Bourbon Oak Ale w/Honey or Vanilla?

[theguy01205]

Hey guys, I have my first batch in primary and as soon as i get to the bottling stage I would like to start another batch. Ive been looking for a recipe for an ale with bourbon and honey or vanilla and perhaps some oak chips? Any idea where to get a recipe or suggestions on creating one?

 

[biochemedic]

That's a pretty broad brush stroke of an idea, but not undoable...

Off hand, I'd start with something rather hearty and bold flavored, like a robust porter, scotch ale, barleywine or similar.

Adding honey will thin out the body, so you might consider mashing high if doing all grain, or adding an extra half pound of crystal malt if just steeping specialty grains with extract. Also, I'd recommend adding the honey late in the primary as fermentation is starting to slow down...this will help preserve some of the honey aromatics, but it would still also be best to use a stronger flavored honey (a darker wildflower, orange blossom, or even a small amount of buckwheat honey) if you really want a strong honey flavor/aroma.

You can get plenty of bourbon and oak flavor by taking your favorite bourbon and soaking some oak chips in it for a few weeks while you're brewing/primary fermenting. I find that about an ounce of bourbon soaked chips dropped in the beer (I use a muslin sack to contain the chips and/or spices) for about a week after primary finishes is a good starting place. If you still want a stronger flavor, you can either leave the chips in longer, or incrementally add some of the bourbon that the oak soaked in (be careful with this...a little goes a long way!) In terms of vanilla, 1-2 beans cut and scraped and added in with the oak chips should be good. When it comes to adding flavors, YMMV, so it's best to start smaller and add more, because you can't take it out afterwards....

Good luck!

 

[theguy01205]

Seems how I am completely new to home brewing would it be easier to use a kit, the BB Imperial Nut Brown Ale for example? Then once the primary is winding down transfer to my glass carboy secondary adding in the dark honey and bourbon soaked oak chips. Or can I just add the honey and oak chips into my primary after a week or so?

 

[biochemedic]

Yes, you can do all your additions in primary...I actually prefer to keep all my sugar additions there for sure. I wait until fermentation is starting to slow down, then add the additional honey/molasses/whatever. It helps to dissolve it in a little water...just warm water for the honey especially, so you don't loose as many aromatics (definitely no need to boil it!). I would also add the oak chips to the primary, but after things have completely finished fermenting.

Not to shift topics too much, but take some time and look into the concept of using primary only...generally speaking, there's no need to transfer to secondary...I let things finish and clear right in the primary and package from there. Dry hops, and all other additions go right in primary after fermentation is done...

 

[theguy01205]

So when only using the primary after fermentation is done and I have added the bourbon soaked oak chips and honey what is a good amount of time to allow it to sit with the oak chips in there, 1-2 weeks?