Adding bourbon to stout

my POV. first of all if you are going to do something like this, i suggest having a game plan to begin with.

get a couple of small mason jars or if you have a shop around that specializes in homebrew, i've seen some small glass jars @ a local shop that are for samples (i believe 4oz. & up).

pick up some decent coffee beans, i would go with medium roast, preferably something with nutty or cocoa-ish aromas/flavors (not French or darker roasted beans). buy the beans as fresh as possible & as said you don't need that many beans to do the trick. a small batch doesn't require more than a couple of hours infusion. you'd be surprised how fast the oils from coffee beans extracts into alcohol - with good oily beans you can see it taking place right before your eyes.

the bourbon: the higher a spirit's proof, the better & faster the extraction / infusion. something i recommend using for this purpose is Old Grandad 114º bourbon - it isn't terribly expensive or so complex you'll look like an idiot experimenting with it + its higher ABV makes for better extraction.

going back to what another member suggested - if you're going with making your own concoctions - i would NOT add vanilla extract! if you want to go that route, before even fiddling with the coffee aspect, infuse your bourbon in advance by buying a quality Madagascar or Tahitian vanilla bean - slit it and let it infuse your selected bourbon for a day or two. then use the infused bourbon over the coffee beans.

keep in mind the possibilities of infusing your spirits in advance is pretty wide open - the main key is FRESH unadulterated ingredients (i.e. use real organic cacao nibs instead of Hershey's cocoa powder).

accept the fact that you might make something more interesting but it's very unlikely you can turn a train wreck into a masterpiece. there's also a reasonable probability you'll turn something otherwise pleasant enough into something mediocre or less pleasant. be realistic to begin with. don't be ridiculous & start off with planning to use beer that you don't like, infuse cheap whiskey you can't stand with beans you didn't finish using because they weren't your favorite. on the flip side, i wouldn't use a beer that i repeatedly find is perfect as is. i'd go with something i seriously imagine (might) taste better with a very subtle bourbon push.

lastly - i can't emphasize this enough you're only going to add 2-4 teardrops to a 12oz pour to begin with. if you don't taste anything - add a couple of more tear drops - but in my experience, you'll be able to taste a definite difference with just a few drops. some of the other guys above sound a little bit confused & were making/drinking what some of us know as "boilermakers".

 

Hey old thread! I was just drinking a Founders Imperial and not really enjoying the bitterness of it. When I got to the last few ounces and was thinking *drainpour* I recalled this thread and grabbed my bottle of Elijah Craig 12 year. I added something like 10 drops to the last few ounces, swirled it around a bit, and gave it a taste. It definitely improved the flavor -- added some sweetness, oakiness, maybe a little vanilla, and really balanced out/reduced the bitterness of the "base beer". So I'm all in favor or trying this with a big beer that might be too bitter or roasty by itself. Really it's not much different from pairing your beer with a bourbon, but in this case you are only having 1 drink instead of 2.

EDIT: Interesting that the thread was started about FIS. Maybe this is a beer that begs to be bourbon barrel-aged...

 

I added a shot of Old Grand Dad 100 to a bottle of DuClaw Naked Fish. It was interesting. I was already hammered so it was tolerable, but I would not recommend that haha

 

I tried this with some leftover French oak chips that were soaking in makers mark that I used in a KBS homebrew clone. I put a couple of those in a glass and poured a founders imperial over it and put it in the fridge for 10 minutes or so, it was OK at best. In my experience it takes months for the flavors to really blend

 

I have had Founder RIS bourbon barred aged at the brewery and it is amazing. They dont just add bourbon though obviously.
I have tried adding drops to different beers multiple times in many different ways and the end result is never something that even remotely resembles a well made bourbon barrel beer.

 

Do not order the Irish Car Bomb in Northern Ireland

 

Or better yet never

 

Ditto. And agreed. IMO you're better off having them side by side.

 

and that is even on the fence.............

 

Just added some leftover soaked makers French dark chips to new England stout trooper .fucking amazing

 

Just a very small splash of bourbon will overpower just about any stout or any beer for that matter. Experimented with this a few times and regretted that move every single time.

 

I've been adding Elmer T Lee to quite a few stouts over the past few weeks. I thought it was best in Old Rasputin. I don't know why, but it gave it a cinnamon spice on top of the other bourbon.

 

I dknt know about putting whiskey in beer, but I got me some Laphroiag cask strength scotch, and it tastes like band aids and charcoal to me. After drinking a nice imperial stout I decided to have a drink of the hard stuff. Still tastes like band aids to me. But after a sip I took a sniff of the glass the beer was in. The combination of smell and taste was amazing! So I dribbled the last few drops from the glass and the bottle into the ounce or so of whisky. Tastes fantastic now! Like a steak marinaded in worchestershire sauce.

 

It's not a stout, but cockeyed cooper is a pretty tasty bb barleywine. You can't miss the oak and whiskey in it.

 

I don't think it's a good idea bourbon barrel aging it more about beer taking on characteristics of the wood from the barrel and the residual bourbon trapped in the wood than just bourbon alone.

 

I love bourbon a whole lot but really like the flavor of dark roasted malt.
Should i add a tablespoon of ten fidy to my double shot of pappy?

 

Yes...

 

Just added 1 tsp of Woodford Reserve to 3oz of Founder's Breakfast Stout To test. Rough estimate brings abv from 8.3 to around 11.0. Masks some of the coffee and pushes more chocolate to the palate. A hint of the bourbon is noticeable, I really like it. I added 1 more tsp in my next test for a total of 2 tsp in 3oz of stout, that totally ruins the beer. My conclusion is that it is a very fine line, but why not experiment.

 

Yea baby, love it, you just rediscovered boilermakers. As a bourbon lover I approve.