Irish Car Bomb Stout

[ChiefHophead]

So, my girlfriend had a very similar idea a couple weeks ago after having some Irish coffee. We're making an Irish Coffee Stout. I wish I had seen this thread before we brewed, lots of good ideas.

Over the weekend we made NB's Sweet Stout. The plan is to add Jameson, vanilla, and a little cold-pressed coffee to the secondary. I discovered hints of Cinnamon and Nutmeg as a result of lingering flavors in the fermenter from a previous brew. Hopefully their presence decreases over time, adding a subtle "hint of cinnamon on top of the cream" like nice restaurants do with Irish coffee.

I'm banking on this for my St. Patrick's Day party. Maybe I will put a little green food coloring in a few select bottles and mix them in. Whoever gets a lucky beer with the green head will receive a beating with a sheleigh.

 

[forces]

I'll know about mine in a week or so. Right now, it's sitting in the secondary with the cocoa, vanilla bean, and Jameson mixture, (oh and a slight amount of oak chips hopefully to enhance the Jameson flavor).

I'm glad someone brought the oak chips back up. someone mentioned it early on, and then it disappeared. I haven't got a recipe down yet, but I deffinetly plan on soaking the oak chips in Jamesons for a week or so before they go into the secondary, then add a little more jamesons (1.5-2 cups) at bottling.

 

[ErikHoppy]

I'm going to attempt this as my first brew ever!

Here's what I've come up with...

6# English Pale
1# Chocolate Malt
1# Flaked Oats
1# Crystal 120L
.5# Roasted Barley

1oz Cascade (@60min)

This stout yields a ABV of about 5.3 before the Jameson and an IBU of just under 20. Hoping it turns out somewhat like Guinness Draught.

While this is in primary, I will quarter whole vanilla beans and soak them in 1 cup of Jameson. I hope the vanilla will dissolve into the whiskey and yield a natural vanilla flavor. This will be added to the brew and bottled after 3-4 weeks.

Am I missing anything? Should I find an Irish Stout extract kit for my first brew instead?

 

[Nukesquad]

for those who have attempted this, post some pics, let's see how it turned out. This idea sounds amazing!

 

[electric_beer]

I'm going to attempt this as my first brew ever! Am I missing anything? Should I find an Irish Stout extract kit for my first brew instead?

Have you built your mash tun and have a big enough brew kettle?

 

[ErikHoppy]

Have you built your mash tun and have a big enough brew kettle?

Decided to get an extract rather than build a mash tun. I'll be steeping the rest of the grains for 30 minutes, then adding the extract and boiling for 60 minutes.

Sound correct?!

 

[electric_beer]

Sounds good dude! PM's are a great way to get fairly good control on the whole process.

Welcome to a hobby I also like to refer to as "Time Suck." It'll suck all your time away because you'll be having so much fun!

 

[CarsonCE]

Decided to get an extract rather than build a mash tun. I'll be steeping the rest of the grains for 30 minutes, then adding the extract and boiling for 60 minutes.

Sound correct?!

You won't need 6# of English Pale if you are using extract. 1# plus the other grains should cover it. Do you know how much extract you are planning to use?

I'm proud of you for being so courageous for your first brew, but if it doesn't turn out, don't be discouraged. This is definitely an experiment. Good Luck!

 

[ErikHoppy]

You won't need 6# of English Pale if you are using extract. 1# plus the other grains should cover it. Do you know how much extract you are planning to use?

I'm proud of you for being so courageous for your first brew, but if it doesn't turn out, don't be discouraged. This is definitely an experiment. Good Luck!

I actually ditched the English Pale and got 6# of pale LME. Should this be okay?

 

[ErikHoppy]

Final recipe changed a bit based on what the local homebrew store had available.

6# Light/Pale LME
1# Choco Malt (Smells divine!)
1# Crystal 60
8oz Flaked Oats
8oz Roasted Barley

1oz Fuggles pellets @60min.

Nottingham Yeast

ABV: 6.0 (plus the Jameson, oh boy!)
IBU: 15.6 (Aimed for high teens to match Guinness Draught)

Should be sweet: I'm excited to brew it this weekend!

