Last month, I made my first homebrew for 2012. I started with an extract recipe that was a clone of Sierra Nevada porter. After primary fermentation for about two weeks, I transferred it to a keg, where I added 1 quart of Sumatran cold-press extract (courtesy of Commonplace Coffehouse), and a handful of dark toasted oak chips that had been soaked for a week in Bushmills Irish Whiskey.
After a week of forced carbonation, it was ready. I took a growler to this month's homebrew club meeting, and folks seemed to enjoy it. I know I do. I'm going to age it a bit longer in the keg to bring out more of the oak and whiskey flavors before bottling.
Update: Had a leak in my kegging line, causing loss of carbonation. Installed a new hose from the CO2 tank and I'm recarbonating. With lower-than-desired carbonation, I don't know if I like the taste of the oak in this one. Hopefully, leaving the oak chips in this long didn't do permanent damage.
