Have bourbon barrel, but I don't like big imperial stouts. What should I do?

[Crispyvelo]

So the other day I picked up a once-used 10-gal bourbon barrel from Seven Stills Distillery in San Francisco, CA. I wanted to have a small format barrel on hand to use for making sour beers.

Here's the problem. I have officially determined that I'm not a fan of the BIG, RICH, DARK, massive ABV imperial stouts that are often done in bourbon barrels. This was officially determined this evening when I decided to open a bottle of Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS) that I recently traded for online in exchange for a bottle of Pliny the Elder (an IPA).

I excitedly fumbled for the bottle opener, pulled up a chair, and poured the black liquid into a large tulip shaped beer glass and wanted so desperately to be blown away. I just couldn't get on board. It had all the elements that, individually, I love - dark chocolate, coffee, bourbon. WTF? Why don't I like this? Afterall, I love bourbon served neat, I drink my coffee black, and I drink plenty of hoppy, bitter west coast IPAs, and darker beers like Guiness, etc.

I think I have the answer. I think it's an ABV issue. A few months ago I brewed a chocolate "session" stout (ABV 5%), aged with a dried vanilla bean and cocao nibs, and I LOVE it. The difference is, I can sit back and enjoy all the flavors without the alcohol dominating the experience.

I know that most of these barrel aged imperial stouts are high in alcohol to help balance the beer and stand up to aging.

So my question are...

1. Can I brew another low ABV stout and age it in the barrel? Would there be any negatives to this? Perhaps it wouldn't last as long?

2. I was advised to do at least one or two clean beers to take up the whiskey flavors before dedicating it to sours. Why? Could I make some kind of bourbon sour beer? Perhaps give it some time in the barrel, then age it with some peaches? (peaches and bourbon have an affinity)

3. What would YOU do as your first beer in this barrel if you didn't care for BIG imperial stouts?

Thanks...my head is spinning....and it isn't from the KBS that I dumped down the kitchen sink....shame away.

 

[hercher]

There's a lot of things you could do. You could brew a lower ABV stout, as you suggest. You could do a big RIS and blend it with a lower ABV stout to spread the bourbon flavor out. Is it just the high ABV you don't like? If not, you could try a barley wine, or a double IPA. I think people typically use higher ABV beers with these things because the bourbon flavor can be intense, which is why I suggested blending. The higher ABV is also less prone to infection and ages better. A big Scotch ale might be interesting, too.

I'd probably do the barley wine.

 

[madscientist451]

Your beer/wood ratio is much higher in the 10 gallon barrel than the usual 59 gallon whiskey barrel so you're not going to leave the beer in there that long anyway, at least not until you've run the barrel several times.

Thinking "outside the box" you could make a cider and run it through the barrel, or like was already suggested, a regular strength porter or stout.
One thing you should consider is that anything that comes out of the barrel will probably be a blending component with another beer (or cider if you make one) Its unlikely that you will be able to make a 100% satisfactory beverage with only one small barrel, so plan on having some of the same or complimentary beer on hand to blend with when the beer comes out of the barrel. Good Luck!!

 

[J-Drew]

Do you have any interest in a bourbon barrel porter? Those are pretty common. I recently brewed one with a target OG of 1.060. I missed and it came out at 1.056. It's still aging at the moment, but I helped myself to a couple of pints about two months ago and found it downright drinkable.

 

[Challenger440]

Look up Denny Conn's bourbon vanilla porter. I'd start there.

 

[user 141939]

Seems like a lot of good suggestions. I would just add that I wouldn't let the founders form your opinion on big barrel aged stouts. I'm a big fan of bourbon barrel barrel beers of all forms, including imperial stouts. But I never understood that beer. I've had it a few years and always disappointed, so now I don't by it.

A couple good ones that I've had is the barrel aged old rasputin and the goose island one.

Barrel aged rasputin after about a year or so in the bottle is worth trying.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Wow, sorry you were disappointed with that brew you were looking forward to. If you can't find anything to do with that barrel, you can send it to be and I'll test out some options.

 

[Crispyvelo]

Thanks for all the suggestions!! I feel inspired, and will probably explore bourbon barrel porters. First step is finding some of the recommended brews to try to validate that direction makes sense for me. I'll make sure I have carboy space so I can pull it out after the oak imparts enough oakiness. I like the idea of blending too....so many choices!

 

[Queequeg]

Lambic or barley wine

 

[Crispyvelo]

Lambic or barley wine

@Queequeg How do you think a lambic would hold up with all the bourbon flavor since this will be a first use after the whiskey?

 

[m1k3]

if you brew lagers, you can try Zek's Porter (Jamil's recipe). At the end of my last keg I racked it onto some American Oak with Rum and it was crazy good.

You can scale down the base malts in any stout/porter if you want to avoid it being too boozy. Nothing wrong with oaking a 6% beer.

 

[Firewalker11]

I am currently in week six of my Bourbon barrel porter on oak, the "kit" (all grain) was a Northern recipe and I killed it at 5% AVB so I could add a 5th of Bourbon to the beer then age it in the keg. I am actually drinking my gravity sample as we speak and its tasty without burning!

Good luck!

 

[shelly_belly]

I did this Irish Red Ale only I used german bock lager yeast and put it in a 5 gal bourbon barrel.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=141086

4 years later it took a gold medal in category 23-specialty beer.

 

[normonster]

I'm n the same spot. I brewed a Rye Pale for mine and decided it's too light to waste my barrel on. Just designed a monster Barleywine so that's my new plan.

 

[Queequeg]

@Crispyvelo

personally I never find the flavor of the prior beverage really translates into the beer unless you transfer a significant amount of liquid. After all the of spirits like bourbon, whiskey and tequila mostly come from the oak itself.

I would make a dark lambic, like a flanders brown/red. Lambic automatically sprang to mind because you also get secondary fermentation of materials on the barrel interior by some of the bacteria and wild yeasts.

I have never made a lambic btw, I visted the Cantillion brewery earlier this yeast and was blow away by there up to 3 year barrel aging process.