Dragons Milk Bourbon Barrel Stout Clone

[Bullhawk]

I am making a clone of New Holland's Dragon Milk Bourbon Barrel Stout, I found the recipe on this site. I was looking for some advice on how much oak chips should I put in the fermenter. My LHBS recommended 4 oz., I'm thinking that might be to much based on what I have read about bourbon barrel stouts. I was thinking 2 oz. and add the bourbon I soaked them in and begin checking the taste after two weeks. Any thoughts?

 

[cyberbackpacker]

Dragon's Milk uses a blend of 2nd and 3rd use bourbon barrels (half a batch in a barrel that has only seen bourbon, and half a batch in a barrel that has seen bourbon and Dragon's Milk one time). They then age (at around 45F) for 90 days, and then blend together.

This is to say, go light on the bourbon-- what distinguishes Dragon's Milk IMO is that you get really great vanilla, chocolate-y, and oaky-tannic qualities with a balanced bourbon finish and a nice (but not overbearing) aroma of bourbon in the nose.

 

[Homercidal]

I haven't tried this one, but I do advise starting low on the oak and letting it age more if necessary. It's always easier to add oak than take it out.

I really like Dragon's Milk, for the reasons cyberpacker mentions. It's a more approachable Barrel Stout than many of them, and can be found nearly any day of the week in local stores.

They re-use the barrels to age their Beer Barrel Bourbon, then I think they use the barrel again for beer.