!

 

[Coups]

How long did you leave yours to ferment? Mine has been in the bin for 11 days and its at 1.020 at the min, hopefully it will drop below 1.010 and then ill bottle when it stabilises. It does smell really nice, but it looks alot darker than innis & gunn for me. Hopefully the taste will be extremely similar as thats one of a favourite beers.

 

[the_kitchen_brewer]

How long did you leave yours to ferment? Mine has been in the bin for 11 days and its at 1.020 at the min, hopefully it will drop below 1.010 and then ill bottle when it stabilises. It does smell really nice, but it looks alot darker than innis & gunn for me. Hopefully the taste will be extremely similar as thats one of a favourite beers.

Just checked my notes, I left it for 3 weeks in the end as it was still periodically bubbling and I was a bit busy last week.

Mine smelt a little overpowering, but I poured out the glass that was left over after bottling and me and the missus both thought it tasted just like the I&G (but obviously flat at this stage). But yeah it did look darker, hoping when it clears it will resemble the I&G a bit more, fingers crossed!

 

[Coups]

Great stuff! I'll keep an eye on mine and probably submit my notes on the review thread for this ale when its done.

 

[Gavb0]

So got my brew on today, can any one tell me if the oak chips (saw dust) will sink to the bottom? As I usually bottle straight from fv as it has a tap on the bottom. This has never been a problem before but there's a lot of floating saw dust in this particular brew.