Kentucky bourbon barrel ale

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OHIOSTEVE

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I have some friends in a band that I have played music with several individually but never seen them all together performing so the wife and I went to watch em tonight. The bar claimed to have a nice selection of craft brews on tap. The waitress just handed me the list and there were quite a few ( by the way this was the filling station in TROY OHIO) I saw the bourbon barrel ale and gave it a try.. man that stuff is good. Then I had a belles summer wheat ( cant recall the entire name) and liked it prettyy well also.. This leads me to my reason for posting. What gives the bourbon barrel ale that caramelly, coconut ( or to me anyway) taste? I told my wife it tasted like a mounds candy bar to me at the finish.. does anyone have a decent clone recipe? I searched but didn't find a nailed down recipe.
 
Can't offer a recipe (yet) but here's what I know:

It's based around their Kentucky Ale, which is a Irish Red/English Pale hybrid (according to them, I think this means a hoppier Red Ale). The Bourbon Barrel Ale is the same beer, but it spends 4-6 weeks in fresh bourbon barrels. As of now they contract from Woodford Reserve, and since they are just miles down the road from one another fresh means fresh. The barrels come to the brewery just after being emptied, still dripping w/ bourbon.

I don't know how their wood contact time would translate to cubes/staves. It's chared (not toasted) oak, though, as it's from bourbon (not sure the Woodford char level). This is most likely where you are getting the caramel/coconut.

A good place to start might be a solid Red Ale recipe, and some form of chard oak+bourbon.
 
drinking a bottle of this right now wishing someone would post a recipe? this stuff is really good but still tastes a bit like coconut to me.
 
I have 4 bottles sitting in my fridge. I went down to KY for a wedding this past week and tried it as recommended by folks here on HBT. Excellent! I will try and make up a clone and maybe people can jump in and add to it.
 
Here is my first stab at it based on using MO recently and Victory in an ESB and some similar flavors. I would guess there is some of both in here and plenty of caramel.

5 gal batch 90 min boil, mash around 152
OG 1.048, FG 1.023, SRM 19, 8.1% ABV, IBU's 45.2

Grain
84% 12.5# Marris Otter
5% 12 oz Caramel 120L
3% 8 oz Victory (maybe more victory?)
3% 8 oz wheat malt
3% 8 oz Caramel 40L
1% 2 oz Roasted barley

Hops
1.5 Northern Brewer @ 60 min.
1.0 EKG @ 15 min.

I would US-04 or WLP 002 and ferment in the mid to lower sixties for the cleaner side of the yeast profile. Primary for 4 weeks and secondary with charred Bourbon soaked oak for 6 weeks? Need help with the oak. It is a heavy oak profile. It's like drinking Vanilla with dark caramel and a slight roastiness. Delicious!
 
Maybe soak a 1/2 ounce of heavy char in bourbon for two weeks and then add the oak to the secondary for 45 days checking in on the beer? You can add some of the bourbon later if needed.
 
Ok I have the charred hungarian oak cubes. I will buy a fifth of woodford reserve to soak me in.. I mean them in lol. I was advised by the brew shop owner to NOT pour the bourbon into the beer, JUST the cubes. he claimed the bourbon drew out some tannins from the oak and you don't want that.I have found another recipe on here and will compare your idea and his recipe for similarities. Anyone else wish to chime in?
 
5 gal batch 90 min boil, mash around 152
OG 1.048, FG 1.023, SRM 19, 8.1% ABV, IBU's 45.2

Grain
84% 12.5# Marris Otter
5% 12 oz Caramel 120L
3% 8 oz Victory (maybe more victory?)
3% 8 oz wheat malt
3% 8 oz Caramel 40L
1% 2 oz Roasted barley

Hops
1.5 Northern Brewer @ 60 min.
1.0 EKG @ 15 min.

I would US-04 or WLP 002 and ferment in the mid to lower sixties for the cleaner side of the yeast profile. Primary for 4 weeks and secondary with charred Bourbon soaked oak for 6 weeks? Need help with the oak. It is a heavy oak profile. It's like drinking Vanilla with dark caramel and a slight roastiness. Delicious!

I think you may be over-thinking the grain bill on this one. I've tried making a clone once that didn't turn out, but not because of the recipe. I would start with a standard ESB (mostly Marris Otter with some Caramel 40 or 60) and ferment with Irish Ale yeast. Keep the hop bitterness and flavor low like in an Irish Red. I tried bourbon soaked chips in mine and didn't like the outcome. I'd try boiling some oak cubes, cover them in Woodford Reserve a couple months, then add it all when fermentation is finished.
 
