Quality cheap bourbon.

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

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.

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.

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.....

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

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.

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

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.

Xpertskir said:

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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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.

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

Years ago when I was trying to drop some weight I supplemented my beer drinking with bourbon, specifically Maker's Mark. At 70 calories an ounce, bourbon didn't pack on the pounds like my 260 calorie home brews. At any rate, buying Maker's Mark was getting expensive, so I looked for a cheaper alternative. I discovered Bench Mark, made by Buffalo Trace.

At less than $15 for a half gallon, it's about as cheap as it gets. I'm sure the bourbon snobs will discount it, but it really is a great tasting cheap bourbon. Perhaps not the smoothest bourbon for drinking straight, but mixed with something it's great! In fact, I've become so accustomed to Bench Mark that now when I drink Maker's Mark, Maker's taste weird to me?

If you look at the threads discussing Denny Conn's bourbon vanilla imperial porter you will see lots of discussion on what bourbon to add. From what I could tell Jim Beam black was as good as any in a porter. Higher end bourbons will not make a difference. That said, I used Knob Creek in my BVIP cause I always have some on hand. If I didn't I wouldnhavengone the Jim Beam black route as Denny himself suggests.

When I made my VBP I used Jim Beam (the white bottle) and it was great. I wanted my VBP to be heavier on the vanilla rather than the bourbon so I just split 3 vanilla beans and let them sit in 200ml of Jim beam for 2 days. THen I added it to the beer for a week and it turned out great!

I'm not a bourbon guy and I haven't really ever sat and tasted lots of bourbon together, but it gave my beer what I was looking for (a hint of bourbon) and I'll do it again if I make that beer again.

I made the pecan porter from AHS and used Wild Turkey American Honey for the oak chips

I second Buffalo Trace and bet it would be great in a porter.

Wild Turkey American Honey would probably be good too.

Maker's Mark is a wheated bourbon (no rye) so in the same vein but cheaper maybe WL Weller would be a good choice. For really cheap bourbon I tend to go for Ezra Brooks

I'm a four roses, Woodford guy, and buffalo trace guy. I also live about 20 minutes from them lol. When I'm in a cheap mood I drink ancient age. I'm not a makers fan.

I think the buffalo trace, four roses, or ancient age would be good as they are a little sweeter tasting to me.

Wild Turkey, doesn't have to be the 101. Hell I'd use Old Crow if I had it on hand. I don't find cheaper bourbons disagreeable compared to other spirits.

bink00 said:

I'm a four roses, Woodford guy, and buffalo trace guy. I also live about 20 minutes from them lol. When I'm in a cheap mood I drink ancient age. I'm not a makers fan.

I think the buffalo trace, four roses, or ancient age would be good as they are a little sweeter tasting to me.

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i like all those, including makers

What about Bulleit? That's a pretty delicious bourbon, albeit a little bit sweet. But it's not terribly expensive, at around $20 per bottle.