Wood-Aged Beer Whiskey Barrel Bourbon Stout

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.

Jebu1788

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
443
Reaction score
18
Recipe Type
Partial Mash
Yeast
WY 1056
Yeast Starter
Big
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.098
Final Gravity
1.024
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
73.7
Color
64.8
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
21 @ 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
21 @ 68F
Additional Fermentation
Bottle conditioned 5 weeks for
Tasting Notes
Dark and roasty, with raisin notes from the Special B malt, a hefty dose of bourbon!
This beer is really fantastic. This is the 3rd time I've brewed it, tweaking it each time, and I think I've found the sweet spot with this one. The previous version was entered in the Shamrock Open by the CARBOY club a couple months ago. It didn't place, but got a respectable score of 38. This version is even better, and age will do it wonders. It's heavy on the bourbon, but I like it that way.


Batch size: 5.00 gallons
Boil size: 3.75 gallons
Efficiency: 76%

Amount Item Type % or IBU

6.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM)
4.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM)

0.75 lb Special B Malt (120.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)

0.75 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Roasted Barley (500.0 SRM)


2.00 oz Warrior [19.70 %] (60 min) 67.6 IBU
2.00 oz Willamette [4.90 %] (10 min) 6.1 IBU

2.00 oz Oak Chips, Whiskey Soaked (Secondary 14.0 days)
11-12oz Maker's Mark Bourbon (Secondary 14.0 days)

1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)


Notes:
12 quarts of mash water at 154F for 1 hour (perhaps a degree or two higher if you're doing all-grain since DME is less fermentable). Sparge 170F.

While fermenting in primary, I took 2oz of Jack Daniel's Smoking Chips (read more about them here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/using-jack-daniels-barrel-chips-my-experience-211857/) and soaked them in 12oz of Maker's Mark Whisky. When transferring to secondary, toss in all of the bourbon and oak. I would say add all 12oz, but I wanted a sip of the extra-oaked whisky, so I really added slightly less than 12oz. Have it sit on the oak for 2 weeks, so if you need to transfer it again, do that.

This beer has plenty of roasted taste, oak slips in really nicely and mellows with time, and the bourbon gives it a really lovely smooth vanilla taste. Keep the fermentation temperature down, and it stays smooth, even when it's fairly fresh which is great for 10.5% ABV (the whisky adds just over 0.5%).

This can easily be converted to all grain, just replace the DME with pale malt to match the OG. I would probably boil for 90 minutes though, because I added the DME at the beginning of the boil in the partial mash version.


Here are some pictures (Not the most artistic, but they get the point across):
IMG_0171.jpg


IMG_0177.jpg


whiskeystout2012.jpg
 
Good job man, looks great! I'm planning on making some big enough beers to age until this fall and this is being added to my database. My question is though, why did you use JD barrel chips and MM Bourbon? Any reason other than cost not to just keep it all JD?
 
Good job man, looks great! I'm planning on making some big enough beers to age until this fall and this is being added to my database. My question is though, why did you use JD barrel chips and MM Bourbon? Any reason other than cost not to just keep it all JD?

Thanks! I used JD barrel chips because I already had a big bag of them, and I used Maker's Mark simply because I like it a lot. I bet it would be good with Jack Daniel's though (Gentleman's Jack maybe??), but then you can't call it "Bourbon Stout!"

If you do end up making it, let me know what you think. Now would be a great time to start this one for the fall.
 
Jeburgdo nice job on the brew! I was thinking of going a bit lighter with a Bourbon Ale. Do you have any suggestions for an Ale recipe that would work well? Also would you suggest altering the amount of Bourbon being that the Ale is lighter and could be easily overridden by the Bourbon flavor?
 
Jeburgdo nice job on the brew! I was thinking of going a bit lighter with a Bourbon Ale. Do you have any suggestions for an Ale recipe that would work well? Also would you suggest altering the amount of Bourbon being that the Ale is lighter and could be easily overridden by the Bourbon flavor?

Hey, thanks! The reason this beer works really well with this amount of bourbon is because it's got a lot of other strong flavors that blend well together, and keeps the bourbon from being overwhelming. It's still got a hefty dose of bourbon though. So if you want a lighter (lower ABV, lighter color, or both) beer, I would recommend cutting back on the oak and bourbon. I've thought about making a lighter color and ABV with bourbon, but haven't gotten around to it, so I can't say too much. I'm sure other people have, so there may be recipes or threads around here somewhere.
 
Just recently took second place in category 22 in the Upstate Brewer's Cup! No best of show medals, but I'm happy with this:

IMG_0206.jpg
 
I mate congrats with that brew. Look am from Chile and I runnig a small brewery. Just a question how do you get the carbanation in the beer when u use wood age. Because have trying to do one but the beer is flat. What do you recommend?

