Commercial level barrel aged character

I believe I've read that with cubes you need a long time. Chips give you a quicker bigger flavor, but not as complex. What weight cubes/amount bourbon have you used?

FWIW, I haven't done this yet, but I am going to add heavy toast chips that have been soaked in Makers Mark for a week today to a RIS.

 

No idea here, my first attempt is in secondary/soaking chips on bourbon in mason jars now. Been soaking 4 ounces of heavily toasted french oak chips with 8 ounces of bourbon for a couple of weeks. Do you all toss in the bourbon and oak for a lot of bourbon flavor in an imperial stout?

Sounds like I should have used cubes.

 

jbuddle - 4-5 months seems like a good amount of time, if these are 5 gal batches, maybe up the amount of oak next time? What toast of oak are you using? It seems like you should be getting some oak/bourbon with those levels.

Holland - I've heard of people doing both but I'd start with just tossing in the soaked oak, and taste periodically. If you want more bourbon, toss some in. When you get the right amount of oak, take the oak out.

 

From what I have read alot of the subtle flavor of barrel aging comes from the fact that the wood breathes. It contracts and expands with temp fluctuations causing a flow if Bourbon and beer to go in and out of the wood. So maybe it is not possible to get commercial level flavor without a barrel.

Fwiw I have heard good things about used 5 gal barrels, just cut the age time in half if you don't want oak to be the main flavor

 

Using a real barrel makes a huge difference. I was given one as a wedding present from: http://tuthilltown.gostorego.com/barrels.html. The 5 gallon Honey-comb barrel has extra surface area inside the barrel, allowing for more surface area than a standard barrel which results in faster absorbtion of bourbon and oak flavors.

My first attempt ended up being very similar in taste to the Fegley's Barrel Aged Insidious; it was an imperial stout put in the barrel for 1 month. 2nd attempt is back in the secondary, and will be bottled in a month. This one is a stronger version of the same recipe, with chocolate, coffee, oatmeal, and maple syrup added. I was happy with the amount of bourbon taste after only 2.5 weeks in the barrel.

If you are looking to get a result close to a particular beer, you need to try to match what barrel was used. The 4-Grain Whiskey that was orgininally in my barrel will be very different than using a Pappy van Winkel barrel (of course).