Oaked/Bourbon IPA

[Homercidal]

I've had a couple and really like them. Nihilist IPA from Oddside Ales is one that you can get now. Founders has made some before.

I'm thinking about brewing one, but I'm not sure which hops to use. I prefer the citrusy types in general, and don't mind a bit of pine in there too. Centennial is a classic for me, and I'm loving Citra lately.

How do you think that would pair with oak/bourbon? And should I add bourbon, or just oak it?

 

[Schemy]

I've had oaked and bourbon barrel IPAs before. I think if I were to do it, I would look to use a piney or floral type hop. I would also would shy to the low side of the bitterness scale. To me if too heavy oak comes off as astringent, so you could easily overdo it. As for oak vs bourbon, I preferred the straight oaked version. The bourbon overpowered the ipa and the base beer became secondary. To me you want to accentuate, not overpower the base beer.

I'd use the oak with the dry hop. Just a couple days should do the trick. Interested to see what you do, and how it turns out.

 

[DromJohn]

Innis & Gunn Toasted Oak IPA has Goldings and Styrian Goldings.
By not mentioning bourbon, unlike in other of their beers which are "Bourbon infused", I infer that they do not use Bourbon in their IPA.

Try the Centenniel and Citra, but avoid the Bourbon.

 

[Homercidal]

I don't know. The beers I've liked before all say they were bourbon barrel aged. I don't recall the Nihilist being very bourbony. I'm willing to try it in a half-batch. Worst case it's probably still going to be pretty good.

 

[DeadAirJeff]

I don't know. The beers I've liked before all say they were bourbon barrel aged. I don't recall the Nihilist being very bourbony. I'm willing to try it in a half-batch. Worst case it's probably still going to be pretty good.

Seems like your best bet to replicate that would be to soak oak cubes/chips in bourbon for a couple of days, then remove them and put them in your secondary for a couple of days. Same principle.

 

[crusader1612]

@homercidal:
what about more of a traditional English type IPA?
It seems the herbal citrus notes from things like Styrians or fuggles might work well?
You can add in something like Motueka (works well in english style beer) for that extra hit.
you'll probably want to make it slightly more full bodied/richer& Maltier than a normal every day IPa to help off set the booze ad bourbon.

Sound like a great idea though.

 

[Homercidal]

I decided to check out Nihilist IIPA since I know I like it. Can't find much info on it, but Oddside's website lists Amarillo, Citra, and Simcoe hops. Nothing about malt bill.

I have Citra, but no Amarillo or Simcoe. I can ask around and see if anyone in my club has any of them. I think I have some Summit if I need to substitute. Maybe some Centennial.

Also have to decide which yeast to use. I normally would us US-05 for Pale Ales, but I'm thinking about going with S-04 on this since the hops are important, but so is the malt/bourbon character as well. I think that's all I have on hand at this time. Actually, I think I have some Mangrove Jack yeast I can pull from a primary of Wee Heavy. Maybe not ideal, but there would be plenty of it, and one batch of that Wee Heavy isn't that strong. I'd be curious to see how a bourbon IIPA would turn out with that yeast.

 

[crusader1612]

I decided to check out Nihilist IIPA since I know I like it. Can't find much info on it, but Oddside's website lists Amarillo, Citra, and Simcoe hops. Nothing about malt bill.

I have Citra, but no Amarillo or Simcoe. I can ask around and see if anyone in my club has any of them. I think I have some Summit if I need to substitute. Maybe some Centennial.

Also have to decide which yeast to use. I normally would us US-05 for Pale Ales, but I'm thinking about going with S-04 on this since the hops are important, but so is the malt/bourbon character as well. I think that's all I have on hand at this time. Actually, I think I have some Mangrove Jack yeast I can pull from a primary of Wee Heavy. Maybe not ideal, but there would be plenty of it, and one batch of that Wee Heavy isn't that strong. I'd be curious to see how a bourbon IIPA would turn out with that yeast.

what MJ yeast are you using on your Wee Heavy

 

[Homercidal]

IIRC it was M42: New World Strong Ale.

 

[Homercidal]

Didn't brew the IIPA this weekend. I ended up winning against our opponent in the last matchup of the Homebrew League season and making the playoffs. With only about 4 weeks to brew and submit the first playoff beer, I knew I had to brew ASAP and follow a strict regimen if we wanted to have a shot at advancing to round 2. They chose an Irish Red Ale, which is fine for me. Fast beer and not a bad drinker either. Still only brewed a 3 gallon batch to help speed things up. I'll be kegging in a 2.5 gallon Torpedo next week if I'm lucky.

Started figuring up the IIPA on the Beersmith mobile app to check it out. I should have plenty of hops until dryhop time.