For a local competition my buddy and I are brewing a Russian Imperial Stout that he often makes. We wanted to change it up this time and use wood chips soaked in bourbon. First question is how would I discribe the beer for the judges? I can't call it a Bourbon Barrel Age RIS? And it not really a regular RIS. Second question would be do have any helpful suggestions for using wood chips soak in bourbon?
1. 22C/Specialty beer, if using 2008 guidelines, 33B if using new guidelines http://www.bjcp.org/stylecenter.php 2. use 1-2 oz oak soaked in Bourbon for a couple hours... or a few days along with the liquid if you want more Bourbon flavor Remove any oak before it gets too oaky (1-2 weeks if using chips, longer for spirals or oak barrels)...all, IMHO
I used oak chips on my last brown ale. Did one gal aged on American Oak. Soaked the chips in Knob Creek for about 1 week (.25oz chips for the one gal). I strained off the bourbon and racked one gal of ale over the chips. For my small batches, I use the lemonade serving containers sold at WalMart. The spout allowed me to sample without risking infection. At about 2 weeks it hit the mark for (bourbon barrel flavors) that I was going for. That's just my two cents from my personal experience.
Some homebrewers will soak the oak in cheap bourbon to remove the tannins from the wood, then discard the liquid and soak the oak with better bourbon. Then dump both into the beer, or just the oak. Personal preference at every stage will dictate amounts and times. However, it's easy to over oak a beer, so taste it after each week if you can without undue risk of oxygen/air exposure and infectious bugs to see what you have. Also, do a search of this forum on this topic because your question comes up regularly.
Yes, I'm a spigot man also , but there is always a risk of infection/contamination...brew defensively
Thanks everyone for your help... I'm not really the brew guy in the team... I'm more of the "drink beer and help a little as I watch" guy