Salud!!!!!! from Chile
 
I mate congrats with that brew. Look am from Chile and I runnig a small brewery. Just a question how do you get the carbanation in the beer when u use wood age. Because have trying to do one but the beer is flat. What do you recommend?

Salud!!!!!! from Chile

I bottled conditioned with corn sugar, didn't have any problems. That 1056 can be pretty hearty.
 
NineMilBill said:
Good job man, looks great! I'm planning on making some big enough beers to age until this fall and this is being added to my database. My question is though, why did you use JD barrel chips and MM Bourbon? Any reason other than cost not to just keep it all JD?

Isn't Maker's Mark like twice the cost of JD? (And about five times the quality, IMHO...probably just because I love bourbon.)

P.S. Adding this to my brew database now. Sounds fantastic. Thanks for the recipe.
 
Update 12/8/2012:
I recently re-brewed this after I switched back to all-grain. I did everything else the same, but changed the grain bill a bit and used 8oz of Maker's 42 instead of 12oz of regular Maker's Mark. Dropping the black patent makes it less "ashy" but still is nothing short on roasty flavors. A full pound of special b is quite nice. I'm not sure which one is better so... Here's the recipe I used:

15.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 65.22 %
4.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 17.39 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (400.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Roasted Barley (500.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Special B Malt (120.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %

2.00 oz Warrior [16.70 %] (90 min) Hops 93.4 IBU
2.00 oz Willamette [4.70 %] (10 min) Hops 8.9 IBU

2.00 oz Oak Chips, Whiskey Soaked (Secondary 14.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

Ferment at low temperatures first (60 degrees), and ramp up to 70 or so. The ABV is 11.5%, so I ended up having to carb with champagne yeast, but the outcome is quite tasty.
 
jeburgdo said:
Update 12/8/2012:
I recently re-brewed this after I switched back to all-grain. I did everything the same, but changed the grain bill a bit and used 8oz of Maker's 42 instead of 12oz of regular Maker's Mark. Dropping the black patent makes it less "ashy" but still is nothing short on roasty flavors. A full pound of special b is quite nice. I'm not sure which one is better so... Here's the recipe I used:

15.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 65.22 %
4.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 17.39 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (400.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Roasted Barley (500.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Special B Malt (120.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %

2.00 oz Warrior [16.70 %] (90 min) Hops 93.4 IBU
2.00 oz Willamette [4.70 %] (10 min) Hops 8.9 IBU

2.00 oz Oak Chips, Whiskey Soaked (Secondary 14.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

Ferment at low temperatures first (60 degrees), and ramp up to 70 or so. The ABV is 11.5%, so I ended up having to carb with champagne yeast, but the outcome is quite tasty.

Still planning to brew the partial mash version you talked about a while ago. I made some small changes, but pretty insignificant. I got a jar of wood chips from the inside of a barrel of Wild Turkey (visited several distilleries on the Bourbon Trail, which is really interesting BTW) and I will use some instead of JD chips.

Question - what made you use makers 46 instead of regular makers?
 
Still planning to brew the partial mash version you talked about a while ago. I made some small changes, but pretty insignificant. I got a jar of wood chips from the inside of a barrel of Wild Turkey (visited several distilleries on the Bourbon Trail, which is really interesting BTW) and I will use some instead of JD chips.

Question - what made you use makers 46 instead of regular makers?

The Wild Turkey barrel chips sound quite good. When you brew this, do let me know how it turns out for you!

I used Maker's 46 because I had a bottle, and thought, "why not?" I'm not sure if there is a noticeable difference between the two. Maybe a little less rough around the edges, but that could also be from 8oz rather than 12oz. So in the future I'll probably stick with regular Maker's Mark.
 
jeburgdo said:
The Wild Turkey barrel chips sound quite good. When you brew this, do let me know how it turns out for you!

I used Maker's 46 because I had a bottle, and thought, "why not?" I'm not sure if there is a noticeable difference between the two. Maybe a little less rough around the edges, but that could also be from 8oz rather than 12oz. So in the future I'll probably stick with regular Maker's Mark.

I'll let you know about the chips, but I've never used any others, so I can't make much comparison.

It was funny. I mentioned brewing beer with them when I bought it. One guy behind the counter looked at me like I was crazy and said not to do it. The other guy must have been a little more knowledgeable about homebrew and said it should be good.

As far as the regular makers vs the 46, its actually the same recipe, they just put extra barrel staves inside the barrel which will become makers 46. That makes it more oakey, vanilla-y and smoother.
 
jeburgdo said:
This beer is really fantastic. This is the 3rd time I've brewed it, tweaking it each time, and I think I've found the sweet spot with this one. The previous version was entered in the Shamrock Open by the CARBOY club a couple months ago. It didn't place, but got a respectable score of 38. This version is even better, and age will do it wonders. It's heavy on the bourbon, but I like it that way.