 

[CarsonCE]

Final recipe changed a bit based on what the local homebrew store had available.

6# Light/Pale LME
1# Choco Malt (Smells divine!)
1# Crystal 60
8oz Flaked Oats
8oz Roasted Barley

1oz Fuggles pellets @60min.

Nottingham Yeast

ABV: 6.0 (plus the Jameson, oh boy!)
IBU: 15.6 (Aimed for high teens to match Guinness Draught)

Should be sweet: I'm excited to brew it this weekend!

Looks pretty good. Good luck and be sure to let us know how it turns out!

 

[PSmurf78]

for those who have attempted this, post some pics, let's see how it turned out. This idea sounds amazing!

I plan to bottle it up this weekend. The carboy has been hanging out in the garage for a couple weeks, and it's looking like the yeast have settled out nicely.

 

[midfielder5]

I haven't seen a discussion regarding yeast for this particular brew.

For stouts- in general- the "obvious" choice is probably the Irish Ale yeast (WLP 004).

I don't have that on hand, and might try S-04. heard good things about it on HBT for stouts. I have only used it for english pale ales.

Anyone?

 

[PSmurf78]

I used S-04 in my batch. Pitched a couple of packets and fermentation took off like a rocket. pretty much was done in 3-4 days, though I left it on longer.

 

[feedbag]

What about using this??

 

[shadowmage36]

What about using this??

Hmmm....you may be on to something there, feedbag...SWMBO and I had been thinking of going with a kahlua addition to mimic the bailey's, but that just might work better! We're already adding some Jameson's infused with vanilla, a bit of oak, and other flavors, but this just might eliminate the need to do that.

 

[feedbag]

Hmmm....you may be on to something there, feedbag...SWMBO and I had been thinking of going with a kahlua addition to mimic the bailey's, but that just might work better! We're already adding some Jameson's infused with vanilla, a bit of oak, and other flavors, but this just might eliminate the need to do that.

Yeah, they have all kinds of those extracts at midwest, someone could do a Amaretto Wheat, Grand Marnier Belgian Wit, Jack Daniel's Porter, or Drambuie Cream Ale. People could get real creative, but I don't know how good they actually taste.

 

[BA_from_GA]

I haven't seen a discussion regarding yeast for this particular brew.

For stouts- in general- the "obvious" choice is probably the Irish Ale yeast (WLP 004).

I don't have that on hand, and might try S-04. heard good things about it on HBT for stouts. I have only used it for english pale ales.

Anyone?

got a stout bottled right now that i used S-04. Will be ready to drink in about 3 more weeks. Also used it in a vanilla bourbon porter that turned out fastastic!

back on topic....

For this brew i'd maybe add the lactose in the boil, then the other stuff (vanilla beans, whiskey, etc) in secondary rather than bottling, just so i could get a sense of the flavor impact. eitherway, this sounds like a fantastic brew! May have to try my hand at it soon... SWMBO loves car bombs.

 

[PSmurf78]

Pictures up...

This is from bottling today. Vanilla is there a bit, chocolate is obvious. Slightly sweet and very drinkable. I don't really notice the oak nor the Jameson though. Maybe that'll come out once it's carbed and has had a chance to sit.

 

[JMG680]

Looks great, keep us updated, Thanks.

 

[ElmStreet]

the suspense is killing me.

 

[TIYX]

so where kind of talking about a fortified beer here? One thing you might want to try is making a imperial milk stout with around a ABV 10% when fermenting half way thru lower the temp of the beer to a lager range and add lager yeast to the batch this helps with the creamy flavor then add a whisky syrup when done. this syrup is sold at Midwest supplies for there non-distilled liqueur kits all they are is a kit with turbo yeast and a little bottle of flavoring to make it taste like whisky or rum or what ever.

 

[PSmurf78]

so where kind of talking about a fortified beer here? One thing you might want to try is making a imperial milk stout with around a ABV 10% when fermenting half way thru lower the temp of the beer to a lager range and add lager yeast to the batch this helps with the creamy flavor then add a whisky syrup when done. this syrup is sold at Midwest supplies for there non-distilled liqueur kits all they are is a kit with turbo yeast and a little bottle of flavoring to make it taste like whisky or rum or what ever.

