Scotch in beer.

I am enjoying a very nice glass of scotch right now and am wondering about something.

For those of you who have put whiskey in beer, does the quality of the whiskey matter?

Would a really nice scotch be wasted in a brew? Would it taste any better than, say, an Evan Williams?

 

that sounds like a great idea. you should try it and tell everyone how it comes out haha.

 

waste the scotch. ... maybe the next gift bottle I get...

 

I guess it depends on the scotch and the beer. I wouldn't go dumping my good single malt in a beer willy nilly. It might be interesting to put some Islay malt in a Porter or Stout for a nice smokey/peaty effect though. I hear of a lot of people adding Makers Mark to their Bourbon Barrel beers, so use that price point to judge where to use Scotch.

What I like about Scotch (especially Single Malt) is that its essentially distilled beer minus hops. I think, used correctly, it could really strengthen and brighten flavors in beer.

That said, I've never done it, so I don't have any specific advice to give.

 

blended scotch. It would have to be a single malt. I wonder about something cheaper but still enjoyable like a 12 yr Dalmore or 15 year Glenlivet or Glenfiddich....

I am now talking myself into it....the wife is not going to like this....

 

I used some cheap bourbon last year in a beer. I wasn't real impressed.

 

I've had really good results using oak soaked in McLelland's Islay single malt. I add that and the remaining liquid to a Wee Heavy for a few weeks and it's really nice.

I pay ~$23 per 750ml for that brand I think.

 

Brew up a nice big beer and throw some Laphroaig in there.

 

At a recent "competition" (I use that term loosely), at a local bar, one of the entrants was a porter I believe, with an entire bottle of Jameson in a 5gal batch. It was definitely noticeable and lent a very strong vanilla flavor to the beer. I liked it, but a few of my friends panned it. It did win its "category" (again, I use this term loosely).

 

Check out the latest episode of Brewing TV. Michael Dawson makes something called a "Hot Scotchy". While running off the wort into the boil kettle, he draws off about 1 cup of the wort into a mug and adds some scotch to it, about one jigger i'd guess. Chip thinks it's fantastic, very smooth and drinkable. I think I'll give this a try next week when I brew again.

 

I've seen recipes that call for Scotch. One in particular called for oak cubes soaked in scotch along with the scotch they were soaked in (a pint or so for a 5gal batch, maybe? I can't remember). I've not tried it myself, but there's definitely precedent out there for it. I'd say, try experimenting with it if you're of the mind. It seems that the smokiness would be the aspect that would come through the best, so keep a mind towards your style. A scotch ale or dark porter would probably take it better than a Kölsch or lager.

 

Never tried a scotch in beer, but I have often enjoyed a dram of single malt as a side while sipping an ale (usually Scottish Ales). Tastes great.

But I do need to try this scotch in beer thing - two of my favorite alcohols.

 

I made a Bourbon Barrel Porter kit from Northern. I used Wild Turkey 80 proof instead of the recommended Maker's Mark. I soaked the 2 ounces of oak cubes in 16 oz of the bourbon for 2 weeks while the beer was in primary then poured the bourbon and oak cubes right into the secondary. I think the beer turned out great. My homebrew club loved it as well, they want me to enter it in our competition.

You can do the same exact thing with scotch. I agree that using a real good single malt is a waste but maybe something like a Dewars white label would do well. I guess there's only one way to find out :rockin:

 

Completely OT, but my wife made fruitcake this year (with real fruit, not the candied crap they sell) and had soaked the fruit in rum for a whole yar. Threw that fruit in the food processor and put it in the cake, oh my was that good.

And I +1 scotch in beer.

 

I have made a Hot Scotchy with my last brew. Used the liquid from the partial mash from an oatmeal stout. Added the scotch, and wow! I will do this for every batch from now on.

 

I've had some scotch accidentally drip down from my airlock into my beer before, if that counts xP

But I think it's actually fairly common to ferment beer in old oak barrels to get that whiskey-y taste, or using oak chips, so I would think adding the liquor itself to it wouldn't be much of a problem.

 

You use scotch in your airlock? I always use the crappiest vodka I can find in the liquor store.

 

Did you ever get around to making a beer with scotch? I recently did an Old Engine Oil clone, that I just racked onto some Balvenie Scotch(13 year: 12 in an oak cask, 1 year in a sherry cask), along with 1oz of oak cubes and 1 vanilla bean. I soaked the oak cubes and vanilla in the scotch for 2 weeks, and only put enough scotch to float the cubes in a growler, so I'm not sure if I'll need to add more...I guess I'll have to try it in a week or so, to see how its coming along. The scotch itself actually compliments the flavor of the abundance of roasted barley(has kind of a burnt oily taste, but the oaky vanilla taste really seems to go hand in hand).

It'll be quite a while before this gets bottled and consumed, so I was curious if you have tried doing it yet, and how the results were.

 

Go to youtube and look up ralfystuff, he reviews spirits, usually scotch, and a couple videos involve beer and its pairing/mixing with whisky.

 

This kind of thing has been made since colonial times. It went by the slang name "whiskely" up to the 1920's. Since bourbon barrels could only be used once by law,they were snatched up to mature dark beers in. Usually dark ale,porters,& stouts.
But scott's whiskey was/is popular soaked in oak pieces & added to ales,Irish stout,etc. Look up Fuller's whiskey beer on Zythophile.

 

I make a barleywine strength brew with peat smoked malt. Last years brew had Dewars soaked oak cubes. This year I am using Laphroaig Quarter Cask soaked cubes and more of them for a little more oak presence in the beer. I dump the whole kit and kaboodle in the fermentor for secondary when I do whiskey or rum soaked oak cubes.

 

I have used both Bulleit and Ten High, very different grades of whiskey in two different brews of the same recipe. There was definitely a noticeable different, the cheap whiskey seemed to lose much of its flavor, and just added a "boozy" characteristic to the brew, while the nice bourbon added very pleasant notes.

I suggest doing an experiment. You would likely be adding whiskey at bottling, take your favorite brew and add to it a measured amount of whiskey. Keep repeating this until you:

a) pass out
or
b) find an amount and brand of whiskey that works for you, and scale it up.

 

I haven't brewed this yet. It is on the docket but I just haven't had time to do as much brewing lately as I'd like. Maybe in the next couple of weeks. I think I'll use an 18 year Glenfiddich for the first try.

 

I do the Hot Scotchy as well.. so delicious.