bourbon barral aged imperial stout recipe input

[IrishBrewer74]

Ok, So I bought a used 5 gallon bourbon barrel and plan to brew this recipe for a big imperial stout that I plan to age for 9 months to a year in the barrel. my target was to be close to 12%abv and have a nice chewy stout. I'm shooting for a 6 gallon batch so I have enough to completely fill the barrel. I know the color is dark, but I'm not too concerned about that.

Thoughts?

Barrel aged imperial stout
Style: Imperial Stout OG: 1.120
Type: All Grain FG: 1.030
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 11.76 %
Calories: 390.07 IBU's: 53.29
Efficiency: 70.00 % Boil Size: 9.02 Gals
Color: 61.5 SRM Batch Size: 6.00 Gals
Preboil OG: 1.086 Boil Time: 90 minutes


Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
17.00 lbs 55.74 % Rahr 2-Row 60 mins 1.035
7.00 lbs 22.95 % Briess 2-Row Caramel 60L 60 mins 1.034
2.00 lbs 6.56 % Oats, Flaked 60 mins 1.037
1.00 lbs 3.28 % Weyermann Carafa III 60 mins 1.036
1.00 lbs 3.28 % Fawcett Pale Chocolate 60 mins 1.030
8.00 ozs 1.64 % Roasted Barley 60 mins 1.025
2.00 lbs 6.56 % Light Dry Extract 60 mins 1.044

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
3.00 ozs 42.42 Cluster 60 mins 6.80
1.00 ozs 10.87 Cluster 30 mins 6.80

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
2 dry pkgs Safale S-04 Fermentis S-04
2 liter starter

Additions
Amount Name Time Stage
1.00 each Whirlfloc Tablet 15 mins Boil


Mash Steps:
Infusion 60 [email protected]°F
Add 35.62 qts water @ 171.9°F
Batch Sparge
Sparge 17.28 qts water @ 170.00 °F

 

[wonderbread23]

- 22% C60 crystal malt would be insipid. Try 5%.
- Between the amount of crystal and relatively high mash temp, it'll be tough to get to 1.030 from 1.120. I'd lower the mash temp, dramatically lower the crystal, and consider including some simple sugars to get that low.
- 9-12 months in a first (beer) use bourbon barrel is likely too much. Taste it after a week and see where it is in terms of the flavor you want.
- Have you used Cluster hops before? I'm not a huge fan. I'd go for a single dose of high alpha hops at 90 min (like warrior) and bitter to 80-100 IBU. With that much malt and that much age, it'll be tough to over-bitter a beer like this.
- I'd bump the roasted malts to something close to 10%.

 

[IrishBrewer74]

Thanks... A actually ditched the crystal all together and went Munich malt instead. I've used cluster before in a few stouts and am ok with them.

Good point about first use barrel... I'll taste along the way.

 

[ddrrseio]

replace some of the base malt (1-3lb?) with flaked oats or barley. the beta glucans will contribute to the mouthfeel you are seeking.

the roast character from a dehusked carafa and pale chocolate will be pretty mild. that might be ok if it's what you want.

the crystal is out of control. i'd also look to use a bit of very dark crystal. i prefer the english 150L stuff to the special B. more molasses and less raisin flavor.

 

[IrishBrewer74]

I've already got 2 pounds of flakes oats. I've used the chocolate and carafe in a chocolate stout where I used nibs. I know they are a bit lighter in taste so I added a pound of roasted barley instead of half pound. I brewed this on Saturday. It went well but I didn't have as much DME as I thought. Started at 1.102 and will hit about 10% if it gets to 1.030. It may be a bit on the sweet side but I had read that works well if you plan to barrel age. I'll check in as I progress along.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[ddrrseio]

ok, i missed that before. i wouldn't eliminate all of the crystal, either. you'd be surprised how subtle and well-integrated 1.5-2.5lb of crystal will be in an RIS.

a lot of the best barrel aged examples are fairly sweet, so i am in line with you on that thinking.