Bourbon 'Barrel' Stout question

General Homebrew Discussion
1

I’m considering brewing a bourbon stout.  For a base, I’m thinking of relying on Jamil’s ‘Foreign Extra Stout’-- the dry version, rather than the tropical.  Good idea or not?  If not, any decent ideas on a recipe based on extract with steeping grains?

As for the bourbon flavoring, is it worth soaking French Oak cubes in bourbon (2 oz)?  I figure I’ll also add bourbon to the secondary, though I’m uncertain as to how much.  Is 16oz about right?  Would it make sense to start lower and add as it sits in secondary?

Any other way to mimic the bourbon barrel styles out there that you can think of?

Thanks,
Radd

2

Damnit.  Just realized I posted this to the ‘extract’ section, rather than general discussion.

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like magic

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I think 16 oz. would be a lot of bourbon in a five gallon batch.

I’ve used American oak chips and I soak them in bourbon in an 8 oz. Ball jar.  I think you get about 2 oz. or so of chips in the small jar.  I haven’t measured out the bourbon, but less than 8 oz.

You can get 4 oz of chips in a pint jar, but in my experience that seems like it might be too much.

I just did an 8 oz. jar into a split batch, so it was 2.5 gallons.  The oak is very present compared to when I’ve done it into a 5 gallon batch.

5

I would use American oak. American oak is all about aroma. It has twice the amount of aroma compounds compared to French or Hungarian. French and Hungarian provide more structuring tannins, but the big vanilla nose is what makes bourbon unique.

I usually use about 1oz oak per 5 gallons, but I soak them in bourbon like Joe recommends. I use about 8oz of bourbon.

6

Denny’s BVIP calls for 10 ml per pint - in 5 gallons that’s 400 mls, or about 13.5 ounces.  Based on that a pint doesn’t seem out of control.

7

I’ve had success soaking 2 oz of oak cubes before adding them to the secondary. I added them without the bourbon, then added 8oz of bourbon during bottling.

Mine was a 5 gallon batch of about 5% abv stout. Came with plenty of bourbon character, while still being a stout.

As for your batch… there’s only one way to find out…

8

I like to soak a whole bottle’s worth of bourbon in oak chips for a week or so. It makes a tremendously flavorful bourbon that’s great for mixed drinks. I’m a nut for oak though, so YMMV.

One thing to keep in mind when adding the bourbon to the beer is that bourbon is sweet. I added 16oz of bourbon to a fairly sweet stout and found it to be too sweet for my liking, so I usually stick to 8oz now.