how much whiskey should I add to my stout

davidcr80 · 01-13-2012, 04:17 PM

How much whiskey should I add? I have an Armenian Imperial Stout (from papazian's book pg 209. I am roughly following his recipe, but wishing to add whiskey and oak chips to secondary....How much whiskey is advised for a moderate-strong whiskey presence?...or how does one determine this?

OHIOSTEVE · 01-13-2012, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidcr80

How much whiskey should I add? I have an Armenian Imperial Stout (from papazian's book pg 209. I am roughly following his recipe, but wishing to add whiskey and oak chips to secondary....How much whiskey is advised for a moderate-strong whiskey presence?...or how does one determine this?

taste.. do not get in a hurry and add some whiskey...let it set a day to make sure it is mixed then taste it.. if it is where you want it then bottle...if not add a little more...wait a day and taste... repeat until you are where you want to be.

**unionrdr** · 01-13-2012, 04:22 PM

It's usual to soak oak chips in the whiskey while the beer is fermenting. It takes a while for the chips to soak it up while sitting covered in the fridge. For the level you want,4oz of chips & 4 jiggers of whiskey would do. Put all in a small plastic container with a tight lid. Chuck it in the fridge for the whole time the beer is fermenting.

OHIOSTEVE · 01-13-2012, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unionrdr

It's usual to soak oak chips in the whiskey while the beer is fermenting. It takes a while for the chips to soak it up while sitting covered in the fridge. For the level you want,4oz of chips & 4 jiggers of whiskey would do. Put all in a small plastic container with a tight lid. Chuck it in the fridge for the whole time the beer is fermenting.

yep, however I was advised to NOT dump the whiskey that the oak was soaked in, into the beer. It extracts tannins from the oak I guess. Also wouldn't keeping it in the container on TOP of ther fridge rather than IN the fridge cause it to absorb the whiskey better?

**unionrdr** · 01-13-2012, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OHIOSTEVE

yep, however I was advised to NOT dump the whiskey that the oak was soaked in, into the beer. It extracts tannins from the oak I guess. Also wouldn't keeping it in the container on TOP of ther fridge rather than IN the fridge cause it to absorb the whiskey better?

You won't get tannins (tannic acid) out of dried wood. I didn't. The whiskey soaks wood flavor out of the chips the same as the chips absorb the whiskey. So if you drain the liquid,you're throwing away part of the flavor. When I made my whiskely ale,I added the chips & liquid. It came out with the level of flavor you said you wanted. And that's how I did it.
Whoever told you to toss the liquid was completely wrong. If you didn't soak them first,you'd get the "tannis" leaching into the beer.
Don't worry about it at all. Dried wood chips are not the same as grain husks.

davidcr80 · 01-13-2012, 04:39 PM

ok thanks...sorry to bring this up now.. I am using oak cubes, if that makes a difference..?

**unionrdr** · 01-13-2012, 04:45 PM

Oak cubes take longer than chips to work their magic. But some say the cubes give more oak flavor. You'll def have to leave them in secondary longer.

**ktblunden** · 01-13-2012, 05:15 PM

Hey guys, first post here and reading this I was wondering what you guys think of using the oak chips from whiskey barrels. They sell wood chips for smoking that are actually from aging barrels. Do you think these would go well? I'm not sure if those are treated with anything to make for better smoking like they're intended. My first brew is sitting in the fermenter right now, but for my second I was thinking of doing an oaked bourbon porter.

**ktblunden** · 01-13-2012, 05:21 PM

As a follow-up question to that, I'm going primary only on my first brew. If I end up doing the oaked bourbon porter can I just add the oak and bourbon into the primary after fermentation or would it be better to rack to secondary to add them?

**NordeastBrewer77** · 01-13-2012, 05:26 PM

i'm preparing to oak 2 gal of the superior strong i'm fermenting. i have half a french oak spiral soaking in some bourbon, when my beer's ready i plan on putting the spiral into the secondary and making to flavor. i then plan to add clean bourbon to taste at bottling time. i'd avoid adding the bourbon used to soak the oak, as it becomes very dark with tannins and very strongly wood flavored. (tasted a sip of the 'oaken' bourbon, very strong, oaky and tannic) i plan to add the clean bourbon very slowly, tasting along the way to make sure i don't over do it.