Whiskey Barrel flavor without a whiskey barrel?

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Otterella

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I will be brewing Midwest's 80 /- kit and would like to add a whiskey barrel flavor. Everything I find online calls for actual whiskey barrel chips, but I don't have this. My plan was to soak oak chips in scotch, but I need a little guidance. How much oak should I use? How long should I soak them and in how much whiskey? Should I add them to the secondary or earlier? How long should I leave it in the secondary after adding the oak? How will the added whiskey change the ABV?

Thanks for any advice.
 
Look up Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter recipe. I believe he uses adds whiskey and oak chips separately.
 
I soaked 1.5 ounces of medium toast oak cubes in Old Bushmills for 2 weeks prior to adding to secondary. I did not add any of the liquid, just the cubes...I like the way the beer turned out (Old Ale), you know the oak and whiskey is there but it's subtle.

Use 1 to 1.5 ounces of cubes per 5 gallons. I'm not sure about chips, I only use cubes in my wine and beer making.
 
I did something similar on my whiskey porter. 1oz of the heavy toasted American oak chips soaked in 250ml whiskey. I let that sit for a week and a half in a mason jar. I added both the chips and the whiskey to the beer and then let that sit for another few weeks. The oak was a little strong at first but it has mellowed nicely after a few months. The whiskey adds a little bump to the ABV but I would not imagine very much. I think the added flavor of the whiskey is great.
 
Oak chips and whiskey work will....go with good whiskey that you enjoy...start off with a small amount and taste...if you want more add more...remember you can always add...you can't take out
 
Whiskey is essentially vodka that's been stored in charred oak for long enough to extract vanillin, caramellized sugars and other compounds. Scotch is generally put in barrels that bourbon makers are done with, so it will have smaller amounts of these flavors. If you soak oak in whiskey, you're transferring some of the oakiness from the oak to the whiskey, not the other way around. You can get the flavors you want with whiskey, or from oak cubes or chips available in the wine section of your LHBS or online. Chips work a little faster than cubes, but give a less complex flavor. As far as the time goes, you leave it on the oak until it tastes oaky enough for you.
 
I took 2 oak spirals, heavy toast, broke them in half, put them in a pint mason jar, and filled it with Canadian Mist, let it set for a week and topped up the jar, let it sit another week as the beer was finishing, then transferred the beer to a Hoff-Stevens keg, added the spirals and the whiskey, and 2 ounces of hops and sealed the keg. Let it sit in the H-S for ~2 months then transferred it to serving kegs. The whiskey, the oak and the hops were very prominent, and most people enjoy it. I am on the last keg now.
 
I took 2 oak spirals, heavy toast, broke them in half, put them in a pint mason jar, and filled it with Canadian Mist, let it set for a week and topped up the jar, let it sit another week as the beer was finishing, then transferred the beer to a Hoff-Stevens keg, added the spirals and the whiskey, and 2 ounces of hops and sealed the keg. Let it sit in the H-S for ~2 months then transferred it to serving kegs. The whiskey, the oak and the hops were very prominent, and most people enjoy it. I am on the last keg now.
Great news! I got a piece of a charred whiskey barrel which was gifted to me by some family members. This is from a famous Kentucky distillery that either gives these things away or sells them.

I would love to use this as a flavoring agent for some Porter or stout.

What I don't want to do is contaminate my batch with bacteria from this stuff and cause it to get funky.

The plan at the moment is to cut this stuff into chunks and let it sit around in everclear for awhile hopefully killing off the bacteria. I can be talked into using cheap Kentucky bourbon instead.

Then on the secondary (since I always use a secondary) add this stuff to the batch. I have a big mouth carboy which should be perfect for this.

It sounds like I need to let it sit for some time in order for it to pick up the flavor. Maybe a couple of months.

Does the all-knowing forum have an opinion on this plan?
 
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