Wood chips

BenBe

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What is the best technique for wood chips sterilization, wood chips taken at the farm?
 
Definitely sterilize, regardless of when you add them. Use a cheap vodka for upto a week.
 
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Bourbon works quite well also. In my experience, wood cubes are much easier to work with than wood chips (the chips create a real mess in terms of trub). Also, if you are just picking these oak chips up "at the farm", you might consider roasting them a little first. Although a week will adequately sterilize the cubes, you need at least 2 or 3 week of soaking to extract enough flavor (at least for cubes).

A technique I use, that is not mentioned anywhere that I have found, is splitting each cube in half with a chisel and hammer. This helps extract the delicious caramel flavors hidden inside the cubes and increases the exposed surface area by a third.
 
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I think I am going to boil them for ten minutes.
Maple chips cut with an ax.
Mate ive done it once...:) Jhonnos method seems the goods. 10 minutes steaming or boiling should do the trick or bakeing in the oven for half hour should too if you wanna roast em a bit depending on what your going for.

How long are you leaving them in contact with the beer? Im guessing Jhonnos method extracts the oak flavours as well as sterilizes the wood.
 
If it were me, I'd bake them and soak in rum for a week. But depends on what your doing with them.
 
Probably too late now, but a light toasting in the oven will help to enhance the maple flavour and will also sanitize them. What type of beer are you putting this in?

Another option is to toast the chips then boil them for a short time to make a maple tea, which you could then add to taste at bottling time.
 

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