My intent (and I think others also) was to try to get the flavors that you get with an irish car bomb without the high alcohol and mixing of drinks.

I just wanted some of the chocolate/cream/Jameson in a easy drinking stout. ABV was the least of my concern. I'd be surprised if mine surpassed 7%. From my initial tasting, I'm guessing it is in the upper 5, low 6% range. This allows the flavors to come out more without so much of the alcohol hotness. I'm also hoping that it'll be in good shape for St Patrick's day

 

[duffman2]

My intent (and I think others also) was to try to get the flavors that you get with an irish car bomb without the high alcohol and mixing of drinks.

I just wanted some of the chocolate/cream/Jameson in a easy drinking stout. ABV was the least of my concern. I'd be surprised if mine surpassed 7%. From my initial tasting, I'm guessing it is in the upper 5, low 6% range. This allows the flavors to come out more without so much of the alcohol hotness. I'm also hoping that it'll be in good shape for St Patrick's day

So, how was the initial tasting???

Does this beer have hollywood supermodel potential or is it more of a last second prom date consolation prize?

 

[PSmurf78]

So, how was the initial tasting???

Does this beer have hollywood supermodel potential or is it more of a last second prom date consolation prize?

Well, right now, the only test I've got is uncarbed and around 50-55 degrees. I'll tell you though, that pint picture I held up disappeared quickly though. Right now, I'd rank it right in around a 7-7.5. It might have too much sweetness for some, so I took a point off for that. It's not like Southern Tier's Creme Brulee stout, but you can tell it's a milk stout.

It's been in the bottle for a little over a week now. I'll probably try cracking open one at the end of the week to see how it's coming along.

 

[chemnitz]

Well, I've now had a chance to sample my Irish Car Bomb Stout (recipe below). It's good, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. The base stout (without lactose, etc.) is smooth and easy-drinking with a hint of coffee. However, the Irish Car Bomb Stout (with all the additions) is not a dramatic change over the base stout. It is a wee bit sweeter with some dark chocolate in the aftertaste (and maybe just a bit of a tanginess). The whiskey flavor is just at threshold. It's a pleasant sweet stout, but it doesn't quite capture the Car Bomb flavor. For testing purposes, I made an Irish Car Bomb using the base stout and compared it to my own version, and it wasn't sweet or creamy enough.

When I do it again, I would increase the lactose and maybe the crystal malt, too. I may also dial down the chocolate a tad. If I were a bigger whiskey drinker, I may up that some as well.

I'm going to brew this one up tomorrow. Here's my final recipe:

7.5 lb. 2-row
1 lb. crystal 60
.75 lb. black roasted barley 500L
.25 lb. chocolate malt
2 oz. Williamette (4.8%) @ 60 minutes

Yeast: Nottingham

Mash at 150 degrees.

At bottling time, I'll bottle half of the batch as-is. I'll add a potion to the other 2.5 gallons, consisting of:

1 to 2 cups whiskey (still need to do an experiment)
4 oz. de-oiled chocolate pieces
1/2 oz. vanilla extract
1/2 lb. lactose

I'll post my tasting notes (of both the plain and the souped-up versions) as soon as it is ready!

 

[ajwaka]

This was very insightful... Anyone else have any results they'd like to share with us?

Chemnitz - I'm looking to brew this for the guy who got me my kegs for keggles. Any tips you'd add for someone like me who's not familiar w/ an actual irish car bomb? (Besides - drink up

 

[chemnitz]

I don't have too many tips to give out, since my experiment was okay at best. As you see in the post above, I was disappointed with the results, and they did not improve with age.

So, you can try some of my advice above. Basically, if I made it again, I would want more creamy and sweet and less coffee and chocolate.

 

[MattCA]

HA I was totally thinking about this today so you read my mind. I was thinking about brewing this next. People say it taste like chocolate milk so just add whiskey.

 

[Doctor]

I'm fascinated by this thread. If we were looking to increase the whiskey taste without increasing the ABV, couldn't we take more Jameson, boil off some of the alcohol and pitch more whiskey in the fermenter to get a stronger Jameson flavor?

I don't know how to handle the need to make it creamier, would more lactose do it?