Old Ale - To Rum or to Bourbon?

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ao125

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Recenly I brewed an Old(e) Ale style beer...

10gal -
82% Pale Malt (Maris Otter)
9% Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L
4% Dark Muscovado Sugar
4% Molasses
1% Organic Chocolate Malt

120min boil

60 min - 3.0oz Fuggles
15 min - 1.5oz Fuggles

Wyeast (9097) - Old Ale Blend

@1.133 OG


I have both 3oz of medium toast oak cubes sitting in 8yr dark rum and 3oz of the same cubes, sitting in Maker's Mark.

I'm not sure if I should go with the rum or the Mark for the secondary... I'm also not sure how long I should leave the oak in there for... or if I should package the whole thing up into a keg and let it sit a year.

Thoughts?

Anyone done a dark rum old ale before?
 
That's what I'm thinking... that said, with all of the muscovado sugar and molasses, I don't know if any flavor from the rum would actually come through.
 
I have had lots of rum soaked stuff on our talk like a pirate day, pirate themed home brew comp. Strangely everyone infused rum into the beer or on oak chips or both. It is different than the bourbon aged stuff and I like those as well. If you have never done the rum do that. Besides there are lots of bourbon aged beers you can prob buy.
 
I think you are right about the rum flavors being buried in the ale profile; it is not the right beer for rum, but if you are really partial too it, go for it.
 
I personally do not find that Rum or Gin mesh well with virtually any beer. Brandy and Whiskies can work really well, however, whisky moreso than brandy.
 
I personally do not find that Rum or Gin mesh well with virtually any beer.

The Rogue Jon Jon ale with juniper berries was pretty drinkable - but I've never tried adding gin to a beer before.

Lately, I found myself drinking a lot of old ales. Old Curmudgeon and NC Old Stock 2011 instantly spring to mind... and of course, Fruet from Bruery.

I like Fruet a lot, but the $30 price tag gives me the red-a$$... thus my little Old Ale project, here.
 
So what beer style is right for rum?

Just my opinion, not a factual statement. I wouldn't put a big, sweet, malty old ale in rum. Rum is too sweet. Thats why whiskey gets all the attention, because it has the right level of counterbalance to that sweetness. I did a doppelbock, and i debated over wether to age some of it on oak or with vanilla or chocolate. I went with oak because of the same reasoning: I didnt want to add too much sweetness.

I guess now that I'm thinking about counter-points to my own opinion, chocolate might go well in the doppelbock that i did, but for a different reason. Instead of oak balancing out sweetness, chocolate could complement the sweetness. The same theory could apply here.

In closing, my particular preference (which I think is what the OP is asking for) would be to not use rum on a sweeter, maltier beer. But I also dont think its a terrible idea, and I am interested to hear how it turns out either way!
:mug:
 
Have you tried the Innis & Gunn Rum Cask?

This sounds good! Innis and Gunn do a nice beer that isnt quite what i expected from a scotch ale, and doesnt compare to old ale. This sounds as good as any beer to pick for rum cask-ing
 
All things considered, perhaps I'll save my rum chips for a Scotch ale or wee heavy, and then use my bourbon chips for this.
 
Just use the cubes sober. :eek: You could, then, pull a sample after a few months, add a tiny amount of rum or bourbon and see how they impact the flavors. That will tell you if either has a place in the brew.

I plan on pulling a sample of both my old ale and wee heavy this weekend. I used some medium toast cubes (3oz or 4oz, I forget which now) for about 8-9 months (it was sealed up, so no issue really) in the wee heavy. In the old ale, I put some medium toast cherry wood for about 6 months. That one also had some cherry wood smoked malt in it. :rockin: I kegged both of these over a week ago, and they've been sitting with the CO2 connected in the basement. Got some people coming over, so there will be a few to taste both batches. :D
 
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