Oak and Flanders

[Westco]

So I will be brewing up my first flanders red here shorty and I will be using jamil's recipe. He doesn't call for any oak cubes but i know a lot of people like to age Flanders on Oak. I was wondering if it is always better on Oak or is it a preference?

[HopRunner]

So I will be brewing up my first flanders red here shorty and I will be using jamil's recipe. He doesn't call for any oak cubes but i know a lot of people like to age Flanders on Oak. I was wondering if it is always better on Oak or is it a preference?

You better recheck your book. Pg 221 - 1 oz Medium Toast French Oak Cubes.

[Westco]

I'm sorry I think I meant Lambic not Flanders Red.

[brewinhard]

So are you brewing a lambic or a flanders red? Based on historical brewing, both lambics and flanders reds are typically aged in oak casks for the entire fermentation period. This allows the brettanomyces, pediococcus, and lactobacillus living in the casks to sour the beer naturally over time. I did find it interesting though that Jamil did not list any oak in his recipe for the lambic. I would use a minimum of 1 oz. of french oak med. toast for both styles of beer. Even up to 2 oz would be fine (especially for the red).

[Westco]

I have already brewed the lambic, i am currently waiting for the 1056 to do its thing before i pitch the bugs. I have oak chips just wasn't sure it Oaking it always makes it taste better or if its a preference for that style.

[HopRunner]

I didn't put Oak Cubes in my "lambic" but that was because I have a Flanders Red and a Brown that I am aging and those both have oak cubes in them. I wanted one batch without oak in case I needed to blend out some oak or something along those lines. If I had brewed only the lambic, I would have oaked it.

I can't comment on preference because this is my first effort with souring beers and they won't be ready for a long long time. I just don't have experience with the final product yet.

My only suggestion would be to find a good bottle shop and try to find an oaked lambic and a nonoaked lambic and see if you can taste the difference.

[brewinhard]

If you purchase any commercial lambic you most definitely will find that they are all aged on oak. That is just the procedures as to how they are made. They are typically cooled (sometimes in a coolship) and then transferred into oak casks for extended fermentation. I think 1 oz of oak is not that much and will be nicely blended in by the end of the product.