Infusing Goose Island Bourbon County Stout

ha because it's good! goose island is doing it. why shouldn't we?

 

I have done the French Toast Crunch and it was superb!

 

There have been very few beers I've attempted to alter in any way. I usually consider the beer best the way they brewed it, but I also have doubts about my ability to successfully improve on the beer. BCBS is a bit too expensive and limited for me to mess with, though I could see how it would be a compelling beer to tweak at home. The ingredients I might think would be complementary include some molasses, or perhaps a few drops of fresh bourbon - and any kind of cocoa, coconut, coffee, or vanilla infusion is probably great.

 

I was thinking to pour a bourbon county into an empty coconut. And let it rest for about 24 hours in the fridge. But would it get as flat as a pancake within 24 hours? I do like a little carbonation on my bcbs

 

I've done it with cococut and it is truly remarkable! Just use coconut shavings and a french press. Easy.

 

You can toast coconut in the microwave, just put it either on a plate or in a bowl and set it for 30 seconds, if there's slight browning on the coconut you're good to go, if not give it another 15 seconds and watch it to see if it browns SLIGHTLY. I've found this to be a much faster way to get those oils in the coconut working vs having to fire up a pan or the oven. You want to toast it so it infuses a better overall coconut flavor to your beer. I'd say if I could just use one adjunct in my french press with BCBS it'd have to be coconut. Unless you thought '13 Prop was gross then I'd sy skip the coconut.

 

Some very interesting ideas in this thread. I understand some of the setiments about altering a limited, already outstanding BCBS too. I'd probably be more inclined to infuse flavors into something like the ubiquitous Dragon's Milk which could use some help.

 

I get good results (mostly) from infusing Founder Imperial Stout, and New Holland Night Tripper. Oddly the Night Tripper is better with fruit, and the Founders Imperial is better on bourbon'ed oak chips. I have not tried coconut as I am not a big fan, its always the extra thing to me.
The thing I have found hard is getting good coffee flavor into either of them without killing the other flavors I am infusing. Which makes me wonder how much caffeine is really in a BBA coffee stout.

 

EDIT: This is an example of exactly what TO do.

 

I make BBQ sauce out of BCBS

 

You're a mad man!

 

If it's worth drinking it's worth eating!

 

The only people who call this ruining the beer are people who haven't done it. Does GI ruin the beer by practicing in this manner to pick the next variants?

 

Never having the confidence to potentially ruin some bcbs prior to reading this, I have just finished the toasted coconut version. I am amazed by how tasty this is. It's a whole new world. Mixed berries is on deck! Thanks all!!

 

Drilled a hole in a coconut, poured half in and cork it, recapped the rest.

Let it sit for 12 hours, combined the beers, drink

Pretty solid, gotta strain out the coconut bits a little though, but it was good.

 

Carbonation is the last thing on my mind when I enjoy a BCBS.

 

Ruining? Have you ever tried it?

 

Chocolate covered espresso beans, crushed. Was delicious.

 

My buddy and I were combing the internet for a homemade BC variant. We combined a couple and created "Bourbon County Brand Horchata". It turned out really well and is something I'll definitely work on improving.

1t - Cinnamon
2t - Whole Coffee Beans
1T - Dried Oats
1T - Grated 80+% Dark Chocolate
1/4t - Nutmeg

We did this in a Randall Jr. with 1 bottle of BCBS then used another bottle to recarb. I think it needs a little bit of time with the coffee beans before the other ingredients are added, and to keep the mixture from getting grainy, use a cheese cloth for all the dry ingredients and drop it into the Randall Jr.

Enjoy!

 

that guy is my hero