Batch size: 5.00 gallons
Boil size: 3.75 gallons
Efficiency: 76%

Amount Item Type % or IBU

6.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM)
4.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM)

0.75 lb Special B Malt (120.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)

0.75 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Roasted Barley (500.0 SRM)

2.00 oz Warrior [19.70 %] (60 min) 67.6 IBU
2.00 oz Willamette [4.90 %] (10 min) 6.1 IBU

2.00 oz Oak Chips, Whiskey Soaked (Secondary 14.0 days)
11-12oz Maker's Mark Bourbon (Secondary 14.0 days)

1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)

Notes:
12 quarts of mash water at 154F for 1 hour (perhaps a degree or two higher if you're doing all-grain since DME is less fermentable). Sparge 170F.

While fermenting in primary, I took 2oz of Jack Daniel's Smoking Chips (read more about them here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/using-jack-daniels-barrel-chips-my-experience-211857/) and soaked them in 12oz of Maker's Mark Whisky. When transferring to secondary, toss in all of the bourbon and oak. I would say add all 12oz, but I wanted a sip of the extra-oaked whisky, so I really added slightly less than 12oz. Have it sit on the oak for 2 weeks, so if you need to transfer it again, do that.

This beer has plenty of roasted taste, oak slips in really nicely and mellows with time, and the bourbon gives it a really lovely smooth vanilla taste. Keep the fermentation temperature down, and it stays smooth, even when it's fairly fresh which is great for 10.5% ABV (the whisky adds just over 0.5%).

This can easily be converted to all grain, just replace the DME with pale malt to match the OG. I would probably boil for 90 minutes though, because I added the DME at the beginning of the boil in the partial mash version.

Here are some pictures (Not the most artistic, but they get the point across):

Test
 
jeburgdo said:
This beer is really fantastic. This is the 3rd time I've brewed it, tweaking it each time, and I think I've found the sweet spot with this one. The previous version was entered in the Shamrock Open by the CARBOY club a couple months ago. It didn't place, but got a respectable score of 38. This version is even better, and age will do it wonders. It's heavy on the bourbon, but I like it that way.

Batch size: 5.00 gallons
Boil size: 3.75 gallons
Efficiency: 76%

Amount Item Type % or IBU

6.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM)
4.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.00 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM)

0.75 lb Special B Malt (120.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)

0.75 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.75 lb Roasted Barley (500.0 SRM)

2.00 oz Warrior [19.70 %] (60 min) 67.6 IBU
2.00 oz Willamette [4.90 %] (10 min) 6.1 IBU

2.00 oz Oak Chips, Whiskey Soaked (Secondary 14.0 days)
11-12oz Maker's Mark Bourbon (Secondary 14.0 days)

1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)

Notes:
12 quarts of mash water at 154F for 1 hour (perhaps a degree or two higher if you're doing all-grain since DME is less fermentable). Sparge 170F.

While fermenting in primary, I took 2oz of Jack Daniel's Smoking Chips (read more about them here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/using-jack-daniels-barrel-chips-my-experience-211857/) and soaked them in 12oz of Maker's Mark Whisky. When transferring to secondary, toss in all of the bourbon and oak. I would say add all 12oz, but I wanted a sip of the extra-oaked whisky, so I really added slightly less than 12oz. Have it sit on the oak for 2 weeks, so if you need to transfer it again, do that.

This beer has plenty of roasted taste, oak slips in really nicely and mellows with time, and the bourbon gives it a really lovely smooth vanilla taste. Keep the fermentation temperature down, and it stays smooth, even when it's fairly fresh which is great for 10.5% ABV (the whisky adds just over 0.5%).

This can easily be converted to all grain, just replace the DME with pale malt to match the OG. I would probably boil for 90 minutes though, because I added the DME at the beginning of the boil in the partial mash version.

Here are some pictures (Not the most artistic, but they get the point across):

Is there an extract version?

Also, I've seen people add spirits soaked in chips and others add it to the bottling bucket, why use the chips? Is just for flavor?
 
Was your all grain version still for a 5 gallon batch or did you increase your batch size with that grain bill?
 
In order of what I haven't answered:

For an extract, I suppose you would just replace the base malt with extract to hit the right OG and steep the specialty malts (crystal and roasted). Not sure how that would turn out though... The oak chips added to the beer give it an even more forward flavor.

The 23lb grain bill is because with that size I got a pretty low efficiency, about 62% I think. It was still 5 gallons.

The Maker's 46 version is as good or better than the original posting. Put side by side, the 46 version will be a little bit smoother, but boozier, while the original will be a bit rougher, but in a good way, if you know what I mean. I was actually more surprised at how similar tasting they were. I figured they'd be similar, but the differences are surprisingly subtle.
 
