Got a Randall for Christmas, advice needed.

Discussion in 'Home Bar' started by Beer_4_Me, Jan 4, 2017.

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  1. Beer_4_Me

    Beer_4_Me Initiate (0) May 15, 2014 Texas

    So me and a few buddies have a keg box that we all share. We bought a keg of Speedway Stout that we have sat on for a couple of weeks because I had a feeling my wife was buying me a Randall for Christmas. I did, in fact, get one and now we are eager to play around with some experiments with our Speedway keg. My initial thought was to soak vanilla beans in bourbon for 24 hours or so and then hook it up. Have any of you played around with randalls before? How much of an ingredient do you put in? Or do you just do everything by a "taste and make adjustments accordingly" type approach? I can't find set recipes online that say how many vanilla beans to add, so I just figured I'd open it up to the people who might know! Thanks.
     
    #1 Beer_4_Me, Jan 4, 2017
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  2. DVMin98

    DVMin98 Grand Pooh-Bah (5,125) Nov 1, 2010 North Carolina
    Mod Team BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I had a keg of Sycamore Countryside IPA. I randalled it with dry mosaic and sorachi ace hops, with pineapple and mango. All kinds of fabulous. I just really winged it.
     
    #2 DVMin98, Jan 4, 2017
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  3. Beer_4_Me

    Beer_4_Me Initiate (0) May 15, 2014 Texas

    I figured it was mostly experimenting! Pretty excited! Thanks
     
    #3 Beer_4_Me, Jan 4, 2017
  4. zizouandyuki

    zizouandyuki Initiate (0) Nov 26, 2015 Texas

    You may want to post this question in the homebrew forum - I imagine many folks over their use a Randall in their setup. Cheers!
     
    #4 zizouandyuki, Jan 4, 2017
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  5. Beer_4_Me

    Beer_4_Me Initiate (0) May 15, 2014 Texas

    Awesome, will do. Thanks!
     
    #5 Beer_4_Me, Jan 4, 2017
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  6. Jag237

    Jag237 Initiate (0) Aug 23, 2014 Virginia
    Trader

    I work at a craft beer bar where we have a homemade randall made out of some water filters and one day on a whim we decided to put cereal in it and had surprisingly good results. Obviously it added a bit of sweetness since a lot of cereal is pretty sugary but Bell's Brown Ale through Cocoa Puffs and Founder's Breakfast Stout through Cinnamon Toast Crunch were two of the best.
     
    #6 Jag237, Jan 5, 2017
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  7. Oopssorryy

    Oopssorryy Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2016 Ohio

    Note to self. Try swapping milk with Founder's Breakfast Stout for the morning cereal....
     
    #7 Oopssorryy, Jan 5, 2017
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  8. tasterschoice62

    tasterschoice62 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,949) May 14, 2014 Rhode Island
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Re-gift it. Sorry not a fan. :grinning:
     
    #8 tasterschoice62, Jan 6, 2017
  9. Jwale73

    Jwale73 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Aug 15, 2007 Rhode Island
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Try toasted coconut, cocoa nibs and marshmallows and report back!
     
    #9 Jwale73, Jan 6, 2017
  10. Beer_4_Me

    Beer_4_Me Initiate (0) May 15, 2014 Texas

    Just put the tiny marshmallows? Or cut bigger ones up?
     
    #10 Beer_4_Me, Jan 6, 2017
  11. Jwale73

    Jwale73 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Aug 15, 2007 Rhode Island
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I don't think it would matter, but the tiny ones might fit better.
     
    #11 Jwale73, Jan 6, 2017
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  12. Beer_4_Me

    Beer_4_Me Initiate (0) May 15, 2014 Texas

    I posted a thread last week asking advice for randalling stuff through a keg of Speedway Stout. Here's a little update for anyone interested:

    We soaked some French oak chips (from local homebrew shop) in Bulleit Bourbon over the weekend, and just hooked everything up. We filled a pitcher full and let the head settle a bit before pouring into individual glasses. We didn't let the oak chips dry out or anything before pouring. The first pitcher is extremely harsh, to say the least. If you are into taking a shot of bourbon and mixing it with stouts, this is for you. We unfortunately couldn't even plow through the first pitcher. Luckily, we poured a second pitcher and a lot of the wet bourbon from the chips had flown off already so we got a much more subtle (what I expected from the first pitcher) bourbon presence. Actually pretty delicious.

    My thoughts before doing bourbon chips again: should you take the chips out of the bourbon and let them naturally dry for a day before hooking up? Has anyone else tried this and have additional input/suggestions?

    I think next, we are going to load it up with raspberries and give it a go. A lot of fun, regardless!
     
    #12 Beer_4_Me, Jan 9, 2017
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  13. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    By 'harsh' do you mean with too strong bourbon, or harsh because you may have picked up too much oak character, or possibly the tannins from the oak if these were virgin wood chips? If these were virgin wood chips I think 'washing' them first with cheap bourbon or vodka or possibly boiling them a bit to remove tannins would have saved that first pitcher from being an expensive 'sacrifice'. :slight_frown:

    Thanks for the update.
     
    #13 PapaGoose03, Jan 10, 2017
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  14. Beer_4_Me

    Beer_4_Me Initiate (0) May 15, 2014 Texas

    Just wayyyyy too strong from the Bourbon. I think some Bourbon might have poured in while we were scooping the chips into the Randall. I think if we just soak the chips, then let them sit out of the Bourbon for a bit before adding them in it would be much much better!
     
    #14 Beer_4_Me, Jan 10, 2017
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