I agree that those are the two primary flavors that come through for me. I think it's a darker caramel based on flavors I'm getting. Either a touch of roasted barley and/or darker caramel. I'll drink another this weekend and ponder some more :mug:
 
In a side by side taste of the bourbon and ale and barrel aged. The barrel aged has more dark caramel, is darker, and is significanty higher in gravity, which sets the stage with the oak to bring out the coconut flavor. They are different beers. It reminds me of a scotch ale.
 
I e-mailed them to see if I could get any more info. I'll let you know if they share anything.
 
In a side by side taste of the bourbon and ale and barrel aged. The barrel aged has more dark caramel, is darker, and is significanty higher in gravity, which sets the stage with the oak to bring out the coconut flavor. They are different beers. It reminds me of a scotch ale.

If by different beers you mean different in taste/appearance, then yes. I can assure you, however, they are the same recipe. BBA is KY Ale with 6 or so weeks in bourbon barrels. Any difference comes from the barrels (which can impart significant variation batch to batch).
 
So if they are the same recipe.... Is it the aging in bourbon barrels for 45 days that increases the ABV by 2-4%?
 
So if they are the same recipe.... Is it the aging in bourbon barrels for 45 days that increases the ABV by 2-4%?

Yes: evaporation plus the extracted bourbon from the barrels. I think Bourbon Barrel averages around 7.5%. .

But this depends on the barrels being used of course.

And yes, they are the same recipe.
 
Here is the response from the brewer at Alltech Lexington Brewery that recieved after e-mailing them for info.

Hi Chris,
Thank you for your interest in our beer. Below are the percentages of the grains:
78% American 2row
8% Caramel 40
8% Carapils
6% Malted Wheat
Hopped with East Kent Goldings and Fuggles and fermented with an English Ale yeast strain.
We then age the beer for 6 weeks in freshly emptied bourbon barrels. Your best bet would be to soak a charred oak spiral in good bourbon and then stick that in your aging vessels. Good Luck and enjoy.

Cheers,
Chris Lady
Brewery Supervisor
Alltech Lexington Brewery
401 Cross Street, Lexington, KY
Office - (859) 255-2337 ext. 5322
Cell - (859) 388-0748
 
I got the same email Hopcousin... so here is what I am thinking. And please rest assured I have zero ego where this stuff is concerned so feel free to tell me I am an idiot lol

10lb american 2 row
1lb crystal 40
1lb cara pils
12oz wheat malt

60 minute mash at 152

60 minute boil
1.25 oz kent goldings at 60 mins
.5 oz fuggles at 5 mins
ferment with english ale II

Soak 2.5 oz charred ( medium) hungarian oak cubes in woodford reserve for a couple of weeks...pour off bourbon and add oak cubes to secondary for 2 weeks give or take depending on taste.



OK critique away.
 
OHIOSTEVE said:

Recipe looks good. I might take longer on the oak, taste it every week till it comes through. Ive done this one twice with another in the fermentor. It always takes about six weeks for the oak/vanilla to come through. Maybe my oak though. But your name sucks. Just kidin. Lol
 
Recipe looks good. I might take longer on the oak, taste it every week till it comes through. Ive done this one twice with another in the fermentor. It always takes about six weeks for the oak/vanilla to come through. Maybe my oak though. But your name sucks. Just kidin. Lol

lol.... is the amount of oak ok you think?
 
That sounds like a nice recipe. That mash temp feels like it hits the fuller side of the balance for an english ale yeast.

I've been experimenting with getting the mash temps right and trying to capture that english ale yeast flavor.

I wonder about the Hop profile and if there shouldn't be more on the front end of the boil? Maybe an ounce of EKG's at 60 and and an oz of Fuggles at 5 or 10?
 
You may be right Hopcousin about the temp. I thought about it after you posted and the beerr IS a bit "thin" so maybe a lower temp.....As for the hops, I read on here somewhere that the base beer is an rirsh red but less hoppy, and to me the beer has little hop flavor and depends more on the oaking for the flavor. My brew shop is an hour away and I am not going back for a while. I called em to order the yeast I want so It will be a couple of weeks probably before I get to try this one.
 
Maybe 150? I think your right. The hop flavor isn't very present and the oak will certainly take over.
 
