Imperial Russian Stout...with Rum instead of Bourbon?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Brewme

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2008
Messages
296
Reaction score
2
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
I wanted to know if anyone had an opinion about using spiced rum (Captain Morgan Private Stock) instead of bourbon with their oak chips/cubes? I will be brewing this weekend and I am looking forward to making a great beer for Christmas time and realized I didn't want to buy a bottle of bourbon just for this batch unless I absolutely have to. So that begs the question above. Would using rum mess things up or still have great flavor with a stout? The only issue I see is that maybe the rum has too much sugar and will give the yeast more food in my secondary.

Please help!
 
I'd grab a bottle of some RIS and dose it with some rum in a glass...if you like the combination, then rock it homebrew style. Bourbon and RIS is just one of those great combos.
 
I'd grab a bottle of some RIS and dose it with some rum in a glass...if you like the combination, then rock it homebrew style. Bourbon and RIS is just one of those great combos.

I have not added rum to a RIS before. How would you compare it to bourbon?
 
I have not added rum to a RIS before. How would you compare it to bourbon?

I've not added it to a RIS either...try it out and see what you think. Grab a bottle of Old Rasputin & a shot of Sailor Jerry, mix a bit in and see if it tickles your taste buds.
 
I've not added it to a RIS either...try it out and see what you think. Grab a bottle of Old Rasputin & a shot of Sailor Jerry, mix a bit in and see if it tickles your taste buds.

Old Rasputin is the clone I am modeling after, but I don' think we have it here in good ol' Utah! I guess I should try it in another RIS.
 
Sailor Jerry has a slight cherry taste to me, which might be nice in a RIS.
The Captain Morgan products always seem to taste artificial.

seems like an interesting project :)
 
Sailor Jerry has a slight cherry taste to me, which might be nice in a RIS.
The Captain Morgan products always seem to taste artificial.

seems like an interesting project :)

I like sailor Jerry as well, but the private stock CM seems smoother and of higher quality, IMHO. Plus, it is what I had :D
 
A perfect example of the beauty of homebrewing.
We use what we like or what is available to us and make the best beer we can.

:tank:
 
So wait....
Are you telling me that Imperials are made with Bourbon? Or is it just imperial stout? wow.
 
Okay, here is what is in this baby:

3.75 lbs light dried malt extract
6.6 lbs coopers light liquid
1 lbs med. crystal malt
.5 lbs hugh baird brown malt
.5 hugh baird chocolate malt
1 lbs crystal malt
.25 roasted black barley

Hops
1 oz Chinook 12.4 alpha
3 oz cluster 7.9 alpha
1 oz northern brewer 7.8 alpha

Yeast
White Labs Cali. Ale Yeast (WLP001)

1 tsp. Irish moss

Rum chips ro bourbon chips???
 
So wait....
Are you telling me that Imperials are made with Bourbon? Or is it just imperial stout? wow.

not necessarily..but there are plenty of wood/barrel aged versions and a number that feature bourbon as a part of the flavor profile

like this:

Black Magick - Voodoo Brewing Company - BeerAdvocate

Black Magick

This is an Imperial Stout that is of great strength and complexity. We then gently age that beer in Elaigh Craig 13 1/2 year old Bourbon Barrells for 6 months to 1 yr. and then primed and bottled to bottle condition for continued aging and celler life. Black Magick should be able to be aged up to about 5 years, to heighten the complexity and smooth nature of this beer.

...and yeah, it was frickin fantastic :)
Hit ratebeer or BA and search on bourbon....you might find something available in your area.
 
Okay, here is what is in this baby:

3.75 lbs light dried malt extract
6.6 lbs coopers light liquid
1 lbs med. crystal malt
.5 lbs hugh baird brown malt
.5 hugh baird chocolate malt
1 lbs crystal malt
.25 roasted black barley

Hops
1 oz Chinook 12.4 alpha
3 oz cluster 7.9 alpha
1 oz northern brewer 7.8 alpha

Yeast
White Labs Cali. Ale Yeast (WLP001)

1 tsp. Irish moss

Rum chips ro bourbon chips???

Can anyone help me with the full boil conversion? I guess I am supposed to use less hops this way? Thanks!
 
