Bourbon chips in my imperial red ale?

Hey guys! So I'm looking to do a little more complicated brew this next time around and I'm planning on going with an imperial red and I want to soak it in Bourbon wood chips. I was wondering what's the best way to soak the chip, which is the best Bourbon to use, and how long I should soak the chips/ale in them. This would be my first time doing Bourbon chips so and info would help. Oh and if you know of a solid imperial red ale recipe that's would help too. Thanks. :rockin:

I have no experience with Bourbon/Oaking a beer, so I can not help you there, but if you need to start with an incredible Imperial red recipe, I highly suggest Jamil's Evil Twin.

See recipe here
http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.htm

It was my best beer out of about 25 different brews, and I liked it so much, I conducted an Imperial Red lin-up, and had my wife blind taste it.

As compared (completely blind mind you) to Boulders Hoptical Illusion, Stone Levitation, Troegs Nugget Nectar, and Troegs Hopback Amber, my wife said that my version of the Evil Twin had a malt complexity missing from the other 4, as well as a brighter hop flavor and aroma. That is a pretty good testiment to the recipe when you look at the class of beers it was compared to.

I've also brewed his West Coast Blaster (Red Rocket clone) and I still preferred the Evil Twin.

Good Luck,
Joe

I'm doing my first oaked beer right now too. I have the chips soaking in Jameson right now. I started this on brew day after steaming the chips for maybe 10 minutes or so. That part may or may not be necessary. I'll add the chips when I move to secondary, which should be 2-3 weeks after brewing. From what I understand, there's no need to go for the top notch hooch, but use something you don't mind drinking. As far as bourbon goes, I imagine you couldn't go wrong with Maker's Mark, but it's really up to you.

Any whiskey/bourbon will work. They are the same thing just made in a different region so not allowed to be called 'bourbon'. I use Crown.

Thanks Joe I appreciate the infor

What is a good sort of time scale to oak age for? I've got some french medium toast chips for half my 2.5 gallon batch of arrogant bastard clone ready. Also, I don't want any bourbon flavours in it... should I boil them for 10mins to santise? Or soak in vodka for 24hrs? Also, how many should I use? A small amount for a long time... or a large amount for a short time???

Edit: It's still in primary btw. It'll also be dry hopped :rockin:

I've got 4 oz. of Jim Beam Black with about a cup or so of medium oak chips soaking right now to add to a maple brown ale. I put the chips in water and microwaved them for about 1 minute. Now they're soaking in the bourbon and will be added to the secondary (2.5 gallons - 3 gallons). From what I've read, you have to check the flavor of the beer every couple days to make sure it doesn't get too much oak flavor or else it will taste like a wet board.

Ah, plenty of help on here!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/tips-wood-aging-119445/

I would use medium toast Oak Cubes.... I used oak chips and it made the beer taste like plywood.

I used 1 cup of bourbon with 1.5 oz of medium plus oak cubes for 6 months in an imperial porter with great results scored (39 out of 50).

That was for a dark oil can of a porter...

For your red, I would say 1.0 oz of cubes with 2/3 cup of bourbon for a minimum of three months. This should give you a nice smooth subtle bourbon and oak finish.

Oh and for bourbon, I use Evan Williams Single Barrel. It's $23 a bottle and it tastes better than Jim Beam Black Label.

breez7 said:

Any whiskey/bourbon will work. They are the same thing just made in a different region so not allowed to be called 'bourbon'. I use Crown.

Click to expand...

Bourbon and whiskey differ quite a bit and doesn't really have to do with a specific region. Two big differences are that bourbon must have a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn and it must be aged in new oak charred barrels. Whiskey can be aged in barrels that have been previously used for other spirits. For more info check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_whiskey

I love making whiskey barrel porter. It is one of the most requested brews I do. I use Makers Mark and really like how it tastes in the beer. I soak the oak chips for about a week and then just add the liquid to the secondary.

Gary

You can end up with a *really* strong oak flavor the way Bluessman mentioned...I personally found it kind of overwhelming, so what I've ended up doing is soaking the chips (I use Henry McKenna 10 year...pretty tasty and smooth, yet reasonably priced), then using 1 oz of the chips for anywhere between 1-2 weeks. You can always add some of the super oaked bourbon (to taste) at bottling/kegging if you want more oak and/or bourbon flavor.

I do use light toast american oak chips (I've never gotten the 'plywood' flavor that was mentioned previously.) I use this technique both for a vanilla porter and a RyePA, and I've gotten to the point were I find that an ounce does the trick, and I don't have to add any of the bourbon at the end...