Bourbon Barrel Flavor Without The Barrel

[tayclem]

I've got my citrus/mint Weiss conditioning, and I'm getting ideas around for my next batch: Bourbon Barrel-Aged IPA

Problem: I don't have ready or easy access to used barrels.

Possible solutions: Just adding a shot or two of the bourbon I have (Cleveland brand: very strong, heavy smoke flavor) to the wort, OR the grocer here in town has grilling supplies in stock already. Maybe I could pick up some wood chips, toast them in the oven (or set those suckers on fire then douse them to get an actual char), then add them in secondary.

I'm leery of just adding shots to my wort; mainly the "beer before your liquor" adage and if the high alcohol content will affect yeast growth.

What do you guys think?

 

[unionrdr]

Try finding Oak chips at Cleveland Brew Supply,or JW Dover over in Westlake. I soak a couple ounces of oak chips in a few ounces of bourbon in a plastic,airtight container in the fridge when the yeast gets pitched on the beer. After Fg & the beer settles out clear or slightly misty,I put a wider mouth radiator funnel in the top of my better bottle,line it with a sanitized muslin hop sack,& pour the bourbon/wood flavors through it into secondary. You might well need a couple hop sacks for 4ozs of wood,just to get it in past the neck after dunping the chips in them & tying off. I do it for about 8 days.

 

[solbes]

A lot of brewing supply shops have oak cubes or oak spirals that have already been toasted to various levels of char. I would pick up 3 oz of American or French oak cubes (I buy the Bordeaux blend at Midwest Supplies, $5). Soak 2 oz of cubes with your bourbon for a couple of weeks (3-6 oz of bourbon would be my guess). Then pitch the bourbon and 2 oz of cubes into secondary. Taste at 2 weeks, and weekly thereafter until you get the flavor you want. In an RIS or something that is aged, you want to overoak just a bit so that it fades to perfection (I used 2 oz oak for 7 weeks contact time). In an IPA, you will likely not age it so you want to catch the oak level just right.

Oak chips work too, but they can overoak in a manner of days if you are not careful about checking it due to the larger surface area.

EDIT: I don't think 3-6 oz of bourbon will do much harm to your yeasties, but I would add it to secondary anyway after fermentation is over. You are likely adding a couple of tenths of a percent to the ABV. Also the liquor should not harm your system like taking shots after drinking beer, it's 2 or 3 shots spread out over 50 beers, so pretty diluted.

 

[planetscott]

If you use the oak chips/cubes/spirals, be sure to sanitize them. Do this by steaming them for about 15 minutes. I've tasted plenty of beers aged this way that were infected. Just soaking in the bourbon is not enough.

 

[Brewscadious]

Over the Thanksgiving holidays 2013 I began preparing for a chocolate oak age Yeti clone recipe I found on HBT. I normally brew 15 gal batches,2 x 5 gal (net) from first run from my 20 gal Boiler maker, with a bonus 5 gal (net) smaller beer from 2nd runnings. For my oak additions I used oak indigenous to my area. I simply cut a scaffold branch from a white oak tree. I cut the branch into several logs to a length a couple inches shorter than a one gallon zip lock bag. I then split the logs into roughly square ribs, some I left rough, others I smoothed with a hand held plane and sand paper (I only smoothed them to prevent them from punctureing the zip lock bags). I placed all of the ribs on a baking sheet and placed them in the oven 400 deg F. Leave in oven several hours until the desired degree of toast is obtained. I put 6 (about 6oz) of the smoothed ribs in a one gallon zip lock bag and covered with Jim Beam and allowed to soak for 6 weeks, adding more bourbon as required to keep saturated. After racking into the secondary I put the bourbon soaked oak directly into the carboy. The non bourbon soaked ribs I placed in the oven and toasted again to sanitize before placing in carboy. I left the stout on oak for 14 days and then bottled. At bottling the oak flavor was unpleasantly assertive and the bourbon had a nice presence. After aging for only 4 weeks this is the most Awsome beer I've ever made. The oak is discernable but not overpowering and the bourbon is very subtle (was actually hoping for more bourbon).

