Recipe Critique : Bourbon Oaked Double Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Stout

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NewBrewRW

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So this beer was requested by my wife after I made a double chocolate oatmeal milk stout last year. I have already made the beer but I wanted to get some feed back as it sits in my primary. I used dark malt extract and steeped all the grains for 45mins at 155F. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Recipe Type: Extract
Yeast: Wyeast Irish Ale 1084
Yeast Starter: yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 1.083
Final Gravity: 1.015
IBU: 29
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7 days @ 70
Additional Fermentation: N/A
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days @ 70.

MALT AND GRAINS
9.5lbs. Dark LME
1.25lbs flaked oats
0.5lbs coffee malt
1.25lbs chocolate malt
0.25 lbs Black Roasted Barley
0.5lbs Flake wheat
0.5lbs Crystal 120L
HOPS
.75 oz northern Brewer @60 min (5%AA)
1 oz Goldings (kent) @ 20 min (5%AA)
OTHER ADDITIONS
1cup Sour Cherry Syrup @15mins
9oz cocoa powder @ 15 min
YEAST
Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale
1 vanilla bean added at bottling.

I soaked 4oz of french oak chips in jim beam red stagg black cherry infused bourbon for two weeks then I plan to rack the beer into the secondary and drain the bourbon from the oak chips and toss them in for the remaining 2weeks in the secondary. This is going to be a BIG beer I cannot wait to try it.
 
Well its gonna be a whole lot of somethin Newbrew. Its either going to be amazing, or horrible. There's no in-between on something like this. I just hope is attenuates well, if it stalled at 1.030 it would be something you'd drizzle on ice cream.
 
Imho, this yeast tastes much better @ about 63-64. When it gets too warm I've gotten too many esters. I hit 70 in a baltic porter and it was just too much. But other than that, sounds fun. Keep on boiling!!
 
I would add the whole vanilla bean to secondary . I use it in couple of my beers to kinda if smooth them out. Just don't let it sit in their for more than 14 days or it starts to bitter.
Cheers
 
I would add the whole vanilla bean to secondary . I use it in couple of my beers to kinda if smooth them out. Just don't let it sit in their for more than 14 days or it starts to bitter.
Cheers

I would use the vanilla in the secondary. I did a bourbon vanilla porter and added in 2nd and it tastes great. However the vanilla will be the 1st thing to fall out of the beer once it ages.
 
Looks like a very interesting beer! Deff let us know how it turns out. I am interested how the choc/cherry/oat turns out! and the cherry infused bourbon sounds great!

-T
 
Thank for the advice on the vanilla bean I will def add it to the secondary. As to the stall out at 1.030 I'm hoping the starter is big and strong enough to prevent that but we shall see. I will be posting pics as soon as it is tasting time.
 
What was the OG? I suspect you didn't hit 1.083; probably closer to 1.077.

No way is this beer going down to 1.015. I think you will be lucky to get to 1.025, with 2.5 lbs of Roast+Crystal grains, all dark LME, and a 'lowish' attenuating yeast (71-75% per Wyeast).
 
What was the OG? I suspect you didn't hit 1.083; probably closer to 1.077.

No way is this beer going down to 1.015. I think you will be lucky to get to 1.025, with 2.5 lbs of Roast+Crystal grains, all dark LME, and a 'lowish' attenuating yeast (71-75% per Wyeast).

What he said. Right on brother........right on.
 
O.G. Ended up 1.075 and F.G. 1.020. Smelled amazing during bottling. Tried one yesterday, very delicious but the bourbon flavor is very up front. I think with age it should mellow but overall I am very pleased with the flavour complexity and the mouth feel is awesome thanks to the oats.
 
I would have skipped the sour cherry syrup. Recent experimentation with the stuff over Christmas has taught me that it lends a non-cherry-tasting fruity tartness that I don't want in my stouts. I think this recipe (like 90% of extract recipes) needed some simple sugar (like table sugar) to bring that FG down, too. Really swung for the fences with this one, huh?
 
Yea man the wife wanted a big stout for the winter holidays that combined chocolate and cherry so I went all out with it haha.
 
An update - The bourbon has mellowed but still shines through. The oaky flavor coupled with the chocolate is fantastic. I would say next time I will use crushed cherries or cherry puree as much of the cherry flavor was not retained. There is a pic of this awesome brew below.

View attachment untitled.bmp
 
An update - The bourbon has mellowed but still shines through. The oaky flavor coupled with the chocolate is fantastic. I would say next time I will use crushed cherries or cherry puree as much of the cherry flavor was not retained. There is a pic of this awesome brew below.

Sounds delicious man, I actually LOVE beers that are heavy on the bourbon so I think I would be a big fan of your beer.

I'm gonna get a stout going soon as my 3rd brew...I don't want to screw it up since i'm such a noob, but i'm very tempted to oak it, bourbon it, add some other not yet decided stuff to secondary...we'll see :)
 
Good luck. The bourbon oaked idea is actually really simple. I bought 4oz of french oak chips from austin home brew and just soaked them in the bourbon for about 2weeks. I would recommend just using the chip and not the bourbon that you drain away from them when they are done soaking. The bourbon flavour that come out of the chips is very intense already and adding anymore would overpower the beer.
 
Good luck. The bourbon oaked idea is actually really simple. I bought 4oz of french oak chips from austin home brew and just soaked them in the bourbon for about 2weeks. I would recommend just using the chip and not the bourbon that you drain away from them when they are done soaking. The bourbon flavour that come out of the chips is very intense already and adding anymore would overpower the beer.

Thanks for the tips, i'll keep that in mind
 
I would recommend just using the chip and not the bourbon that you drain away from them when they are done soaking. The bourbon flavour that come out of the chips is very intense already and adding anymore would overpower the beer.

Really! I don't like Bourbon, but have used Brandy and Rum in beers and have used it at a rate of about half a liter for 5 gallons.

If I remember correctly, Denny's Chocolate Burbon Porter (or something like that, you can search for it), a very popular recipe also uses about a half liter for 5 gallons too.
 

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