Best bourbon for brewing beer?

[bw_thunder]

This was one of the questions I was searching when I found this site and well, lets just say I got side tracked by you guys. I've been working on my first four bottles based on names that come up a lot and what I can find here (Old Grand Dad 100, Old Weller 107, Four Roses Single Barrel & Elijah Craig 12) and now it's time to get started on the brewing. I did a search of the site and came across stuff like cask conditioned bourbon brews but nothing on making your own. My ingredient kit came with oak cubes I need to soak in bourbon then add them to the fermenting beer, so I'm looking for suggestions of some of the more flavorful bourbons. This doesn't need to be your favorite, just one with some strong flavor that will add some good character to the beer. Bonus, I get to drink what's left of any new bourbons! Thanks

[HighInTheMtns]

What kind of beer is it going to be? A stout?

[bw_thunder]

Guess I should have included that. The kit is Bourbon Barrel Old Ale.

[smknjoe]

If you want something strong and woody Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. OGD 114 has a fairly strong rye flavor.

[HighInTheMtns]

Of those you have already, I think the Weller and the Four Roses would be good choices. I've used Wild Turkey 101 in a stout before.

Edit to add: I like Joe's suggestion of OGD 114 quite a lot too.

[clingman71]

I've aged many homebrews on bourbon soaked oak chips, I've found that any entry-mid level bourbon works fine. It is a tiny % of bourbon in comparison to the volume of beer. Don't waste the beer with rotgut whiskey, don't waste top shelf whiskey on the homebrew. Proof and age are somewhat irrelevant. I've had good luck with BT and AAA.

[Tony Santana]

For whatever it's worth, my brother-in-law is into home brewing, and he and his buddies make a bourbon beer. They actually dump half a bottle of Maker's Mark into the beer at some point in the process (sorry, I don't know much about home brewing) and claims to enjoy the results. I've never had it.

[Flyfish]

I've aged many homebrews on bourbon soaked oak chips, I've found that any entry-mid level bourbon works fine. It is a tiny % of bourbon in comparison to the volume of beer. Don't waste the beer with rotgut whiskey, don't waste top shelf whiskey on the homebrew. Proof and age are somewhat irrelevant. I've had good luck with BT and AAA.

I've made Porter with bourbon and chips of bourbon barrel staves (available at brewing shops). You're right about the high ratio of beer to bourbon. The beer does taste bourbony but you would need a really subtle palate to tell what kind of bourbon. So, I'll take my OGD 114 neat in a Glencairn and put EW Black in the Porter.

[Brophmonster]

Don't add the chips/cubes/spirals/etc during fermentation! Once you rack it off the yeast and put it in secondary add them then. Also, I recommend VOB 100, cheap and flavorful, should work well with the toffee/sweet malt character of an old ale.

[kcgumbohead]

A local regional brewery around here has an annual release that is barrel aged. Last years was Weller, this year it was BT . I saw the barrels in their warehouse for these last 2 releases. They told me they have used JD barrels in the past as well. I have only tried the last 2 with the Weller being the winner but both are very good.

[DPPSmoker]

I purchased an OESF barrel from Four Roses two weeks ago. My buddies are going to brew a stout and then age it in that barrel. We're going to donate some of it to our local country auction. I also expect a share of the brew as well. I can't wait to try it.

[RWBadley]

Guess I should have included that. The kit is Bourbon Barrel Old Ale.

I just tasted an attempt at an wood chip aged English BW last weekend. Having also been BJCP beer judge for 25 yrs- here's my best advice for the home brewer.

My suggestion is to use a decent bourbon like EC 12 or some such- but skip the wood chip thing. In your ale, brew the beer- then after the secondary pull some sample and experiment with measured amounts of bourbon. You may end up using 6-8 oz bourbon in the 5 gallon batch... or more. This is way better control over the finished beer than the woodchip method, with much better flavor agents in addition. It also adds the lovely alcohol content as well, which is a nice flavor component of some of the stronger ale types. Imperial Stouts also lend themselves to this treatment.

Cheers,

RW

[jtgraves]

I just tasted an attempt at an wood chip aged English BW last weekend. Having also been BJCP beer judge for 25 yrs- here's my best advice for the home brewer.

My suggestion is to use a decent bourbon like EC 12 or some such- but skip the wood chip thing. In your ale, brew the beer- then after the secondary pull some sample and experiment with measured amounts of bourbon. You may end up using 6-8 oz bourbon in the 5 gallon batch... or more. This is way better control over the finished beer than the woodchip method, with much better flavor agents in addition. It also adds the lovely alcohol content as well, which is a nice flavor component of some of the stronger ale types. Imperial Stouts also lend themselves to this treatment.

Cheers,

RW

That's some awesome advice. This thread may have just inspired me to brew again after several years off.

[ISU_grad]

I just tasted an attempt at an wood chip aged English BW last weekend. Having also been BJCP beer judge for 25 yrs- here's my best advice for the home brewer.

My suggestion is to use a decent bourbon like EC 12 or some such- but skip the wood chip thing. In your ale, brew the beer- then after the secondary pull some sample and experiment with measured amounts of bourbon. You may end up using 6-8 oz bourbon in the 5 gallon batch... or more. This is way better control over the finished beer than the woodchip method, with much better flavor agents in addition. It also adds the lovely alcohol content as well, which is a nice flavor component of some of the stronger ale types. Imperial Stouts also lend themselves to this treatment.

Cheers,

RW

I concur on this, I've done a chocolate stout where I added bourbon after secondary. I used WT as I found it was the best paring for that particular brew.

One thing to note, when you do go to drink them make sure you go slow as a high abv stout plus the bourbon will go down easily.

[BigBoldBully]

I have only tried this with barleywines, but my conclusion was that while I often like a woody whiskey I do not like what it does to a beer (either by just dumping it in or through the soaked oak method). EC12, for instance, seemed to add too much of an astringent note. When you buy a commercial barrel aged beer, otoh, you tend to get a ton of vanilla and sweetness. I found that moderately aged (e.g. 5-8 yr) bourbons worked best, although with four roses you could probably get away with something older since they age it so gently. Did not try OGD 114 but suspect it'd work well.

[Balcones Winston]

Problem with wood chips is that they don't actually emulate barrel aging. Sure, you might get some wood extraction, and a little flavor from the bourbon you soaked the chips in, but none of the oxidative effects take place since (likely) this will be stored in an airtight container (save for pressure release valve).