I have an Imperial Irish Stout that has been sitting in a 5 gallon bourbon barrel since March of this year. For context, this is the second batch of beer that has been put into the barrel, but I have a feeling that it will be over-oaked and maybe a little hot from the bourbon. So I just brewed the same Stout recipe and I plan on blending this new Stout with the one in the barrel.
I have never blended anything before, so I looking for any tips, tricks, or insight that may help this go smoothly and produce the best tasting beer. Also should I be worried about the yeast being dead (I plan on bottle conditioning) and should I add any champagne yeast or will the fresh beer have enough to condition?
You should taste the bourbon stout before blending at all. See how it tastes. You might change your mind.
The yeast is indeed dead. You will need to pitch a small yeast starter along with your priming sugar. Then it will carbonate just fine. Without fresh yeast, it probably would never carbonate.
+1 on everything Dave said. I would add that should you want to blend, do it in a series of glasses and measure how much of each you put in. then taste them side by side and see which ratio you like best. Then, back it off 1 or 2 levels (so you are using less of the more powerful one), and that’s the actual ratio to use. I’ve come to accept that there’s something about scaling to a full batch that makes a little of the powerful flavor go a longer way than you though. (This technique applies to adding anything to a beer, such as vanilla, fruit extracts, spices, etc.)