Bourbon barrel aged stout techniques

[mitsitsad]

I have some really nice stout that I brewed back in early May. I netted about 8 gallons and have already kegged 5 of it. I wanted to take the remaining bit and add some oak spiral and whiskey. I've researched this a bit and know not to use an entire spiral but I can't find exactly how much to use as well as how much bourbon to use. Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

 

[Cyclman]

I would do one whole spiral, soak it in just enough bourbon to keep it submerged, after a week soaking, dump it all in.

I am doing a bourbon oak RIS right now.

 

[Brews]

I just transferred my RIS to the carboy for aging on one full spiral that I had soaking in Maker's Mark for 3 months. I plan on leaving it in there for about 2-3 months. I just put the spiral in and left the bourbon in the jar in case I need to add some later. It's been in there for two weeks and it's about time to sample a shot.
I'm really not sure how long it should stay though.

 

[Natdavis777]

I used oak cubes soaked in a bowl with bourbon for at least 3 months. I rotate it at room temp and in the fridge to get the wood to expand and contract, soaking up bourbon. Not sure if it really works, but I've yielded good results thus far in my stouts


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[Brews]

I used oak cubes soaked in a bowl with bourbon for at least 3 months. I rotate it at room temp and in the fridge to get the wood to expand and contract, soaking up bourbon. Not sure if it really works, but I've yielded good results thus far in my stouts


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How long do you age it on the oak?

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[dobe12]

I've only used chips and can say if you go that route, they work FAST! Like much faster than I wanted. I oak aged a russian imperial stout on 1oz of oak chips, with about a cup of bourbon, and 2 vanilla beans for only a week and it was powerful. The beer was big, so it blended well after about 8-10 months of aging (not on the oak, but afterwards).

I have heard/read that cubes work a bit slower and a spiral even slower than that. I plan on trying one of these other options next time I brew that beer... which will be soon.

 

[Natdavis777]

How long do you age it on the oak?

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I've done as little as two weeks up to 6 weeks. Two weeks gave me the kind of bourbon flavor that I prefer. Enough to give you the taste and presence of bourbon. 6 weeks was much more pronounced.

If you are looking for big bourbon flavor, let it ride at least a month



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[Brews]

Thanks dobe12, I planned on pulling out a shots worth about every two weeks. When I think it's gone far enough, I'll let it sit for about another week and transfer it to bottle condition for about four months minimum.

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