I got the same email Hopcousin... so here is what I am thinking. And please rest assured I have zero ego where this stuff is concerned so feel free to tell me I am an idiot lol

10lb american 2 row
1lb crystal 40
1lb cara pils
12oz wheat malt

60 minute mash at 152

60 minute boil
1.25 oz kent goldings at 60 mins
.5 oz fuggles at 5 mins
ferment with english ale II

Soak 2.5 oz charred ( medium) hungarian oak cubes in woodford reserve for a couple of weeks...pour off bourbon and add oak cubes to secondary for 2 weeks give or take depending on taste.


OK critique away.

Just stumbled upon this - did you ever brew this? If so, thoughts?
 
Ok I have the charred hungarian oak cubes. I will buy a fifth of woodford reserve to soak me in.. I mean them in lol. I was advised by the brew shop owner to NOT pour the bourbon into the beer, JUST the cubes. he claimed the bourbon drew out some tannins from the oak and you don't want that.I have found another recipe on here and will compare your idea and his recipe for similarities. Anyone else wish to chime in?

I just opened by first bottle and let me tell you......HOLY CRAP IS IT GOOD! I used 2.5oz of American Oak medium toast cubes soaked in about 600ml of Woodford reserve(basically just enough to cover the cubes in the bowl I was using) with 2 split vanilla beans. I let it sit during the 3 week primary. All of the bowl (oak, bourbon and vanilla beans) went into the secondary for 3 months. The taste is awesome, but unfortunately, the oak is a little too strong vs the real KBBA. I would probably age it for only 1.5-2 months instead. Still, it's easily the best beer I've made of about 15 so far.

Hope that helps
 
HOPCousin said:
It's like drinking Vanilla with dark caramel and a slight roastiness. Delicious!
And that is why (one of) my other vice(s) is Single Malt Scotch. :)
::Slainté mhath ::
 
I just did a Kentucky Common Ale recipe I developed that has very similar qualities to Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale except not as strong. I image Revvy's recipe for Kentucky Common Ale would do well as a base if you increased the grain bill by 50-100% and racked it on top of oak chips or cubes soaked in bourbon.

I racked mine last night on 2oz of medium-toast chips I soaked for 7 days and they had a very pleasant, strong aroma of bourbon.
 
I have brewed this beer a couple I times.... The grain bill is right on, and use Safale S-04. I primary this beer for 3 weeks and secondary for another three, but I only use 1oz of French medium roast oak chips and two split and scraped vanilla beans. I usually only leave the oak in the beer for 7-10 days, leave the vanilla in the duration of secondary. I don't add any bourbon until I bottle or keg, I use a a little less than a 350ml bottle of makers mark. Keg or bottle age this beer another 8 weeks. I literally have a hard time telling the difference between mine and the real KBBA.
 
10lb american 2 row
1lb crystal 40
1lb cara pils
12oz wheat malt

60 minute mash at 152

60 minute boil
1.25 oz kent goldings at 60 mins
.5 oz fuggles at 5 mins
ferment with english ale II

Soak 2.5 oz charred ( medium) hungarian oak cubes in woodford reserve for a couple of weeks...pour off bourbon and add oak cubes to secondary for 2 weeks give or take depending on taste.

This looks awesome.

I brewed a bourbon barrel porter earlier this year with my dad:

We soaked the bourbon chips in 16 oz of Woodford Reserve for about a week, then added them to secondary for a month... It was pretty awesome.

I was thinking of employing the same bourbon / oak chip method with this recipe...Thoughts?
 
Question on use of chips for those of you that have ventured down this road: do you put them in a hop bag or just toss them in loose? Any difficulty separating them from the beer (do they sink, do you filter, etc)?
 
Question on use of chips for those of you that have ventured down this road: do you put them in a hop bag or just toss them in loose? Any difficulty separating them from the beer (do they sink, do you filter, etc)?

I just tossed em in..make sure they easily fit in the carboy or you may have some troubles gettin em back out.
 
I just tossed em in..make sure they easily fit in the carboy or you may have some troubles gettin em back out.

My Wife tossed in so many bags of dry hops into her/our first DIPA when we started all grain that I was sure I would never get them out...did manage to slice the hop bags open with a filet knife and got everything out with much less effort than I had thought!
 
Just had my first taste of this beer. Not a bourbon guy at all, but man is this good. Has a lot more bourbon smell then taste. Can't wait the brew up some of this..
 
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