Well, tonight was the night to move this beer to the secondary for oak chips soaked in whiskey. I tasted the brew before adding the soaked chips and the flavor is great! I added a few chips in the hydro tube and waited a few minutes then tasted. The flavor was horrible. It wasn't that I added too much, it just changed the great after-taste to something gross. So after all that soaking...I will not be using the chips. Oh well. Good beer is better than bad beer with oak chips! Cheers.
 
My $0.02 : USE THE CHIPS ANYWAYS!

Remember that your Imperial Stout is only a few weeks old!!! It's going to age and mellow over the next 6 months to a year! (Ahem. Right? You WILL let this age?)

What tastes foul right now..... will be heavenly in a while!

Plus, remember - you just added a wood chip soaked in whiskey to an unfinished beer. The proportions are all off. You can't rely on that as your only source of tasting info.

And I'll say this -- Oaking your beer will make WAY more difference than what kind of liquor you sanitized the oak with. It (the liquor) will impart a little flavor, yes. But the oak will do much more.

So, throw them oak in!

And, remember to rack off the oak in another week or two, depending on how much presence you want. If you just want a hint of oak, go for a week. If you want it strong, 2-3 weeks should do the bill.

If it were not an Imperial Stout, I would suggest tasting it after a week to determine your oak levels....... but on a young Imperial Stout, you won't get the "final" taste anyways, so it may or may not be a good indication of the level.
 
Chriso, thanks for the $.02, but I already bottled. The $2 investment was not enough to have me risk using the chips. What you said about flavor proportions was probably correct, but the flavor is already so good, I just couldn't do it. Maybe another batch in the future.

BTW, I was planning on aging the RIS for a few months, but according to the recipe, the brewery that makes this beer actually sells this RIS within a month to their customers (claiming it is that well balanced). I plan on drinking some of it around Christmas and keeping half to age out longer.
 
Cool cool. Just wanted to jump in. Now - from personal experience, brew another RIS right now ... even play with the oakies if you want to ... because as soon as this first batch of RIS is ripe, you're gonna want to drink it all! :D
 
BTW, I was planning on aging the RIS for a few months, but according to the recipe, the brewery that makes this beer actually sells this RIS within a month to their customers (claiming it is that well balanced). I plan on drinking some of it around Christmas and keeping half to age out longer.

I thought that recipe looked familiar. IIRC, they also discuss how important fermentation conditions are to getting it ready that quick.
 
I have used rum instead of bourbon but did it with a robust porter instead of a RIS. I soaked my oak cubes in the rum (dark) for 2 weeks prior to dumping both into the secondary and then let that sit in there for close to two months. When I went to bottle I had the sweetest, oakiest porter I've ever tried flat. It's in bottles now waiting to be popped in a couple of months.

Let us know how yours comes out.
 
I have used rum instead of bourbon but did it with a robust porter instead of a RIS. I soaked my oak cubes in the rum (dark) for 2 weeks prior to dumping both into the secondary and then let that sit in there for close to two months. When I went to bottle I had the sweetest, oakiest porter I've ever tried flat. It's in bottles now waiting to be popped in a couple of months.

Let us know how yours comes out.

WOW - Holy schnikes - You oaked for two months, eh? What weigh of oak chips/cubes? I am curious because I was thinking of oaking my Barleywine but have heard all sorts of warnings about going over 2 weeks. (Seems silly since you use oak barrels for months or years, but who am I to question? :p )
 
WOW - Holy schnikes - You oaked for two months, eh? What weigh of oak chips/cubes?

3 oz of French oak cubes. I gotta admit I thought about pulling the oak out of there earlier and going right to the bottle after about 4 weeks as the oak was heavy but I didn't have any bottles handy at the time. Then I like you figured most places leave their beers on the wood for over 6 months. I spoke to a local brewer here in town (Iron Hill) and he saw nothing wrong with leaving it in there a little longer. After 7 weeks with the oak I bottled and while the oak is plentiful it's no where near where it was at first. I've got my fingers crossed wit this one so we'll see.
 
Just to wrap this thread up, I ended up not using the whiskey soaked chips...and I think I made the right choice. The RIS tastes great the way it is.
 
Thats awesome to hear that it turned out good for ya. The SWMBO is going out of town this weekend... and my first RIS is coming over to stay for a while :mug:
 
Back
Top