Carbonating Bourbon Barrel-Aged Beer

I don't think so either...I don't know where "medium high to high" is really defined...I'd never go above "medium" for an American Stout
It might improve in a year, but if it were me, I'd just leave in the keg and force carb when you are ready to first drink it...then compare and contrast to other club members that bottled.

 

I wouldn't say more completely. Just different. I've split oaked batches up between keg and bottle. Both are great. You'll have a little more oxidation from bottling. That's generally an acceptable quality in wood aged beers, (Per BJCP). The bottles will give you a little more variation. Mine tend to carb up a little more aggressively the longer they age, (small infections?), and you get to decide if you want to drink the yeast at the bottom. I generally don't shake a keg to get yeast off the bottom when pouring a pint.

The oak and bourbon should mellow out. So should your beer. The bourbon will stay more pronounced than the wood, from my experiences. I always think of the words, "meld together" when thinking about beer aging. Your flavors will all come together down the road. It's always nice to squirrel a 6er away to find out if the beer is worth keeping around for 2,3,4 years. I

 

My general findings are that, in a 50+ gallon barrel, most of the bourbon flavor will be absorbed by the beer in the first 4 months. Beyond that point, flavor extraction is mainly from the wood character of the barrel and the oxidation of the beer. Go too long and both the tannins and the oxidation get extreme / bad though.

Another major factor on all of this is the temperature the barrel is stored at and how stable it is. Temperature swings are bad for the integrity of the barrel itself, but encourage more respiration and deeper penetration of the beer into the wood. If you store the barrels for 12 "swinging months" vs 12 "stable months" the resulting beer can be dramatically different. I personally enjoy the former.

As for the packaged product, the oak will mellow out significantly (and quickly) from the "in barrel sample" you are tasting now. After that dramatic initial fall off, the oak presence will fade over time. Factors for the oak fall off rate are mainly the type of Oak the barrel is made of, whether it was charred (and, if so, how deeply), and the overall contact time of course. The bourbon will mellow less dramatically, with little initial mellowing and then gradually mellowing over several years to come.

I've drank Imperial Stouts made with anywhere between 3 months to 4 years of barrel contact time. All were interesting and had there own strengths. I've also had blends of stouts aged for 1-4 years with fresh stout batches fermented in stainless. They can be a real treat, it just depends what you want.

Since your abv is low, I'd think you should lean towards a shorter time frame in the barrel. Let your palate decide but I'd guess no less than 2 months in the barrel. As I mentioned, 4 months with temperature swings will get you the vast majority of your spirit flavor extraction. Since your beer is on the lower abv range, it's likely that full spirit flavor extraction will overwhelm your base beer.

For the beer you made, my preference would probably be to carb the beer to maybe 2.4 volumes at most. Bottle conditioned would probably lend to a nicer mouthfeel imho, but force carbing a tasty beer will still make a carbonated tasty beer

Oh and I drank my last '07 Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout a few days ago. It still had plenty of bourbon character!