Adding Hard Liquor to a Brown Ale???

[BriarwoodBrewer]

I really am curious about adding liquor to my brew? I really don't want to make a stout which typically has that option. Something like a brown ale...

What can I add that would be good? Also, when do I add it?

 

[prosper]

all I can say is - it doesn't take much to make a HUGE difference. Try dosing a glass of beer with whiskey - use one of those measuring syringes. Start small and work up until you find a level that's tasty, then do the math to scale it up. A few mL per glass is all it takes.

 

[BriarwoodBrewer]

all I can say is - it doesn't take much to make a HUGE difference. Try dosing a glass of beer with whiskey - use one of those measuring syringes. Start small and work up until you find a level that's tasty, then do the math to scale it up. A few mL per glass is all it takes.

Wow! I had no idea that it only took a small amount. I was thinking a whole bottle! Good thing I asked.

 

[Grinder12000]

I did this on my last batch - I had an Indian Brown - not unlike Dogfish head - probably my best brew - so I decided to try adding one shot of Jack Daniels!

WOW - 1 shot is too much!!! I added some oak chips to maybe calm it down a little. It'll be 3 weeks carbing this weekend so I'll let you know but BE CAREFUL!!

 

[TheWeeb]

I think Ammaretto would be awesome with a brown, give it a nutty sweet flavor....

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I think Ammaretto would be awesome with a brown, give it a nutty sweet flavor....

I gave that a whirl a couple of months ago. It's still a work in progress that I'm determined to crack. The problem I had with amaretto is that after three weeks of bottle conditioning it had mild amaretto aftertaste, with sort of a weird chemically taste. After about 5 weeks all blended together into a weird chemically brown ale. It also had zero head; nobody likes that. :cross:

I might try soaking oak chips in the amaretto and then adding the amaretto, rather than dumping the liquor in directly.

 

[BriarwoodBrewer]

My problem is that I don't want to ruin a good recipe by experimenting with something I have no clue about....So one shot in a 5 gal carboy is too much?

 

[Got Trub?]

My problem is that I don't want to ruin a good recipe by experimenting with something I have no clue about....So one shot in a 5 gal carboy is too much?

Like prosper said titrate to taste. Take a sample of your brown porter after it has fermented and conditioned, say 500ml, and add a small, known quantity of the liquor of your choice. Once you dial in how much to add to the 500ml sample scale it up for the remainder of the beer and add it to your fermentor or keg, whatever your beer is in at that time..

GT

 

[BriarwoodBrewer]

Update:

I poured a bottle of Crown Royal in my 5 gal. batch when I kegged it. It has been about 10 days since I kegged it and it tastes great! I had experimented with a 12oz bottle of beer and teaspoons of Crown. (I experimented a lot). I liked the taste of 3-4 teaspoons per 12oz beer. Turned out great! Thanks everyone!

 

[akthor]

Wow a whole bottle? Someone said one shot was too much?

 

[ThinkinDavid]

I had a very good experience bottle conditioning my Winter Warmer last season with Frangelico. I used 1 pint in place of the 5 oz. of corn sugar. The carbonation was perfect and the Frangelico was extremely subtle, not overpowering at all.

 

[TheWeeb]

I had a very good experience bottle conditioning my Winter Warmer last season with Frangelico. I used 1 pint in place of the 5 oz. of corn sugar. The carbonation was perfect and the Frangelico was extremely subtle, not overpowering at all.

This is fascinating, using the liqueur as priming sugar. Any guidelines on how to estimate the correct amount among various types? I am a huge Limocello fan; could nicely compliment a wheat or pale ale. ..

 

[cheezydemon3]

Sounds suicidal.

Adding it to the fermenter is one thing, calculating carbs? Forget it.

 

[PartyBible]

I make a whiskey barrel stout the same way. 1l of jack. It is my best beer and the beer snobs I hand a bottle to ask when they can get some more. FYI I 2nd for atleast 3weeks before bottling and I only use 1/2 the priming sugar

 

[ThinkinDavid]

This is fascinating, using the liqueur as priming sugar. Any guidelines on how to estimate the correct amount among various types? I am a huge Limocello fan; could nicely compliment a wheat or pale ale. ..

I got the idea from Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing. He has an equation for figuring out the sugar content in liqueurs but I can't remember if I was able to make sense of it. Here's my old thread where I apparently hammered the whole process out

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/using-liqueur-priming-sugar-any-experience-147375/

and here's a site with liqueur info.

http://www.drinksmixer.com/desc29.html

 

[TheWeeb]

I got the idea from Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing. He has an equation for figuring out the sugar content in liqueurs but I can't remember if I was able to make sense of it. Here's my old thread where I apparently hammered the whole process out

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/using-liqueur-priming-sugar-any-experience-147375/

and here's a site with liqueur info.

http://www.drinksmixer.com/desc29.html

Very cool info. Can this be simplified using the drinksmixer info, assuming that all of the sugars in the liqueur will ferment out (as in priming sugar)?

Exmaple: The Limoncello contains 10.9 grams of sugar per 1 oz, or .3844 oz. of sugar per oz. of liqueur. If I need 5.5 oz. of priming sugar then 5.5/.3844 = 14.3 oz. of Limocello in the bottling bucket to obtain the right amount of priming sugar.

I am not concerned over calculating the final ABV, only obtaining proper carbonation with the added bonus of the flavors the liqueur brings!

Sorry if this is a bit

 

[ThinkinDavid]

Can this be simplified using the drinksmixer info, assuming that all of the sugars in the liqueur will ferment out (as in priming sugar)?

Exmaple: The Limoncello contains 10.9 grams of sugar per 1 oz, or .3844 oz. of sugar per oz. of liqueur. If I need 5.5 oz. of priming sugar then 5.5/.3844 = 14.3 oz. of Limocello in the bottling bucket to obtain the right amount of priming sugar.

I am not concerned over calculating the final ABV, only obtaining proper carbonation with the added bonus of the flavors the liqueur brings!

That sounds about right to me. I remember having trouble with mine because the only info I could find on my liqueur was for a higher proof bottle then what I had. For whatever reason I went for 16 fl. oz. and it worked perfect. I'm sure 14-15 fl. oz. of Limoncello would carbonate your beer wonderfully.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I primed with hershey's kisses one time. Somehow it worked, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

 

[Hannable1975]

I primed with hershey's kisses one time. Somehow it worked, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea.

I have been dreaming of priming with chocolate syrup here lately.