Northern Brewer Bourbon Barrel Porter

[mcangeli]

The OP suggested doing 20oz of bourbon instead of the 16 called for... I'd go for it.

May have to try this as one of my new favorites is a Bourbon Barrel Ale from Lexington Brewing...

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

I just removed the oak cubes from the bourbon mixture. Reason? I took some deep whiffs of the bourbon mixture and just did not like the strong charred oak flavor (I'm not a bourbon guy).

I prefer vanilla and bourbon notes much more than oak.

You state your not a bourbon guy. Then back that claim up by saying you prefer bourbon notes.

Bourbon is a spirit made from at least 51% corn and aged in charred oak barrels. I would suggest doing a little bit of research on your spirits before tackling a kit like this. Hope it turns out good!!

 

[TJinWV]

The OP suggested doing 20oz of bourbon instead of the 16 called for... I'd go for it.

May have to try this as one of my new favorites is a Bourbon Barrel Ale from Lexington Brewing...

A guy in my local club told me his bourbon beers were always overpowered by the bourbon, and recommended using less. I figured I'd stick with the kit instructions for the first time, since I had recommendations to go both ways. Live and learn, and make better beer next time!

The Lexington Bourbon Barrel Ale is what turned me on to it, too. I'd say at this point it is my favorite commercial brew.

 

[glenn514]

I brewed up this extract kit from Northern on 11 August 2011. I took two cases of it down to Texas in December 2011 for the baptism of my first grandson. I brought back a case of it, and stored it in my cellar. My future son-in-law and I had one on Christmas Day 2012...over a year later...and it was OUTSTANDING! I still have about a half-dozen bottles left, which I will enjoy privately, thank you very much!

And I discovered that drinking this beer at a cool room temperature really brings out all the subtle flavors of the grains, hops and bourbon. I don't even bother to put this one in the frig!

glenn514

 

[djbradle]

Beer to me is best at 55 to start and then to let it warm . . . no complex flavors hidden at those temps. . . . then again all the beers I drink are in that category of being complex with layers upon layers of flavor.

I have one more bottle of the Jan. '12 batch. My last taste was about a month ago. I wouldn't age mine any longer as it's perfect. I don't see how three years would serve any purpose other than a loss of some complexity and zero bittering balance.

 

[djbradle]

You state your not a bourbon guy. Then back that claim up by saying you prefer bourbon notes.

Bourbon is a spirit made from at least 51% corn and aged in charred oak barrels. I would suggest doing a little bit of research on your spirits before tackling a kit like this. Hope it turns out good!!

Turned out awesome actually. I've never had bourbon before taking the taste of the Old Crow I used. There certainly was not even the slightest harshness and charred flavor in that sample. It was a preliminary flavor in the batch that soon mellowed out greatly even to be almost unnoticed. Possibly some greener elements as well that I can't remember too much. I guess bourbon notes suite my palate better as you state.

When it comes to spirits I like a good scotch. I can't remember ever getting any charred oak notes from Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, or Johnny Walker. I'm not a hard liqueur guy and never did research so I can't comment much.

This kit was actually my second ever batch. The first was a NB number 8. Both turned out great although the number 8 had some heavy weight fusels. Since then I've learned quite a bit and now do all grain custom recipes.

 

[c2mcclel]

I realize this is an old thread, but I brewed this on Friday evening using the dry yeast(Danstar) and started fermenting like crazy(67 degrees in my chest freezer) when I woke up in the morning. Now on Sunday evening, airlock activity has ended(or barely active). I know I need to take gravity readings, but is it possible that active fermentation is finished already or could it be stuck? I don't want to take readings this early, but I am in panic mode because I usually have airlock activity for at least 3-4 days. I did not rehydrate....

 

[MikeInMKE]

Someone else is sure to ask: When you said it fermented in your chest freezer at 67 degrees, was that the ambient temperature inside the chest freezer, or the temperature of the wort that the yeast were fermenting?

Wort temperatures can get up to 10 degrees higher than ambient, so your wort (and the yeast in it) could have been as high as 77 degrees F, which is a bit outside the recommended range for that yeast: 64 to 70 degrees F. And if that was the case, the yeast may have finished, or nearly so, fermenting your wort.

 

[c2mcclel]

Ahh that makes sense. Ambient temperature was 67 degrees inside the chest freezer, not inside the fermenter. Should I always set the temperature 6-10 degrees below suggested yeast temp the first few days? I hope I don't get too many off flavors from it getting too high. Thanks for the information.

 

[MikeInMKE]

Given that you are already controlling the temperature inside your chest freezer, I'm going to assume you have built some means of controlling the temperature.

Going on that assumption, if you tape the temperature sensor to the side of whatever you're fermenting in, and then tape a wad of insulating material over that (such as bubble wrap), your temperature controller will be operating based on the temperature of your wort.

 

[c2mcclel]

Thanks for the information. I guess I should have asked about this BEFORE brewing a few batches, but makes total sense. That's probably why my Hefeweizen tasted more banana than I wanted even though I thought I was fermenting on the lower end, but definitely wasn't.