Oaked Bourbon Stout Critique

I'm looking for some feedback on this recipe. I've been brewing for a year now, but never made a stout

I've read Brewing Classic Styles and that's where I got most of my information about the malt bill, but I was looking for some opinions on how the different grains will work together, yeast, hops, etc.

Meet Your Maker

Recipe Type: Partial Mash
Yeast: US-05 x 2
Yeast Starter: No
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.073
Final Gravity: 1.018
IBU: 68
Boiling Time (Minutes): 70
Color: 50 SRM

Grain Bill
7 lbs. Light DME (63.6%)
1.25 lbs. Roasted Barley (11.4%) [edit: reduced from 1.5 lbs.]
1 lbs. Crystal 80L (9.1%)
12 oz Chocolate Malt (6.8%)
8 oz Quick Oats (4.5%) [edit: reduced from 12 oz]
8 oz 2-Row (4.5%)

Mash
Mash thickness of 1.375
Single Infusion Mash @ 154F for 60 min
Batch Sparge @ 167 for 10 min

Hops
2.5 oz. Northern Brewer @ 60 min

Fermentation
Add 2 packs of US-05
Primary for 1 month
Secondary for 6 months
**Soak 2.5 oz oak cubes in Makers Mark for 1 month (during primary), add cubes to secondary

Looks pretty good, IMO that's a lot of roasted barley, you may want to scale that back to under 1lb and maybe add some carafa II or debittered black malt. Also, you may consider moving 1oz a little later in the boil, maybe to 45.

Would you add any whiskey directly, or just that soaked into the cubes?

I've done a whiskey stout before using chips that were soaked in whiskey, and added only the chips. I had no perceptible whiskey flavor at all. Maybe the cubes will soak up more, but I wouldn't be so sure. Anyway, Denny Conn's bourbon porter adds a lot of whiskey directly to the beer (1.69 cups!) http://www.brew365.com/beer_dennys_bourbon_vanilla_porter.php

I brewed my stout again recently but used 8oz of whiskey, and tasting it at bottling it was quite noticeable. So if you want a forward bourbon flavor, I'd add at least some directly to the beer.

jeburgdo said:

Would you add any whiskey directly, or just that soaked into the cubes?

I've done a whiskey stout before using chips that were soaked in whiskey, and added only the chips. I had no perceptible whiskey flavor at all. Maybe the cubes will soak up more, but I wouldn't be so sure. Anyway, Denny Conn's bourbon porter adds a lot of whiskey directly to the beer (1.69 cups!) http://www.brew365.com/beer_dennys_bourbon_vanilla_porter.php

I brewed my stout again recently but used 8oz of whiskey, and tasting it at bottling it was quite noticeable. So if you want a forward bourbon flavor, I'd add at least some directly to the beer.

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I haven't decided exactly yet. I'll probably taste it after the primary and decide then how much bourbon flavor I want. Short answer - I'll probably add at least some.

Boleslaus said:

I haven't decided exactly yet. I'll probably taste it after the primary and decide then how much bourbon flavor I want. Short answer - I'll probably add at least some.

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That's probably a good idea. You can always pull a measured sample after fermentation is done, and add whiskey to taste. Then just scale that amount up for the entire batch.

Overall, I think it looks good!

I think I am going to alter it slightly.

Drop the roasted barley to 1.25 lbs. and the oats to .5 lb.
I'll probably throw in some 2-Row just to bring it up to 4 lbs. of grist. It shouldn't change the color or OG at all. I just wanted the oats for head retention and body, so closer to 5% is better.

I'm brewing this today. Just got done mashing out, and its coming to a boil as I type. I went with:

7 lbs. Light DME
1.25 lbs. Roasted Barley
1 lb. Crystal 80L
12 oz. Chocolate Malt
8 oz. 2-Row
8 oz. Quaker Quick Oats

Since this is a PM, my mash was almost entirely dark grains. It smelled like fresh roasting coffee beans!

I did an amazing bourbon oak stout New Year's Eve of last year and added 2 cups of Maker's along with the oak soaked in Maker's and it is absolutely delicious. It keeps getting better every month we pull a bottle. I do recommend (if not brewed already) a little debittered black, around 0.5 lbs. It adds some really good character to complement the bourbon/oak flavors. Just my thoughts. Good luck with the brew.

I kegged this beer today. The samples tasted great. It came all the way down to 1.008 though! Looks like its going to be around 9% abv.

I've been drinking this slowly since just before X-mas. I have to admit, at first it was a bit harsh. The high amount of roasted barley, combined with the Makers' Mark was an intense combination. However, it tastes amazing now. I wish it had finished more around 1.014 or so, but it actually doesn't have a bad mouthfeel.

Boleslaus said:

I've been drinking this slowly since just before X-mas. I have to admit, at first it was a bit harsh. The high amount of roasted barley, combined with the Makers' Mark was an intense combination. However, it tastes amazing now. I wish it had finished more around 1.014 or so, but it actually doesn't have a bad mouthfeel.

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1.008 with 7 lbs extract? That's impressive, but I agree, sounds too low for that stout. Glad it's turning out. How much whisky did you go with?

jeburgdo said:

1.008 with 7 lbs extract? That's impressive, but I agree, sounds too low for that stout. Glad it's turning out. How much whisky did you go with?

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I know right! It wasn't that low when I moved to secondary and added the whiskey, so maybe I kicked off a little more fermentation. I ended up separating the cubes from the whiskey and added 1 cup along with the cubes. It has a definite whiskey flavor and aroma without adding much alcohol burn. Overall, I'm very happy with my first aged stout attempt.

Boleslaus said:

I know right! It wasn't that low when I moved to secondary and added the whiskey, so maybe I kicked off a little more fermentation. I ended up separating the cubes from the whiskey and added 1 cup along with the cubes. It has a definite whiskey flavor and aroma without adding much alcohol burn. Overall, I'm very happy with my first aged stout attempt.

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Nice. 8oz will add roughly .5% abv in 5 gallons, but still not enough to seriously affect the gravity reading. My first whiskey stout turned out a bit dry too (1.013 but also good), the second time around I finished higher at 1.020. If you do it again, a higher FG and thicker body makes a big difference that I would shoot for if I were you.

Man, all of this is making me want some more whiskey stout, but I'm down to reserves... Maybe I'll brew some more next weekend. And btw, be sure to hold on to some of these for a good while. They sound like they'll just keep getting better, and then you'll kick yourself for not having more!

Haha, yea I think I'm going to bottle the last 12-18 bottles. Only me and my one best friend drink it. My GF never liked it and I don't take a growler of it anywhere. So I still have a ton left. I have a triple that I plan on kegging in about a month or two, so whatever is left then.