Bourbon barrel porter

General Homebrew Discussion
1

I am wanting to do a bourbon barrel porter using oak chips rather than the barrel. I have a few questions.

  1. How long should I soak the oak chips in bourbon?
  2. Does it matter if I just use a cheap bourbon?
  3. Do I need to sanitize the container I soak the chips in or will the alcohol take care of that?
  4. Will a plastic mixing bowl work OK for this?
  5. How long do the oak chips need to float around in the porter before bottling?
2
  1. Just a few days is enough to completely saturate the chips.  In fact that is probably a matter of hours.
  2. Doesn’t matter too much although you’re going to have leftover bourbon so you want to be able to enjoy it too.
  3. Alcohol is a great sanitizer.
  4. Yes although a jar with a lid might be better.
  5. Chips will give up all their flavor in a week tops.
3
  1. I don’t know about minimum, but I’ve got a couple of jars of chips and bourbon just sitting around waiting.  I also use all of the bourbon they soak in, not just the chips.
  2. As long as you enjoy the flavor.  I wouldn’t waste top shelf bourbon as that’s simply better by itself.  I use a variety of cheaper good tasting bourbons.
  3. No worries.
  4. I use mason jars.  If the plastic bowl has a lid, that should be OK.  I’d be worried about picking up flavors from the plastic, though.  Perhaps unnecessarily so.
  5. I don’t think I’ve gone beyond seven days.  Maybe 10 or so.  I would taste it every couple of days to check. Pull the chips when you hit the flavor you like.

FWIW, I like the flavors of the darker oak chips.

4

I’m just gonna answer one of the questions cause that’s how I roll.

  1. There was an interesting article in Zymurgy a couple issues back about wood ageing and one of the big takeaways for me was that, while early on you get a lot of flavor extraction and it can get overwhelming to the beer quickly, longer contact also adds complexity assuming you then have time to age the beer to soften the harsher edges of the wood flavor.

just a thought.

Oh, and I like Joe Sr.'s idea of keeping a couple jars of wood chips soaking in booze around. You know, just in case you suddenly and without warning NEED to oak a stout.

5

My only experience was adding 2 oz chips to 5 gallons for 12 days. Aged better than I ever expected.

Also I added 100ml whiskey to the chips and some water and microwaved for a minute or so to kill critters. A few people noticed the whiskey but really I think they were just tasting the oak.

Medium toast french oak gave a nice vanilla character to the beer.

6

You know, I have the RIS that’s ready to keg.  I could split the batch and oak it with different toast levels… just cuz I can.  And I might.

7

The fiancé does the same thing. You know, for emergencies.

8

Yep, I’ve got a stack of tupperware with soaking oak: red wine, white wine, mead, port, bourbon, and maybe rum? I’ll have to look…

9

I definitely find that the oak chips spit out flavor very fast but it tends to be a harsh, woody flavor that can easily overwhelm the beer and require some aging. Not a problem for a bigger beer that you plan on aging anyway but for a beer you plan on drinking in the next few weeks you probably want to use a short period of contact. Boiling chips in water and going through a few changes of water can help get some of the harsh character out but I could never get them very smooth that way. I have found a very long soak in an alcoholic beverage tends to mellow it out so I also have chips in vodka, a couple different whiskeys and white wine. Does a better job of contributing both oak and liquor character.

10

I’ve used bourbon and rum soaked chips in stouts and porters several times, but I think I’m gonna try using white wine soaked chips in my next saison. Is that what you used them for, Kyle?  Sounds great to me.

11

How many chips and how much bourbon should I use? Is one mason jar enough for a five gallon batch?

12
13

nope use both. just make sure to use the bourbon too cause it’s got lots o’ goodness

14

The amount you use depends on how much oak and bourbon character you want. I definitely wouldn’t use a whole mason jar in five gallons. I would start out with 0.5-1oz of oak chips and just add enough bourbon that the chips are getting contact with the bourbon. You can add the bourbon along with the chips but I’m always conservative about adding liquor and wood to beer. You can age out some of the fresh wood character but you can’t age out the bourbon. It’s just there. I’d add the wood for a week, see how it is and if it needs more “barrel” character then start adding the bourbon. If it still isn’t enough then repeat with more oak.

15

Mort is correct.  Use both.

I buy my chips in 4oz. bags, IIRC.  This amount will just about fill a pint size mason jar.  I don’t think I’ve ever used the full amount.  I do have one jar that is smaller, maybe 10 oz?  I’ve used the full amount of chips that fit in that jar, but I think that was in a 2.5 gallon keg.

Regardless, your best bet is to start with a smaller amount and ramp up to the flavor you want.  If you soak a couple ounces of chips you can keep some in reserve to add later if you aren’t getting the oak/bourbon character that you want.

16

Thankyou for your replies. I have been reading differing views on how much bourbon to use. They range from a cup and a half to a pint. I love Shlafly’s imperial stout which is a bourbon barrel stout. To me the balance of that beer is absolutely perfect. It is what I am looking for in mine. I am going to brew it this weekend or the following weekend so it will be ready this winter.

17

I’ve always been surprised by the amount of bourbon that Denny says he uses in his BVIP.  There are other threads if you search for them.

I don’t think I’ve ever added more than 8 oz. of bourbon to a 5 gallon batch.

I recently had a BBQ where we tapped my bourbon porter and it was pretty sweet.  I think it had aged for maybe 8 months or so.  Maybe longer.  Bourbon will add sweetness to the beer, so that is something to consider.

18

OK that sounds like 1 oz in a mason jar and fill the rest of the way with bourbon. It also sounds like more AA units for bittering. I was thinking an ounce of sterling at 7% AA FWH in a 1.060 beer. I was also thinking about 5 months in the bottle before serving.

19

Don’t take someone else’s recommendations.  Do an experiment and figure it out for yourself.  When you’re ready to add bourbon, pour 4 2 oz. samples of the beer.  Dose each with different, measured amount of bourbon.  Decide which you like best and scale that amount up to your batch size.

20

It really depends on the beer you add it to.  That’s why I recommend people do a test and determine it for themselves.  Even with my 375 ml. of bourbon for 5 gal., the bourbon flavor is well integrated and not overwhelming.