Well, I guess you could say they're expensive for wood, but not really so
for a beer ingredient--along the order of a few bucks for a few ounces as I
recall. What I've used for beer have been rough chips, around 1/2 to 1 inch
square, thickness of about 1/8 inch or so. Any size will do, as long as
youi remember that surface area is the key issue intransferring the flavor
to the beer. In my first wine kit, the "chips" were literally sawdust. I
remember about a year ago there was an article in one of the major
homebrewing magazines about how to figure out how much you want to add, and
whether you want to toast your chips. Hope this helps.

JT


"White Trash" <garbologist@oscar.com> wrote in message
news:Jj%5d.2557$dt2.72@trnddc09...[color=blue]
> Do you use fine chips, along the fineness of mulch, finer than that, or
> larger chunks? And where do you get them? I'd imagine theres a cheap place
> (i.e. - not the homebrew store) to buy wood. Im thinkin about adding a
> little oak to a porter.
>
> "Jason Torrick" <rex_merdinus@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:lcqdnT0vHbQ-c8vcRVn-pg@comcast.com...[color=green]
>> I've used oak several times, mostly with IPA's and once with a stout. It
>> definately imparts a flavor and adds to the beer's character. About
>> 1-2oz
>> of chips per five gallons usually does it. I don't "cook" the chips, but[/color]
> I[color=green]
>> do put them into a bit of boiling water for a few minutes, just to make[/color]
> sure[color=green]
>> there are no foreign bits of biological nastiness in them. have fun!
>>
>> JT
>>
>> "White Trash" <garbologist@oscar.com> wrote in message
>> news:dI%2d.1161$vd1.809@trnddc03...[color=darkred]
>> > Any thoughts/advice on using wood to add to a brew? Im thinking adding
>> > a
>> > sort of hickory/oak hint to a stout could be tasty. Anybody done it?
>> > Can
>> > you
>> > just use normal chips (say like the kind you get to use on a bbq) and
>> > sterilze them, should you cook them up in anyway first to bring out the
>> > flavor?
>> >
>> >[/color]
>>
>>[/color]
>
>[/color]