Best way to add vanilla and bourbon to porter

[edgarmsmith]

I'm planning on brewing a 3 gallon batch of porter soon. I'm planning on adding vanilla and bourbon with oak. Initial research had me considering soaking some oak cubes and a chopped vanilla bean in 10 oz. of decent to good bourbon. I was going to start the soak in a mason jar on brew day and add the contents of the jar to the secondary fermenter in 14 days or so. Then let it sit in secondary for 2-4 weeks.

However, I've read some posts recommending dumping that soaking bourbon down the drain as it is laced with tannins from the oak. What has been your experience? If I dumped the bourbon, I guess I would just add the vanilla bean to the secondary without soaking it. I'd like to use the soaking bourbon if it's not going to ruin the beer.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Ten ounces of bourbon sounds like too much. I used too much once and ended up with beer flavored bourbon instead of the other way around. I would split and cut up 3 vanilla beans and soak them in more like 3 or 4 oz. Let them soak for a week and then dump the whole mess into the fermenter after most of the fermentation is done and let it sit for a week more before bottling/kegging. I don't have much experience with oak but you can probably just add them to the fermenter at the same time you add the bourbon/vanilla.

Maybe someone with more oak experience can wade in here.

Edit: Just reread and noticed 3 gal batch. Try 2 beans in 2-3 oz bourbon.

 

[rodwha]

That's a lot of bourbon for that. And that's a lot of vanilla bean unless that's what you are after, though I've only used vanilla bean with a neutral liquor (vodka).

 

[BrianGee]

I used 8 ounces of bourbon in my 5 gallons of porter and it was the right amount, IMO. I split into two 4oz jars, one with 2 vanilla beans and the other with 2oz of oak cubes soaked for a few weeks and then dumped in.

Unfortunately I over-oaked that beer and it's a little bit difficult to drink. I've cracked one a month since April and it's still overpowering. Next time I'll probably significantly reduce the soak time and only dump in the extracted liquid, not also drop the chips in for a while.

 

[KeninMN]

I've brewed the Bourbon Barrel Porter from Northern Brewer and for a five gallon batch used 16 oz of Bourbon to soak the 3 oz of oak cubes that came with the kit.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/BourbonBarrelPorter.pdf

It turned out great, so ten ounces of Bourbon doesn't sound like too much. Also, you want the flavors from the oak that the spirits extract, including the tannins, in your beer. I believe that is the whole point in soaking the oak cubes in spirits prior to adding them to secondary. It vastly speeds up the process that aging in an oak barrel for two years accomplishes.

 

[edgarmsmith]

Thanks everyone.

 

[rodwha]

Hard to refute the positive experience from brewing a kit designed to be good.

 

[prrriiide]

I think your best bet is to try and get some bourbon barrel staves and use those instead of trying to force fresh bourbon into the un-charred oak cubes. The barrel staves have had the bourbon forced into and out of them over a long period of time by the aging process, so the flavor is (IMO) much mellower and more rounded than just bourbon-soaked cubes. And the char on the staves gives the beer a flavor you really can't get any other way.

If that isn't possible, remember, you can always add more. You can't take it out once it's in, so discretion is the word of the day. I would shoot for very subtle at first, then add if you feel like it isn't enough. Just be judicious with your additions and you'll get a great beer.

And yes, I would discard the bourbon that you soak the oak in. You're looking for an oaky-bourbon flavor, not a slap-yer-momma bourbon beer. Let the bourbon that soaks into the oak do the talking, not the actual bourbon.

 

[CJ-3]

Just keep in mind it takes longer to get the flavors out of oak cubes than it does out of oak chips.

Chips can impart a lot of flavor in days. Cubes can take weeks or some people have let them ride for months.

In my opinion 10 ounces is a bit much for 3 gallons. Like someone else gas said it is better to want more in the next batch than to have too much in the first batch.