Bourbon County Stout clone attempt

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Checked the gravity yesterday; 1.048. I was hoping to hit 1.040 which for some reason sticks in my head as the target FG. I could be wrong. It tasted really nice. Not cloying at all. No heat at all. Has a nice chocolatey coffee finish. I have to say, I'm a bit surprised how palatable it is so early. I've brewed much smaller stouts that took much more time to come around. I gave each fermenter a good swirl to kick up some (no doubt tired) yeast, and turned off temp control. Ambient is about 74°-76° during the day. We'll see if I can get it down a couple more points. I'm planning to add bourbon and oak spirals to (1) fermenter, and rye whiskey and fresh vanilla tincture to the other (Vanilla Rye, anyone?).
 
I purchased the ingredients for this one but forgot to get 1056. Out of 1728 and 1028 which should work best? Or should I wait until I order again and just pick up 1056?
 
Picking this thread back up. Starting a brew on this to age for the colder weather around the corner. How has this recipe turned out for people? Anything they would change on the malt/yeast or even water profile? I'd like to know what salts, if any, people are adding. As well as mash and boil PH. Will attempt this beast this month and trying to glean as much info as possible. Cheers
 
Just kegged mine today and of course I had to try a little,it's been in secondary on 8 oz of bourbon 2 0z oak chips and 3 vanilla beans for 7 months
Has lots of bourbon,alcohol burn,nice oak flavour,lots of chocolate and toasty undertones very little vanilla,hope it comes out more with it carbed
 
So what's the verdict on this thread? What's the "proven" go-to recipe? I'd like to try my hand at this. Is everyone using vanilla beans? Or are they getting the vanilla flavor from the oak?
 
The BCBS recipe is found here, which is pretty simple but not simple to brew really, unless you’ve done it plenty of times. I attempted this recipe but on a lesser attempt with 1098 OG and 1027 FG. While it isn’t exactly tasting like BCBS, it’s in the right direction. If you’re considering this brew, I recommend starting right now with getting some air dried white oak and cutting up some small blocks small enough to fit in a mason jar and charring the crap out of them and tossing them each in a jar with your desired spirit, bourbon for BCBS obviously. And age these as long as possible. That will mimic as best as possible the barrel and bourbon notes you get from these style brews without the big ass 55g barrels. This link was helpful.

http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2015/12/barrel-aged-stouts-and-charred-oak.html

Anyone else have any other ideas, thoughts, advice?
 
I used this recipe and it is very close obviously hard to recreate the barrel and bourbon flavor but I enjoy the taste of my version where I aged it in a keg with oak cubes that were soaked in makers Mark for 7 months.
20171028_224126.jpg
 
I should clarify... I aged the cubes in the whiskey for 6 weeks then added to beer which was aged in a sealed keg at room temperature for 7 months then placed in kegerator. Came out to around 12 percent, i am sending it to a competition next month to see how I did

I made 10 gallons and maxed out my 120 quart cooler
 
I should clarify... I aged the cubes in the whiskey for 6 weeks then added to beer which was aged in a sealed keg at room temperature for 7 months then placed in kegerator. Came out to around 12 percent, i am sending it to a competition next month to see how I did
Did you use heavy toast cubes? Let us know how it does in the competition.
 
I used medium I believe but don't quote me on that it's been over a year and I didn't take too good of notes back then
 
How much oak did you use? How much bourbon did you soak it in? Did you pour all the bourbon together with oak into the beer?
 
https://www.northernbrewer.com/oak-cubes-american-medium-toast

3 oz of cubes the enough makers Mark bourbon to cover the cubes I a quart Mason jar, I added half the cubes to one keg with no bourbon

I added the other half of the cubes to another keg with half the bourbon.. I'd recommend this option
And each keg is 5 gallons? So 1.5 oz of cubes for 5 gallons, I'll probably use Jim Bean or some other whiskey I have laying around.

Thanks! I can't wait to do this. I hope it comes out close.
 
The grain % that GI uses is:

64% 2 Row
21% Bolander Munich Malt
4% Chocolate Malt
4% Caramel 60
4% Roasted barley
3% Debittered Black Malt

Those % are from GI brew log sheets for this years BCBS, however, I would wager that is the % every year and the slight differences are crop differences, efficiency and aging.
I brewed a 6 gallon batch using the percentages above. Did a no sparge mash hitting 55% efficiency in my new 70qt Coleman Extreme. OG came out to 1.129. It's still fermenting like a champ 4 days later. I plan to age for a month in a 5 gallon Balcones Barrel then bulk age in a keg for 6 months before bottling. We'll see how this goes. Looked great going into carboy. Motor oil for sure.
 