Sent from my Desire HD using Home Brew mobile app

 

[dobe12]

Oak chips soaked in bourbon for a few days. Maybe an ounce or two of chips in a mason jar. Enough bourbon to cover the chips. Let it sit for a few days then add to secondary. After a week, start tasting until it gets to where you like it.

I just finished the last bottle of a Russian Imperial Stout I brewed in December of 2012. I added 2oz of medium toast French oak chips, 1 cup of bourbon, and 2 vanilla beans (split, scrapped, chopped). It took a good 6-8 months for those flavors to meld together, but when they did it was fantastic! I may have actually shed a single tear as I finished the last bottle last night. My only regret is I didn't brew another batch sooner.

EDIT: The amounts I listed was for 1/2 batch (2.5 gallons). The bourbon and oak are both strong, but blend nicely with the base beer. For a DIPA, I'd probably cut back a bit on those amounts.

 

[geckholm]

I've got my citrus/mint Weiss conditioning, and I'm getting ideas around for my next batch: Bourbon Barrel-Aged IPA

Problem: I don't have ready or easy access to used barrels.

Possible solutions: Just adding a shot or two of the bourbon I have (Cleveland brand: very strong, heavy smoke flavor) to the wort, OR the grocer here in town has grilling supplies in stock already. Maybe I could pick up some wood chips, toast them in the oven (or set those suckers on fire then douse them to get an actual char), then add them in secondary.

I'm leery of just adding shots to my wort; mainly the "beer before your liquor" adage and if the high alcohol content will affect yeast growth.

What do you guys think?

I added Powers Irish Whiskey in the secondary, turned out excellent. Just added to taste, ended up adding 12oz to 5 gals.

 

[unionrdr]

If you use the oak chips/cubes/spirals, be sure to sanitize them. Do this by steaming them for about 15 minutes. I've tasted plenty of beers aged this way that were infected. Just soaking in the bourbon is not enough.

I've never steamed or otherwise sanitized the oak before,& never got infected. You could've gotten the infection from something else. It can also get infected from being in primary/secondary too long,in my experiences. I also soak'em in an airtight container in the fridge,not just on the counter in a gass something or other covered with plastic. that's not enough safeguards for the time it takes to soak them properly.

 

[planetscott]

I've never steamed or otherwise sanitized the oak before,& never got infected. You could've gotten the infection from something else. It can also get infected from being in primary/secondary too long,in my experiences. I also soak'em in an airtight container in the fridge,not just on the counter in a gass something or other covered with plastic. that's not enough safeguards for the time it takes to soak them properly.

You may be right.....But, you may be wrong. An additional 15 minutes on a beer like this is nothing but peace of mind that there is one less way to acquire an infection. Wood is porous and has many crevices for bad things to hide, that even bourbon may not kill.

I know what I tasted was infected beer. Was it the wood or some other source? Don't know, but the safe route is to steam the wood and know for certain that is not the source.

If 15 minutes is too much trouble, then brewing is the wrong hobby.

 

[adiochiro3]

Wood is porous and has many crevices for bad things to hide, that even bourbon may not kill.

This raises in my mind an interesting question: why aren't infections a given with oak barrels? They've been used for centuries. I know they are often toasted, but wood is too porous for the flames to sanitize the barrel wood all the way through, I would think. Are barrels always toasted? Is it the anaerobic environment that inhibits bacterial growth? Then how do sours do their thing?

This seems mysterious to me.

 

[tayclem]

I'm still working with just the keg fermenter that came with the Mr. beer kit I got for Christmas (Max batch: 2.5 gal.). i just haven't had time or funds to get carboys would 3-6 oz of Bourbon for soaking the chips/cubes/etc. be a bit much since I'll add both liquor and wood to secondary?

I really appreciate all the help and advice, guys.