Is the hops very pronounced? 70+ is WAY higher than I ever go, but I will give it a try if it is balanced. This was going to be next on my list. Thanks!
 
Is the hops very pronounced? 70+ is WAY higher than I ever go, but I will give it a try if it is balanced. This was going to be next on my list. Thanks!

I think it's pretty well balanced as far as hops and malts go. Most comments have been that it's heavy on bourbon and oak. I really like this level of bourbon, but next time I may consider cutting back slightly on the oak. But maybe not too.

But don't be turned off by the hops, the 10%+ alcohol and bourbon is enough to keep them in check. Plus, Warrior is a rather clean bittering hop.
 
Using Warrior is there any grapefruit coming through? I had the Warrior in a pale ale and was not a fan because grapefruit isn't my thing. I am guessing with a 60 minute boil after the addition not much comes through.
 
Using Warrior is there any grapefruit coming through? I had the Warrior in a pale ale and was not a fan because grapefruit isn't my thing. I am guessing with a 60 minute boil after the addition not much comes through.

Warrior is a very clean bittering hop, which is why I used it. I don't taste any citrus in this beer at all.
 
Does this beer rival Dragon's Milk or Backwoods Bastard? Those tend to be on the sweeter side with a distinct Bourbon flavor that I hope to find.
 
Does this beer rival Dragon's Milk or Backwoods Bastard? Those tend to be on the sweeter side with a distinct Bourbon flavor that I hope to find.

I've never gotten around to trying Dragon's Milk, but I can say it is not really quite like Backwoods Bastard. The bourbon character may be similar, but the heavy amount of oak and roasted malts this beer has gives it a much woodier/roasted and somewhat dryer taste than the sweet Scotch ale that Backwoods Bastard is based on.
 
Does this beer rival Dragon's Milk or Backwoods Bastard? Those tend to be on the sweeter side with a distinct Bourbon flavor that I hope to find.

I don't think that it would be a rival to Dragon's Milk but it is definitely good. A lot will depend on what bourbon/whiskey you decide to add. I actually used Ballantines Scotch and think mine turned out awesome. I did not soak the chips like most people do and just boiled them as directed then added 6 ounces to the secondary.

Last year I bought 5-6 bottles of Shipwreck Porter and this year if it finally comes back out I will probably just get 1 to compare. Been a while since I have had one but think what I produced is just as good. 2 cases for the price of a 6 pack has me feeling good about it even if it turns out Shipwreck is better than I remember.
 
piercebrew said:
brewed this last weekend. Excited to see how it turns out... wish I had an actual bourbon barrel

This was my first homebrew and I have to say, added 1.5 oz of Jim Bean before bottling and 2 months later it was a great stout. You won't be disappointed.
 
is it possible to use an actual fresh used whiskey barrel to ferment in but cancel out the chips and the added whiskey
 
Update 12/8/2012:
I recently re-brewed this after I switched back to all-grain. I did everything else the same, but changed the grain bill a bit and used 8oz of Maker's 42 instead of 12oz of regular Maker's Mark. Dropping the black patent makes it less "ashy" but still is nothing short on roasty flavors. A full pound of special b is quite nice. I'm not sure which one is better so... Here's the recipe I used:

15.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 65.22 %
4.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 17.39 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Chocolate Malt (400.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Roasted Barley (500.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
1.00 lb Special B Malt (120.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %

2.00 oz Warrior [16.70 %] (90 min) Hops 93.4 IBU
2.00 oz Willamette [4.70 %] (10 min) Hops 8.9 IBU

2.00 oz Oak Chips, Whiskey Soaked (Secondary 14.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale

Ferment at low temperatures first (60 degrees), and ramp up to 70 or so. The ABV is 11.5%, so I ended up having to carb with champagne yeast, but the outcome is quite tasty.

Thanks for the recipe! Just brewed a batch of this and it smelled great. Can't wait to start sampling.

Ended up @ OG 1.112

~Joe :mug:
 
I'm soaking some oak cubes in Bourbon. How long should the cubes soak for?
 
I did 2 weeks with 5 oz of bourbon. Then poured the mix with wood and all into the 2ndary for 2 weeks and then bottled.
 
This looks like a recipe that I would like to try. I was trying to find a clone for Backwoods Bastard and it brought me here.

-fellow NC brewer
 
What's the longest everyone has let theirs sit in the carboy? Be it a 2nd or 3rd transfer.

I am looking at a possible deployment of about 7-8 months. My thought would be to follow this recipe, but transfer to a 3rd carboy and add just the chips and let it sit for the whole time I'm gone. Then bottle.

Any thoughts or suggestions on what/how to correctly pull it off?
 
Back
Top