I brewed a 6 gallon batch using the percentages above. Did a no sparge mash hitting 55% efficiency in my new 70qt Coleman Extreme. OG came out to 1.129. It's still fermenting like a champ 4 days later. I plan to age for a month in a 5 gallon Balcones Barrel then bulk age in a keg for 6 months before bottling. We'll see how this goes. Looked great going into carboy. Motor oil for sure.

bq1414- Can you please post your grain bill in pounds? I'm trying to brew this on Sunday. Also what was your mash temp, strike temp, & preboil volume?
 
bq1414- Can you please post your grain bill in pounds

FWIW - Getting a recipe in pounds won't give you a duplicate batch. You need to learn your system's efficiency and then you can scale the grains to meet your batch size. A recipe like this is like similar to an annoying word problem in math class due to a couple things. High gravity & lots of dark grains decrease efficiency quite a bit. To make matters worse, the huge grain bill means that most of us will be nearly maxing out our mash tuns which forces us to decrease mash ratio.
A low mash ratio (1.25 quarts mash water ≤ 1lb of grist) & an appreciable amount of roasted (& crystal) malts will lower your normal efficiency. As noted, @bg1414 hit 55% efficiency which is quite low compared to what he/most home brewers probably get (+75%).
Brewing software makes all these crazy numbers much easier to digest. Lots of options out there to choose from. Personally, I like Brewers Friend. Here is a quick mock-up I did there for you at the same 6g batch size & 55% efficiency.
Cheers

M96pmN7.png
 
bq1414- Can you please post your grain bill in pounds? I'm trying to brew this on Sunday. Also what was your mash temp, strike temp, & preboil volume?
sorry for late reply. Below is what i used. I estimated a 60% efficiency but got 55% and added 2lb DME to hit OG of 1.129. It was the first time using the coleman so i missed my mash temp by 5 degrees or so (it was cold outside and took awhile to fill that sob), but i think it was a good thing for the yeast in the end. It's still bubbling about 10 times a minute 2 weeks later, checked gravity a few days ago and it was 1.045 so hopefully will finish between 1.035-1.040ish which i'd be happy with.

25# 2 row
8.25# Munich 10L
1# 10oz each of Caramel 60L, Chocolate and Roasted
1# 2oz Debittered Black

Targeted a mash temp of 154, hit around 148-150 degrees, mashed in with close to 14.14 gallons of water (slightly lower than that so i could get the lid shut). mashed for 90 min and sparged SLOW. Worked out great but was a long ass day.
 
I brewed one of these up last weekend using the following grainbill:
  • 24 lb 2 Row
  • 8 lb Light Munich
  • 1.5 lb Chocolate Malt
  • 1.5 lb Crystal 60L
  • 1.5 lb Roasted Barley
  • 12 oz Debittered Black Malt
  • 2 oz Acid Malt
This was for a 6 gal batch that I assumed 58% efficiency on. I based this on the Grit and Grain video on the Making of BCBS (see min 27:58). I had to do 2 mashes and a 4 hr boil to reach the desired OG. I ended up getting better than expected efficiency and overshot the target OG to 1.140 - I added some spring water to get down to 1.130. It is still bubbling away in the fermenter 6 days later. You can read about my 8+ hr brew day on my blog if interested.

I've aged a number of beers on bourbon soaked medium toast oak cubes and have consistently gotten oak flavors much more reminiscent of a wine than a proper bourbon barrel stout. For this batch I've made up some DIY charred oak which I'm very excited about (having control of the level of toast and the dimensions/end grain of the oak cubes seems like a potential advantage for this approach):
  • Bought a couple board feet of white oak from a local wood working shop

  • Cut this into 6x0.75x0.75 inch pieces


  • Toasted these in the oven at 450 F for 2 hours wrapped in foil (based on some research into the flavor contributions). The oak really gave off a wonderful vanilla aroma during this toasting


Toasted vs Untoasted
  • Charred these with a propane torch. Put the fire out with a spray bottle

  • Put the wood into a jar of Makers Mark Bourbon to take on some whiskey character and soften the wood character. Let this age for several months prior to brewday


I will let the beer primary for 4 weeks and then I will cold crash it to drop the yeast. I'm going to age this in a secondary fermenter (likely a bucket) with 1 or 2 sticks of oak for 6-8 months
 
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I brewed one of these up last weekend using the following grainbill:
  • 24 lb 2 Row
  • 8 lb Light Munich
  • 1.5 lb Chocolate Malt
  • 1.5 lb Crystal 60L
  • 1.5 lb Roasted Barley
  • 12 oz Debittered Black Malt
  • 2 oz Acid Malt
This was for a 6 gal batch that I assumed 58% efficiency on. I based this on the Grit and Grain video on the Making of BCBS (see min 27:58). I had to do 2 mashes and a 4 hr boil to reach the desired OG. I ended up getting better than expected efficiency and overshot the target OG to 1.140 - I added some spring water to get down to 1.130. It is still bubbling away in the fermenter 6 days later. You can read about my 8+ hr brew day on my blog if interested.

