Adding Liquor...

[dandw12786]

Hey, I was thinking of doing an IPA with a little hint of bourbon flavor (I have a great bottle of Jim Beam Black in the freezer... yummy). For anyone that has done something like this, do you recommend adding the bourbon to the boil, or during fermentation? How much do you typically add?

 

[mc_eric]

Well, I would recommend taking the whiskey out of your freezer...

Bourbon IPA sounds kinda weird. If you're hell-bent on doing it, though, try mixing a little bourbon with some IPA in the glass until you find a ratio that you like, instead of just throwing a bunch of whiskey into your beer. You know, measure it out carefully and see what you think tastes good.

If I were to do it, I'd add the bourbon post-fermentation. But I just don't get why you'd want to throw perfectly good bourbon into a batch of beer...or keep it in the freezer for that matter.

 

[throwbookatface]

Well, I would recommend taking the whiskey out of your freezer...

That's what I was thinking - even if it's Beam, it's not vodka!

Bourbon porters and stouts are awesome - Try some Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, it's incredible. Unibroue makes a dark Canadian whiskey beer too, I have some in my fridge, though I haven't tried it. I have a coffee stout waiting for some bourbon in primary right now.

Bourbon IPA, though? Black IPAs took me long enough to get used too... but I could see the sweet notes in bourbon mingling well with the malts if you have an IPA with some good body and balance to it. I don't know about those floral Pacific NW hops, though...

 

[dandw12786]

Ehh, I like it cold

 

[devilishprune]

I've had a few oak aged IPAs, which impart some bourbon-y notes, and I really enjoy it. I second adding some bourbon to a glass that you have of your favorite IPA and seeing how much it takes to get to a ratio where you like it, then step it up to five gallon quantities.

 

[shipfaced]

Save all the trouble by making a "horses neck" . Fill a freshly opened bottle of commercial beer or decanted homebrew to the top with whiskey. Put your thumb over the opening and slowly invert - you can see the whiskey mixing with the beer.
Slowly return bottle to upright position - it's kind of explosive at this point - and enjoy. Beer will be very smooth.

careful tho 3-4 of these and you will feel like a horses ass in the morning.