It has been a while since I have been on the forum. Good to be back. Alright, so I have this project going on right now where a few of my friends and I are planning a whiskey barrel aging of a Russian Imperial Stout that is towards the end of primary as I type. Everything was going smoothly until last night when we were prepping the barrel and realized it wasn't what we thought it was. It HAD been a whiskey barrel. After it was a whiskey barrel, it was then used to make bitters... My initial thought was "oh shit, let's pull the plug and just bottle/keg". My second thought was to try and source another barrel. My third thought was "let's put some in and see what happens" What do you guys think?
Go buy a barrel from Woodinville whiskey and have it shipped to your door. Problem solved. The idea of a stout aged in a barrel that contained bitters and formerly whiskey, sounds pretty foul.
I disagree, depending on the type of bitters. If it was Angostura bitters I think that would be pretty good in an RIS. Bourbon + Bitters + Vermouth = Manhattan, which I'm fond of. Whiskey + Bitters + RIS = Chernobyl? I don't think that would necessarily be the case.
At least give it a shot. If you're worried about too much bitters coming out of the wood, give it a good soak/sanitize for a few days to get as much of it out as possible. I think it could still be promising imo.
FWIW I really don't like bitters, probably should have been mentioned in my original post. Depending on the degree of roast/char and hop character in the RIS, the extra bitterness from the bitters could make the beer very unpleasant. In the end its personal preference, in my case, I wouldn't chance it, but to each their own. If it comes out unpleasant, theres always the blending option.
Another good idea is to take frequent samples as it ages in the barrel so you can see how much flavor it picks up. I'd bottle it a bit early and let it bottle condition for a few months to smooth things out.
