Bourban Barrel Porter - some ?'s

[smmcdermott]

Hi all, I am going to be brewing NB Bourban Barrel Porter and have some questions before I do it tonight. The recipe is as follows:

SPECIALTY GRAIN
-- 1.0 lbs Simpson’s Chocolate
-- 0.5 lbs Simpson’s Dark Crystal
-- 0.5 lbs Simpson’s Black Malt
FERMENTABLES
-- 2 lbs Wheat malt dried malt extract (60 min)
-- 6.3 lbs Dark malt extract syrup late addition (15 min)
HOPS & FLAVORINGS
-- 1 oz Chinook (60 min)
-- 0.5 oz US Goldings (15 min)
-- 0.5 oz US Goldings (5 min)
SPECIAL INGREDIENTS
-- 2 oz US Medium Plus Oak Cubes (add to secondary)
-- 16 oz bourbon (not included) (add to secondary)
YEAST
-- Danstar Windsor (dry)

First and foremost, i will do a late extract addition, so I will only add about 1-2 lbs of the extract at 60. I am fine with the rest of this, here are my questions:

1) Do you think this yeast will be successful with one pack? Should I pitch two? I have to packs of S-05 laying around, should I use that instead and how many?

2) When adding the oak cubes and bourban to secondary, I have heard one week with the oak is plenty, but should I soak these in the bourban or just throw them in?

3) If not adding bourban at last week with the oak, when should I add the bourban?

4) What should I expect for my FG with the Windsor and the S-05 (I don't know attenuation of either)?

Thanks in advance

 

[dcp27]

1) by my calculation, 12g of dry yeast is needed for the proper pitching rate, so I'd say you're close enough to just use the one.
2) 1 week is ok for oak chips, oak cubes take longer. Unless you plan on steaming them, you should soak them in bourbon anyway to sanitize them.
3) A lot of recipes add it at bottling time
4) I think both are around 75%, so around 1.017

 

[smmcdermott]

What do you think about the type of yeast, Windsor or S-05? Thanks.

 

[Headcase]

I have this batch in my secondary right now. It's been in there for 2 months now and will be bottled next week. I soaked my cubes for about a week and a half in 10 oz of Maker's Mark then just dumped all of it in after being in the secondary for two weeks. This is one batch that I've been very patient with. I hope it comes out well.
Good luck with your brew and let us know how it comes out!

 

[dcp27]

I say go with the original thought of windsor

 

[rwinzing]

My buddy made it with the windsor and it was fantastic.....be patient with it.

 

[smmcdermott]

I have this batch in my secondary right now. It's been in there for 2 months now and will be bottled next week. I soaked my cubes for about a week and a half in 10 oz of Maker's Mark then just dumped all of it in after being in the secondary for two weeks. This is one batch that I've been very patient with. I hope it comes out well.
Good luck with your brew and let us know how it comes out!

Have you tasted it at all. It will be in secondary for a month and a half and I feel like that might be too long for the oak, 4 weeks?

 

[smmcdermott]

Alright, I brewed it last night and everything went well. Pitched the rehydrated yeast and put it in the closet with a blowoff tube on it and left to go watch my friends hockey game. This morning it was already bubbling away, 12 hours. Looks good so far! thanks for the help.

 

[dhardeman]

I bottle the exact same kit in two weeks. I did a decent amount of research before hand, even speaking with someone at my local Northern Brewer store who had brewed this kit. With the oak cubes you want to give them more time. Approx 2 months. If you were using chips, weeks are more ample time. My process was I had it in the primary for a little over a week then racked to a secondary. At that time I just added the 16oz of Maker Mark and dumped the cubes in. As long as your cubes are sealed in the bag they come in you shouldnt have any santiation issues. I took a taste test last week and it was killer! Had a nice oak & burbon flavor and not to overbearing in my opinion. The worst part of this brew is the time it takes to wait

 

[smmcdermott]

wow, that is great to hear. I just made this last night and will probably do exactly what you said. I am an accountant so I have no life for the next two and a half months. Which is right about when this will be bottled

 

[smmcdermott]

I decided to go with the Windsor yeast. After 12 hrs it was fermenting and after 18 hours the blow-off was going B-A-N-A-N-A-S. It was the most vigorous fermentation I have ever seen. Boy am I glad i used a blow-off. There was krausen in my pitcher of sanitizer!!!

 

[smmcdermott]

Alright, so i left the cubes in secondary for about 1.5 months, as someone said that cubes take longer. Well I kegged this one a week ago and the oak flavor was very strong. I understand that with time, the strength of the oak flavor will die down, but how long does this take? Thanks!

 

[sjlammer]

this should mellow out in 2-3 weeks. even with a long secondary, beers tend to get better after conditioning for a couple weeks.

I believe you will be fine.

 

[dhardeman]

It will definitely mellow out with time. The batch I made has been in the bottle over a month now and it is perfect IMO. However since sharing with many friends I have noticed many people have different opinions on how strong the oak flavor is. Some say it is really oak'ed some love it.