Bourbon barrel porter

[jrdunne (Joe Sr.)]

@denny

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.

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.

Being too lazy to go look for the recipe, I’ll just go ahead and ask.

Do you adjust the hops to account for the additional sweetness?  Or are you going for a sweeter beer?

When I do my vanilla porter, I’m going for big vanilla so I don’t hop increase the hops.  Sometimes I add bourbon, sometimes not.

[denny]

Being too lazy to go look for the recipe, I’ll just go ahead and ask.

Do you adjust the hops to account for the additional sweetness?  Or are you going for a sweeter beer?

When I do my vanilla porter, I’m going for big vanilla so I don’t hop increase the hops.  Sometimes I add bourbon, sometimes not.

Well, that’s kind of a hard question to answer.  I brewed maybe 4-5 test batches before I got the balance of hops right.  So they are what they are and don’t get adjusted.  Or maybe it’s more correct to say they’ve already been adjusted.  The beer does have a reasonable amount of sweetness to it, but it’s not overly sweet.  I want the porter, bourbon, and vanilla to balance and complement each other.  One component should not be more prevalent than others in that recipe.

[redbeerman]

@denny

Being too lazy to go look for the recipe, I’ll just go ahead and ask.

Do you adjust the hops to account for the additional sweetness?  Or are you going for a sweeter beer?

When I do my vanilla porter, I’m going for big vanilla so I don’t hop increase the hops.  Sometimes I add bourbon, sometimes not.

Well, that’s kind of a hard question to answer.  I brewed maybe 4-5 test batches before I got the balance of hops right.  So they are what they are and don’t get adjusted.  Or maybe it’s more correct to say they’ve already been adjusted.  The beer does have a reasonable amount of sweetness to it, but it’s not overly sweet.  I want the porter, bourbon, and vanilla to balance and complement each other.  One component should not be more prevalent than others in that recipe.

It’s a great recipe as is, but also serves as a great imperial porter base if you care to play around with it.

[denny]

@redbeerman

@denny

Being too lazy to go look for the recipe, I’ll just go ahead and ask.

Do you adjust the hops to account for the additional sweetness?  Or are you going for a sweeter beer?

When I do my vanilla porter, I’m going for big vanilla so I don’t hop increase the hops.  Sometimes I add bourbon, sometimes not.

Well, that’s kind of a hard question to answer.  I brewed maybe 4-5 test batches before I got the balance of hops right.  So they are what they are and don’t get adjusted.  Or maybe it’s more correct to say they’ve already been adjusted.  The beer does have a reasonable amount of sweetness to it, but it’s not overly sweet.  I want the porter, bourbon, and vanilla to balance and complement each other.  One component should not be more prevalent than others in that recipe.

It’s a great recipe as is, but also serves as a great imperial porter base if you care to play around with it.

Yeah, it makes a killer base for a coffee porter.  It’s sweet enough to balance the bitterness from the coffee.

[gymrat]

hmmm…a coffee porter. I haven’t done one of those yet. I do roast my own beans.

Anyway thanks to this thread my bourbon barrel porter was a success. Many thanks to all of you for your replies and advice.

[jrdunne (Joe Sr.)]

@gymrat

hmmm…a coffee porter. I haven’t done one of those yet. I do roast my own beans.

Anyway thanks to this thread my bourbon barrel porter was a success. Many thanks to all of you for your replies and advice.

I split my last porter into half-batches.  One got coffee, one got bourbon.  Both are excellent.