I've aged a number of beers on bourbon soaked medium toast oak cubes and have consistently gotten oak flavors much more reminiscent of a wine than a proper bourbon barrel stout. For this batch I've made up some DIY charred oak which I'm very excited about (having control of the level of toast and the dimensions/end grain of the oak cubes seems like a potential advantage for this approach):
  • Bought a couple board feet of white oak from a local wood working shop

  • Cut this into 6x0.75x0.75 inch pieces


  • Toasted these in the oven at 450 F for 2 hours wrapped in foil (based on some research into the flavor contributions). The oak really gave off a wonderful vanilla aroma during this toasting


Toasted vs Untoasted
  • Charred these with a propane torch. Put the fire out with a spray bottle

  • Put the wood into a jar of Makers Mark Bourbon to take on some whiskey character and soften the wood character. Let this age for several months prior to brewday


I will let the beer primary for 4 weeks and then I will cold crash it to drop the yeast. I'm going to age this in a secondary fermenter (likely a bucket) with 1 or 2 sticks of oak for 6-8 months

I like your approach with the wood. I've got a BCBS clone in the primary now. It was 1.128 OG and down to 1.036 and holding in about 5 days (I had a huge multi step starter). I've been trying to decide what to do about oak. I like your answer....I wish you were bout 8 months ahead of me!

Oh, and for "barrel" aging, I've had great luck using a corny keg. It's got little to no headspace with a 5 gallon batch, you can purge with CO2 and, to get samples, just connect a picnic tap and draw off a sample. This worked great for my bourbon barrel aged porter last summer/fall.

Got any extra charred oak you want to sell?
 
My brew scored a 37.5 in a competition, didn't medal and still waiting on my score sheet to see the comments. Pretty happy with that score
 
How long did you oak in the keg? Can you serve with the spirals still in? I have two spirals soaking in 8 ounces of JB Devils Cut for a month now. I plan to throw in the spirals along with the 8 oz of Bourbon.

Can I leave them in the keg the entire time I’m serving? I’d like to try and age this beer as long as possible at least a year. I guess I’m trying to figure out if leaving them in for up to 6 months at room temp and leaving them in will be too much?
 
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How long did you oak in the keg? Can you serve with the spirals still in? I have two spirals soaking in 8 ounces of JB Devils Cut for a month now. I plan to throw in the spirals along with the 8 oz of Bourbon.

Can I leave them in the keg the entire time I’m serving? I’d like to try and age this beer as long as possible at least a year. I guess I’m trying to figure out if leaving them in for up to 6 months at room temp and leaving them in will be too much?
I left mine in the keg, while on tap, and after about 1/2 of the keg the oak flavor was you much to handle. Just keep tasting the beer and find the point where you have enough oak for your liking. Luckily I caught the over oak and the beer was drinkable after a month of aging
 
I brewed one of these up last weekend using the following grainbill:
  • 24 lb 2 Row
  • 8 lb Light Munich
  • 1.5 lb Chocolate Malt
  • 1.5 lb Crystal 60L
  • 1.5 lb Roasted Barley
  • 12 oz Debittered Black Malt
  • 2 oz Acid Malt
This was for a 6 gal batch that I assumed 58% efficiency on. I based this on the Grit and Grain video on the Making of BCBS (see min 27:58). I had to do 2 mashes and a 4 hr boil to reach the desired OG. I ended up getting better than expected efficiency and overshot the target OG to 1.140 - I added some spring water to get down to 1.130. It is still bubbling away in the fermenter 6 days later. You can read about my 8+ hr brew day on my blog if interested.

I've aged a number of beers on bourbon soaked medium toast oak cubes and have consistently gotten oak flavors much more reminiscent of a wine than a proper bourbon barrel stout. For this batch I've made up some DIY charred oak which I'm very excited about (having control of the level of toast and the dimensions/end grain of the oak cubes seems like a potential advantage for this approach):
  • Bought a couple board feet of white oak from a local wood working shop

  • Cut this into 6x0.75x0.75 inch pieces

  • Toasted these in the oven at 450 F for 2 hours wrapped in foil (based on some research into the flavor contributions). The oak really gave off a wonderful vanilla aroma during this toasting


Toasted vs Untoasted
  • Charred these with a propane torch. Put the fire out with a spray bottle

  • Put the wood into a jar of Makers Mark Bourbon to take on some whiskey character and soften the wood character. Let this age for several months prior to brewday


I will let the beer primary for 4 weeks and then I will cold crash it to drop the yeast. I'm going to age this in a secondary fermenter (likely a bucket) with 1 or 2 sticks of oak for 6-8 months

That's awesome! I'd love to hear how this turns out.
 
Just throwing my hat in the ring here. I know a couple of the guys that used to make BC and from what they've told me it's a fairly simple recipe. The website tells you pretty much everything you need to know about ingredients and they usually use some variant of Chico. I believe I saw someone said that a high finishing gravity is expected and indeed from what I've been told it's usually around 10 plato. For what it's worth, they primarily use Heaven Hill. Personally I'm not a huge fan and the yeasts I use attenuate waaaaaay to much to ever hit a FG that high but I can certainly appreciate the challenge.
 
I left mine in the keg, while on tap, and after about 1/2 of the keg the oak flavor was you much to handle. Just keep tasting the beer and find the point where you have enough oak for your liking. Luckily I caught the over oak and the beer was drinkable after a month of aging

So did you pull the oak out of the keg? The question I have is if you oak in the keg do you simply remove the oak once you reach the desired amount ? I usually don’t open my kegs once carbed.
 
Yeah pretty much whenever you reach the amount of oak you want open it up and take the oak out then reseal and bleed to get the oxygen out
 
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