Beer Forum

I am about ready to brew up a 8 gallons of Lambic. I was planning on splitting it into 5 gallon carboys and adding fruit to one. I understand that you can use an oak plug instead of an airlock during the funk phase to allow a certain amount of oxygen into the carboy. Has anyone done this and how?

Thanks!

I haven't done any "oak chair leg aging" but here's my 2 cents worth:

After hearing the Sunday show with Shea Comfort and understanding how oak is aged before making barrels, I would never use an oak chair leg from home depot. If you could get an oak stave to use, I think it could be a great thing. I know there are some pics up and a podcast of a chair leg setup on basicbrewingradio.com.

The person that you really should talk to about it is Michael Tonsmeire, the "Mad Fermentationist" (http://madfermentationist.blogspot.com/). He has used this technique a number of times with success and is always helpful with questions.

However, the technique was pioneered by Raj Apte, who originally calculated that the technique would grant similar oxygen diffusion rates as the huge oak vats used by Rodenbach. He is the one quoted in "Wild Brews."

While Shea was an awesome guest he totally got this one wrong. The purpose of the chair leg is to seal the opening of the carboy while still allowing a small amount of breathability. It is not there to add oak flavor or nucleation sites for yeast. It is not supposed to be making contact with the beer so whether the oak is aged or toasted is not a factor.

Brad