I brewed an Old Chub (Oskar Blues) Scotch Ale extract clone and am wondering about adding some actual scotch to the 2ndary? I have a bottle of Glenlivet single malt aged 12 yrs. I have added bourbon to a Porter before by soaking 2 oz of oak chips in the bourbon and also by adding 2 oz of actual bourbon to to the 2ndary. I just don’t know much about scotch. Would you even recommend adding scotch to a Scotch Ale? If so, how…soaking in oak chips/spiral/cubes, or adding some directly to the 2ndary…or how much? I brewed this beer on 2/11 and am still getting some airlock activity. Is this common for a beer that has been in the primary for 10+ days? How long should I let it sit in the primary…after the airlock stops…before racking it into the 2ndary?
Before you go and do something crazy, like adding Scotch to your beer ;D, try dosing a pint and see if you like the combination. If you measure it out you can get a better idea of just how much you should add to the batch.
You can also add my tears for added flavor.
The scotch character is a combination of smoothness and delicate flavors (ok minus the heavily peated scotches). Bourbon is commonly used because it’s sweet and carries a lot of barrel character over. Adding a small amount of scotch to beer is going to lose a lot of those delicate flavors you are paying for, especially in a single malt. I guess you could use a cheaper blended scotch (or even blended grain scotch) or canadian whiskey to get that sort of generic whiskey flavor. I dunno, I have used canadian whiskey in beers (in small doses and mostly along with wood) and I don’t think it adds a lot of anything I feel really benefits the beer. I know there are some canadian whiskey and scotch barrel-aged beers out there though, so there is disagreement.