Adding Bourbon Shot for Pseudo Barrel-Aging

I've thought about that before, but never done it... I don't see the problem with it. Its your beer... your bourbon... do as you please.

If I ever do it, it will be Laird's apple brandy, into a snifter of huna, just b/c i'm never going to get any of that... but while i'm here... ISO!

 

It never taste the same when you do it, so I tried it a couple times and it just doesn't come across right.

BA aging doesnt just give ya the bourbon flavor, you get the oxidization from the long term aging, you get the flavors from the wood. While bourbon has those flavors, they just aren't the same when it's aged in the barrels versus just pouring a dram into the beer.

 

This it's done all the time. You can find people doing this in the WBAYDN threads.

 

People do it and like it but when it comes down to it it won't be the same as barrel-aging. Letting the beer sit in the barrel for a few months integrates the bourbon, oak tannins, and beer in a much smoother and complex way than just dumping some bourbon into a beer will. You also don't get the oxidation character from aging that many BA beers have a bit of.

TLDR; it'll sorta taste like a barrel-aged beer, but the real thing will always be better.

EDIT: Fatc1ty beat me to it.

 

I added some makers mark to a founders porter once. Never again... I struggle to describe exactly what was wrong about it but basically it seemed like two separate pieces that didn't really go together rather than one coherent thing. It was gross, a waste of two things that would have been great on their own.

Maybe if I used a stronger beer it would have worked better, but I doubt it.

 

Agree with the above posters: not the same - not even close. However, that's not to say it's bad. I do it myself from time to time. To me the key is to use a very small amount - a couple drops - swirl them around in the glass before pouring the beer. Also I'd use a good beer but nothing super high end that you'll regret wasting if it doesn't come out the way you'd hoped (Old Rasputin makes a good guinea pig).

 

I've done it with Old Rasputin and FBS (it was very abundant this year). I'll put in maybe 0.5 - 1oz of bourbon and swirl it, then pour the beer. The sweetness of FBS actually stands up well to the bite of the added bourbon. Definitely worth trying with a beer you've got a good supply of

 

THIS

I've tried adding a small amount of whiskey and other spirits a few times with poor results. I encourage you to try it out, and if you find a good blend, please share.

 

This question comes up a lot. Use the search feature on the threads and you'll see others experiments and opinions.

 

Rasberry liquor -> Berliner Weisse

 

Never tried it. Maybe first sauteing the bourbon a little bit, try to cook off some of the ethanol.

 

How about putting a bit of sherry in as well? We could be getting into "beer cocktail" territory here though.

 

I thought this was going to be a thread about BA PseudoSue... (not that I would condone giving PS the "Doom" treatment).

 

It's called a boiler maker.

A "purists" wouldn't age beer in a bourbon barrel anyways, would they? However, there's nothing wrong with simply adding whiskey to a beer if that what you want. Many homebrew recipes call for adding bourbon before bottling. You ARE getting pretty much the same barrel flavor by adding bourbon as you do from using a used barrel. Remember the Bourbon was aged in an unused barrel. It already contains most of the tannins that are going to be extracted from the vessel. If you really want a oaky barrel flavor, then age some homebrew beer in un-used barrels.

 

I did this with an imperial stout I brewed, but didn't want to bourbon oak the entire batch. If you want to add a wood element just buy some oak chips form a home brew shop and soak them in the bourbon for a while. The bourbon turns kind of a nasty dark color, at least mine did. BUT, it was super oaky. Almost too much. I think I soaked the oak for a little too long. Prob only need to soak for a week, maybe less. I can't remember. Then take the bourbon off the oak. One drop from a dropper in a 10 oz pour is really all you need. Definitely not the same as barrel aging, but it's worth trying as it costs next to nothing to do and adds a different element to the beer. That being said, I preferred the non-bourbon version.

 

Agreed. Also your point about a critical key being to use a small amount bourbon is very important.

To look at it from a slightly different perspective, if we assume the standard Bourbon Barrel has a 40 gallon capacity and the brewery fills with beer an empty barrel which is still moist, the residual whiskey in the wood is going to be less than 1 gallon. So the actual Bourbon mixed in with the beer is going to be a good bit less than 1/40 th of the beer in the barrel. Which means that in a filled 12 oz bottle (approx 355 ml) there will be somewhere well south of 9 ml of Bourbon, at the most, in the barrel aged beer.

 

I added Maker's Mark to a pint of Old Rasputin once and it completely overpowered it. As for "blasphemy", its your money, do what with it what you wish.

 

I've tried it once and even drops is too much, there's no subtly that you get from slower aging in a proper barrel, and I love bourbon, but it's a hammer. 1/2 oz is a boiler maker or depth charge whatever they called it.