orangemen5

Recipes 

I'm about to secondary a porter in some bourbon. Does anyone use cheap bourbon with good results. Seems most ppl choose makers mark. It's quite expensive though. If I was drinking it straight I'd go with makers but mixing does it matter much

hamaien

Recipes 

Well speaking as a bourbon drinker, Makers Mark is pretty smooth and neutral as far as bourbons go so that's probably why you see it in a lot of recipes.

HeruRaHa

Recipes 

God I love Maker's. Thinking about it's got me sad I bought scotch instead of bourbon on my last booze-run.

I think Jim Beam might do in a pinch. I find Daniel's too harsh, but maybe that's just me.

Xpertskir

Recipes 

You shoudlnt be using more than a couple ounces of bourbon, no reason not to use good bourbon. If you dont drink bourbon use mini bottles.

Cheap and high quality never go together. Are you trying to make great beer or just ok beer?

Jack Daniels is not bourbon.....

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orangemen5

Recipes 

It calls for 16 oz. I've seen ppl mention. Elijah Craig and buffalo trace but I'm not a bourbon drinker so not sure how those would be

hamaien

Recipes 

To my palette Elijah Craig has more wood and vanilla/caramel flavors and Buffalo Trace has a fruity and spicy kind of flavor. Out of the three I would probably take Makers Mark over Buffalo Trace or Elijah Craig unless you want the bourbon to stand out a bit more.

If you want to save a bit of cash I bet Evan Williams would be good in a porter.

brewbeerry

Recipes 

buffalo trace is a quality choice albeit still expensive, bulleit is a good bourbon too..

progmac

Recipes 

you said makers mark was too expensive but you've been getting a lot of recommendations in the same price range.

evan williams is very good for the price.

i usually have a variety of bourbons around. i would get two porters and put half a shot (or whatever) in each and see if i could taste the difference. drinking them straight, it is very easy to taste the difference in quality between an evan williams or jim beam and a buffalo trace or maker's mark. the step between the $12 bottle and the $25 bottle is much bigger than the step between the $25 bottle and the $70 bottle.

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ddrrseio

Recipes 

all this

if you're looking to save money, don't do it on this part of the beer. reuse yeast, buy bulk hops, etc. the bourbon is a pretty critical part of a bourbon porter and will directly and noticeably affect the flavor.

i know it's not the case in every state, but i can get great bourbon pretty inexpensively at costco. i don't mind buying a trio of basil hayden, booker's and baker's for $100 when it will last me a few years!

i'd also recommend you find your own ratio of bourbon to beer. you may not need very much to get the flavor you want, and you'll be quite unhappy if the recipe called for double that.

DromJohn

Recipes 

I just used Wild Turkey 101, but if going cheaper, I would used Ten High.

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