Imperial Stout-Burbon and Wood

[Chicalorado]

I'm going to attempt an Imperial Stout this weekend, with the plan to add bourbon and wood chips later on, from what I have read, during the bottling stage. I plan on letting it age until Christmas time. Anybody have any helpful hints who has done this before? I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks!

 

[Poindexter]

I did a stout and aged it on oak for about a week before racking off the chips once upon a time.

If you have tried commercial aged on oak beers and liked them, more power to you. I went back and tried some of the commerical offerings after and didn't care for them either.

If you can get Firestone-Walker in Denver try the double barreled ale. If you like it, go for it. Bourbon, on the other hand, this part I am interested to try.

 

[Arneba28]

The worst bourbon you can buy is the best for aging and flavoring. It will take a while for the bourbon to meld in with the beer. Basically double your normal beer aging. I toasted my oak to a nice deep deep brown, almost black. anytime that I have not done this (4 oaked batches done) the oaky flavor came out almost tasting like fresh wood, green taste. and not it wasnt a green beer taste.

 

[Poindexter]

I guess I'll have to try toasting the oak cubes, what I think would taste good and what I got were two different things entirely.

 

[Arneba28]

Thats what happened to me. I didnt toast mine but bought "medium" toasted ones and aged for 2 weeks, not a good taste. So next batch I toasted them to almost black and just left them in for 4 days, so much better of a oak taste, and suprisingly not a burnt taste.

 

[MikeRLynch]

The type of wood you use will greatly impact the flavor and the mouthfeel of your beer. American oak is known for it's bourbony flavor and robust vanilla (after aging). In fact, all bourbon is made in american oak barrels by law. Aging a beer in American oak will give it that bourbon flavor, without actually adding any bourbon to the beer. Some commercial wineries use American oak (mostly because it's cheaper) and you can taste those bourbon flavors in the finished wines.

French oak, however, is known in the winemaking world as the best, and in the beer making world, we're just catching on. It has a much softer, smoother mouthfeel, and will round out any sharp alcohol edges in the beer. The oak flavor is much more earthy, tastes less like whiskey, and tends to be generally more subtle.

Hungarian oak is a less used, but no less important wood. I don't know too much about it honestly, but I heard that it's even more mild than french, and serves to improve the body and mouthfeel of a beer (or wine) more than contribute oak. It does have a bit of a spicy, herbal flavor to it, but it would get lost in a bigger beer with lots of roast malt, I would think.

 

[Chicalorado]

The worst bourbon you can buy is the best for aging and flavoring.

Interesting, I figured better bourbon would work better, I was planning on using Makers. Is there a reason the worst bourbons work better?

And how do you go about toasting the wood?

 

[Dog House Brew]

I use cubes when aging. Use chips for aging less than a month. I use 3 oz of medium toast oak cubes that I soak in bourbon while in primary. I let my Imp Stout age on the oak for 6 weeks. I then use 1/2 liter of a medium grade bourbon at bottling. I have a pipe-line of this and is best after a 6 months to a year of aging. I love the brew. I use the same recipe for my Oaked Coffee Stout. The bourbon I use for mine is Four Roses. The OAk is a personal flavor. You will have to do a few batches and adjust for your taste.

 

[iddqd]

I'll borrow this thread, hope you don't mind.

Me and my dad have been thinking about making and IS with whiskey and wood for a while know, but I haven't found a good recipe. I'm thinking about this but 140 IBU seems a bit high. Maybe we should use less Magnum?

Another question: my dad bought these for a bbq a while back. Think we could use them for our beer? If so, how much?

 

[Chicalorado]

I would say 140 IBU is too high, especially if you're trying to stay true to the style. It all depends on what you want from it though. The RIS I brewed yesterday has a 58 IBU. The main reason I didn't want to go too crazy is I want the malt, vanilla, oak, and bourbon to be making the statements, and the hops to be complimentary. The recipe you linked to is also higher on the wood side, so maybe the higher IBU is to help offset that. Like I said, it all comes down to what you want.

 

[bmckee56]

I use French Oak Spirals for my wines. They impart a very nice smooth oak flavor to my wines. The manufacturer states that oak flavor is extracted in 6 weeks. Never tried it on beer, so it's a mystery.

A bit more pricey than chips, but it's higher grade oak and more surface area available. Also easier to remove from the liquid (one piece).

Salute!

 

[vcm1613]

I oaked an Imperial Stout about a month or so ago, its aging now. I soaked the heavy toasted chips in Goslings Rum for a month then added them to secondary for about 2 weeks. I had read various threads about the length of time to soak them. I wanted to get a little flavor but not a liquor taste in my stout. I racked after 2 weeks and bottled. Now 2 weeks later as I taste test for carbonation, I can really pick up on vanilla notes in the beer that have no other reason to be there. I have heard that soaking too long extracts tanins from the wood. I highly suggest the oak for secondary.

 

[rico567]

I've not done this with stout yet, but I did a "bourbon barrel" porter using the same methods with MW's Power Pack Porter kit. I secondaried for a month with 1 oz oak chips in some (probably 1/3 cup) Knob Creek. After bottle conditioning.....it was good, I have made the PPP before and I like it, but the whole oak/bourbon thing just wasn't that impressive. Sounds from this thread as if I need to do some more experimenting, because I love a good Cabernet or Merlot that's been in the wood.

 

[iddqd]

I would say 140 IBU is too high, especially if you're trying to stay true to the style. It all depends on what you want from it though. The RIS I brewed yesterday has a 58 IBU. The main reason I didn't want to go too crazy is I want the malt, vanilla, oak, and bourbon to be making the statements, and the hops to be complimentary. The recipe you linked to is also higher on the wood side, so maybe the higher IBU is to help offset that. Like I said, it all comes down to what you want.

That's what I thought. I had an oak aged Yeti from Great Divide a while back and it was a bit too bitter. Right now I'm thinking about either a Stone IRS clone or this recipe. Haven't decided yet but I'm sure both would be fine.