Bourbon County Clone?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by justforrazors, Sep 24, 2013.

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  1. DROOO

    DROOO Initiate (0) May 5, 2009 Illinois

    for what it's worth, bourbon county is a 4 hour boil.
     
  2. barfdiggs

    barfdiggs Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2011 California


    It really depends if you hit what beersmith predicts and is system dependent. If you tend to finish higher than predicted, keep your old mash schedule, but if you finish lower, mash higher. US-05 rips through sugars, so I always mash higher if using or use a different strain if I'm struggling to get a beer to not over attenuate.

    1.032 is more than enough residual sweetness/body to hold up to the barrel. Not sure what Bourbon County finishes at, but judging by taste and mouthfeel its not over 1.030.
     
  3. barfdiggs

    barfdiggs Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2011 California

    Whats your source for this? JW Lees has a 4 hour boil and is a melanoidin bomb, Bourbon County doesn't have nearly the same amount of melanoidin derived flavors in it.
     
  4. DROOO

    DROOO Initiate (0) May 5, 2009 Illinois

    a brewer at GI. i stopped by when he was brewing the base beer once last year.
     
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  5. justforrazors

    justforrazors Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2013 Missouri


    Right now beersmith is estimating a FG of 1.022 with a mash temperature of 150, and while I have hit close to that on 9-10% stouts, I don't think that is realistic considering this is estimated at 14.2%. I would rather finish low, especially since out of the eight other people I am brewing with, someone is going to have a high finishing gravity. I expect that overall, me having a low FG isn't going to hurt the final product.
     
  6. barfdiggs

    barfdiggs Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2011 California


    Then keep the mash temp low as a safeguard. Drooo posted above that BCBS has a four hour boil (per a Goose Island Brewer), so you might try the long hour boil coupled with the low mash temp to generate a drier beer with a lot of character from the melanoidin production in the long boil.

    For our most recent barrel project (I do them on my own, but this is my first group effort) I actually have to brew a very malty, borderline under attenuated dubbel to blend with our wine barrel solera Flanders just to balance out the dryness and lack of malt character in the aged beer. After reading your post, I think your idea to brew a drier beer to maintain balance is a good one, especially since the bigger beer might really cause some brewers to add some underattenuated beer to the barrel.
     
  7. justforrazors

    justforrazors Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2013 Missouri



    I like your idea. I was planning on doing a 2 hour boil originally. Maybe we will bump it up to 3. Will need to sparge a lot more though...
     
  8. MrOH

    MrOH Grand Pooh-Bah (3,995) Jul 5, 2010 Virginia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Which will increase your efficiency. Win-win.
     
  9. justforrazors

    justforrazors Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2013 Missouri

    Brew day is tomorrow. Over 60 pounds of grain for a 13 gallon batch. Looking forward to brewing on a friend's 32 gallon RIMS system for the first time. I will report back with pictures and numbers tomorrow!
     
  10. copslovebeer

    copslovebeer Initiate (0) Mar 26, 2012 Minnesota

    How did this turn out? Pics? Very interested...
     
  11. justforrazors

    justforrazors Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2013 Missouri

    His RIMS system was not a fan of the quantity of grain- we ended up needing a fair amount of DME to get to the target of 1.128. Ended up filling a 47 gallon bourbon barrel last week actually, smelling and looking awesome. No pictures sadly- I will try to get some the next time we taste from the barrel.
     
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