I am planning on making a Bacon & bourbon smoked amber ale loosely inspired by NB's new kit but I want to make my own bacon infused bourbon to add at kegging instead of using bacon extract like they do in the kit. After some brief googling, here's the method that I have cobbled together from a few websites that I think I will use: Cook 1# of apple wood bacon until very crisp. Crumble the bacon and add it along with the fat from the pan into 1 pt. of Makers mark. Allow the bacon/bourbon to sit a few days at room temperature. Freeze the bacon/bourbon to allow the fat to solidify. Strain the bacon and solidified fat out of the bourbon with a coffee filter. Repeat steps 4 & 5 twice to ensure that all the fat has been removed from the bourbon. So, three questions: Does this method seem sound to you guys? Do you think that there will be any effect on head retention from the bacon fat? how much of the resulting tincture should I add to 10 gallons at kegging to add a noticeable bacon flavor (I'm thinking the whole pint)?
I tried making bacon vodka once, and it came out entirely too salty. You may want to consider buying a slab of pork belly and smoking it yourself or buying a low sodium variety of pre-packed bacon.
I had considered that the bacon would make the bourbon salty but I'm not drinking it straight, I'm adding it to beer at an 80:1 ratio. Also, I think that (second to umami flavors) saltiness is a key component of the flavor profile of bacon that I think I want in my beer.
I really like the idea of using bourbon instead of vodka. I'm not sure what you'll end up with. Just be patient with the process and with adding it to the beer. I've read some on homemade bacon and I've heard a few people soaking the bacon in water to try to take some of the salt out of the final product. I'd be leery if you try this process. Water will take out flavor. Again, if you're up for making your own this might be a great way to start this process. @kjyost supposedly made his own bacon a little while back and he hit me with a few good links. I have a few more good links, but haven't tried the process myself.
On a side note with my smoked beer: I noticed that the apple wood smoked malt that I made has sort of a salty flavor to it. The few commercial beers would play nice with salt, in moderation. The beer I made was a doppelbock. The saltiness plays well with the sweetness, but the beer is very sweet. If it's a bigger beer, I'd go sweet. If it's a smaller beer I'd go dry, or maybe add some rye to the equation.
I am a chef by trade and have made bacon many times in the past. I used to work at a private country club that had a really bitchin' smoker that I miss dearly. If I still had access to that smoker I would probably make my own but, alas, I don't. As far as the recipe is concerned, here's what I'm thinking: Bacon bourbon smoked amber ale American Amber Ale Type: All Grain Date: 2/17/2014 Batch Size: 10.00 gal Brewer: Kevin Penn Boil Size: 11.45 gal Asst Brewer: Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: The Worthog Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 Taste Notes: Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU 18.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 85.71 % 1.50 lb Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 7.14 % 1.25 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 5.95 % 0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 1.19 % 1.00 oz Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 24.2 IBU 1.00 pt Bacon infused bourbon (Bottling 2.0 weeks) Misc 1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc 1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [Starter 2000 ml] Yeast-Ale Beer Profile Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.75 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 % Bitterness: 24.2 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint Est Color: 12.9 SRM Color: Color Mash Profile Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 21.00 lb Sparge Water: 8.21 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 72.0 F Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH Single Infusion, Medium Body, No Mash Out Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Mash In Add 26.25 qt of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F
Sounds awesome and more thought out than most. Maybe add a very little % of smoked malt to add extra oomph?
FYI the Maple Bacon with a wet cure is ridiculously good. The asian inspired one was solid, the dry cure was way too salty (but I over cured it I think). Sounds like a tasty recipe @hopsandmalt ... Now about your bacon you made, any recipes you'd suggest?
We got most of our charcutire recipes from this book. Polcyn was an instructor at the culinary school I went to. He's a pretty cool dude and a really good chef.
Sounds pretty amazing. I hope you're using Briess malt. Cherry would play well with the recipe above. I agree with Erik that you'll want at least another half pound of smoked malt. If it's Wyermann, you'll want at least one more pound.
As others have suggested, go with the Briess Cherrywood Smoked malt. I've found it to be more bacony than the weyerman rauchmalt or oak smoked wheat. I'd say that you'd definitely want to shake the jar you're fat-washing in as often as possible. I would also suggest using black patent instead of chocolate; the touch of ashy flavor you'd get would reinforce the smoke character. I have no idea what this would do to head retention, try it out and report back to us. I would blend to taste.
Probably breiss Cherry wood smoked malt IDK about upping the smoked malt because I'll get some smokiness from the bacon too. I may go as high as 2#. Maybe I'll put it on my stir plate. This sounds good. I think I will, Thanks.
I just did a Smoked Bacon Amber Ale a month or so ago. I used a pound of Cherrywood Smoked Malt and 5 oz. of rendered bacon. Extract brew with amber DME and it came out nice and smoky. Slightly sweet but very smoky and a nice bacon aftertaste. Rendered the bacon at 350 for about 45 minutes on a broiler pan and threw it in with 15 minutes left in the boil. Strained when I transferred to the fermenter. Any of the fat that I missed coagulated and stuck to the sides of the bucket as I racked it. Turned out very nice!
I infused bourbon with bacon a few years back for a gallon of a breakfast inspired imperial stout I made. I cooked two strips of bacon, crumbled them, and added to the bourbon. Let it sit in the fridge for a week and then strained through a coffee filter. I then added it to half an ounce of oak chips and added the whole concoction to the beer. I let it sit on it for a week then bottled it. The beer turned out pretty well, although there was a lot going on so some of the flavors were have been a bit muddled. Definitely a noticeable bacon flavor, as well as bourbon/oak.
Not sure if this may help, but a customer of mine recently said he makes a bacon-infused old fashioned. He uses just the fat (with the same freeze out technique) to flavor his bourbon. That might (keyword: might) reduce the salt level.
The cherrywood smoked malt mentioned above worked very well on a wee heavy I made for a friend's special occasion. I added only a small amount (I wasn't going for a strong flavor, just some interesting complexity), and that stuff carried through and played with the base malt very nicely.
This is exactly how I did mine and the Old Fashioned is to die for! http://nymag.com/restaurants/recipes/inseason/45776/