EDIT: I checked my local homebrew store's website to see if they sold oak cubes. they do not. however, they sell something called "oak essence flavoring." I assume this is something like liquid smoke? and that this is something to be added either directly to the wort or at bottling?

 

[unionrdr]

Never saw the essence before. You could try it & see how it does. I know JW Dover over in Westlake has oak in different forms. Try there as well.

 

[solbes]

If in a Mr Beer Kit, 2.5 gallons, I'd shoot for adding 2-3 oz bourbon to 1 oz of wood chips, and start tasting after 5 or 6 days for oakiness. The chips will be better adding to the Mr Beer primary as they are quicker.

If all you can find is the oak essence, I guess I'd do some online research to see if others have tried it. Cheers!

 

[tayclem]

Both the oak essence and oak chips (i found at another homebrew site) are about the same price: 3-4 dollars.

I'm thinking about doing a half-and-half comparison:

bottling half of the batch after fermentation is done and adding the oak essence

then adding the oak chips to what is left, letting it sit for a few days, then bottle.

This way, I can see what I like better, and what the results are. Worst case scenario, I'm out ten bucks.

I've also been looking into different styles I can use with the oak essence/chips. I've done stouts before, and I think that would work too.

Opinions? Tips? I'm still relatively new to brewing, and am open to any and all advice. I've learned that my radical approach to brewing doesn't always work.

 

[unionrdr]

You can add oak/bourbon to just about any beer. Pale ales to ambers to browns & porter/stout which are the most tradditional.

 

[HopSong]

Possibly, when aging wine in oak barrels, the treatment with sulphur candles or other sulfite takes care of the bad buggers???

 

[helibrewer]

Both the oak essence and oak chips (i found at another homebrew site) are about the same price: 3-4 dollars.

I'm thinking about doing a half-and-half comparison:

bottling half of the batch after fermentation is done and adding the oak essence

then adding the oak chips to what is left, letting it sit for a few days, then bottle.

This way, I can see what I like better, and what the results are. Worst case scenario, I'm out ten bucks.

I've also been looking into different styles I can use with the oak essence/chips. I've done stouts before, and I think that would work too.

Opinions? Tips? I'm still relatively new to brewing, and am open to any and all advice. I've learned that my radical approach to brewing doesn't always work.

I prefer oak cubes, about 1.5-2 oz per 5 gallons. I use med. toast French. My favorite style to whiskey-oak is Old Ale (BJCP 19A). I soak the cubes for 2 weeks in whiskey prior to adding to secondary. I plan on buying a 3 gallon barrel soon from a local distiller and using that for my next batch.

 

[unionrdr]

I think American white oak gives more oak flavor then the medium toast French oak.

 

[tayclem]

There's a homebrew store I found up in Taylor, MI that has American, French and Hungarian oak. I think I'll go with the American this time since it wouldn't be too big an investment. (The Hungarian is almost $10 for just a few ounces )

Since I've posted this, I'm going back and forth between doing an IPA (first time brewing that style) an an Irish Stout (which I've done before with vanilla beans and cinnamon). When I get my tax refund, I might just say "to hell with it," buy a couple carboys, and do both.

 

[unionrdr]

Better idea to get more fermenters. I have my Cooper's Microbrew fermenter,a 6 gallon BB & a new Midwest 7.9G bucket with lid seal & airlock grommet. So I can do as many as three 5G batches at once & still have the bottling bucket open.

 

[planetscott]

This raises in my mind an interesting question: why aren't infections a given with oak barrels? They've been used for centuries. I know they are often toasted, but wood is too porous for the flames to sanitize the barrel wood all the way through, I would think. Are barrels always toasted? Is it the anaerobic environment that inhibits bacterial growth? Then how do sours do their thing?

This seems mysterious to me.

They are a given.....Ever have a Flanders Red or Oud Bruin?

The barrels are treated prior to racking the beer for aging. Even then, some of those will develop infections. Most of the time they don't.

I can't imagine after going through all the steps to make beer, an additional 15 minutes to sanitize the oak would be too much trouble. It's peace of mind.