Wood Aging

The wood aged beer turned out pretty well. I made two batches, one with Cherry, the other with European Pear.

First I sanded down the blocks of wood and rinsed them off with water to remove any tool residue. Then I microwaved the wood for a minute to hopefully kill any lingering bacteria. Next step is toasting. I used a baking tray, tongs and the broiler to lightly toast all sides of the blocks. Then into the beer!

I used two, half-gallon jugs to age the beer for a little over a week.

The end result: Cherry made the American Lite Ale substantially smoother. The Pear, on the other hand, probably subtracted from the flavor somewhat.

I'll definitely try aging with Cherry again. It takes the bite out of ales.

I could even try coopering up a small Cherry barrel. Now THAT would be something!