Burbon, oak and smoke beer

[philosofool]

Smoke beer is not my thing, but I'm sort of imagining that if you combined burbon, oak and smoke in the right levels, you get Scotch Beer. Not scotish, scotch. I want a restrained smoke character in an innovative beer. This is for my homebrew club competition, otherwise, I probably wouldn't be thinking too hard about it.

I want something malt oriented but dry, with the balance toward moderately-high oak and burbon character, smoke in a supporting role that helps balance sweetness, and adds complexity.

For five gallons:

9# 2-row
1# Crystal 40
1# Rauchmalt
--Mashed at 152
--O.G. 1.060

Magnum hops, 60 minutes, to 20 IBUs

Fermentation with... this is a question, see below.

2 oz. Med+ oak cubes, soaked in burbon for 48 hours, in secondary.

For fermentation, should I go with a slightly fruity yeast or keep it clean. I'm inclined toward clean because I don't want to muddy the flavors with too much of everything. I was thinking Wyeast 1728 or 1056.

Is this the right amount of rauchmalt? (I've heard that peat smoked is actually too intense.) Is this a good amount of oak? Will the burbon be palpable? What might you do not-too differently?

 

[saccw]

Just a thought, but if you're going for a scotch whiskey-toned beer, why not soak the oak cubes in scotch instead of bourbon?

 

[Calder]

I've been there, done that ......... great beer, but wasn't the Laphroaig clone I had imagined.

Some ideas for you to think about (and ignore if you want):

- Use Peat smoked malt. It will give you a more appropriate smoke flavor. For subtle, use 2 ozs in 5 gallons. For decent smoke, use 4 ozs. Use more at your own risk. 4 ozs will give you similar smoke as in Stone Smoked Porter (that uses Peat malt).

- Use whisky rather than bourbon. I'm a cheapskate, and used bourbon.

- I wanted the bourbon to be part of the flavor, so I used half a liter in 5 gallons. Sounds like a lot, but it ends up being 2 teaspoons in a 12 ozs beer.

- Use oak cubes rather than chips for greater depth of flavor.

- Microwave the wood in water before adding to bourbon/whisky to remove some of the tannins.

- Add oak to bourbon/whisky as soon as possible, and leave for as long as you can. It can take a couple of months to bring out a lot of the flavors from the wood. Add the bourbon to the beer at bottling. Save the cubes and soak in more bourbon for another beer. Soak for about 6 months for the second time.

 

[Calder]

Just a thought, but if you're going for a scotch whiskey-toned beer, why not soak the oak cubes in scotch instead of bourbon?

Heathen ....... it's Whisky if you are talking about Scotch.

 

[Cyclman]

I am opening my first of these tomorrow:

Surly Smoke

All Grain Recipe
Submitted By: cyclman (Shared)
Members can download and share recipes


Batch Size: 2.70 gal Style: Robust Porter (12B)
Boil Size: 3.31 gal Style Guide: BJCP 2008
Color: 43.1 SRM Equipment: Pot ( 4 Gal/16 L) - Mini-BIAB
Bitterness: 45.0 IBUs Boil Time: 60 min
Est OG: 1.082 (19.7° P) Mash Profile: BIAB, Light Body
Est FG: 1.014 SG (3.5° P) Fermentation: Lager, Two Stage
ABV: 9.1% Taste Rating: 30.0



Ingredients


Amount

Name

Type

#

4 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1
3 lbs 4.0 oz Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 2
6.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3
4.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 4
4.0 oz Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 5
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6
0.5 oz Warrior [15.0%] - Boil 60 min Hops 7
1 pkgs German Lager (White Labs #WLP830) Yeast 8
1.00 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 7 days) Misc 9

I soaked the oak in bourbon.

 

[StusBrew]

So if bourbon is already aged in wood barrels, but then soaking more oak in bourbon...Doesn't seem like it would take much more oak to get what you want. Curious now. What about just soaking oak in bourbon, then using a Scottish Ale yeast strain to get some of that Scotch character?

 

[SC_Ryan]

How long do you have before this beer needs to be ready? Oak cubes may not be an option. I also think you want to taper back your smoke malt a little to get the flavor you are describing. You are at nearly 10%.

If you need to have this beer ready sooner, I would cut the Rauch back to .5# and age it on oak chips. Taste it about once a week then package it when you feel like it is just right or slightly over-oaked.

If you have more time, I would do .75# Rauch and age on cubes for 6ish months. That will lend you more complexity. Good luck with the comp.

 

[philosofool]

How long do you have before this beer needs to be ready? Oak cubes may not be an option. I also think you want to taper back your smoke malt a little to get the flavor you are describing. You are at nearly 10%.

If you need to have this beer ready sooner, I would cut the Rauch back to .5# and age it on oak chips. Taste it about once a week then package it when you feel like it is just right or slightly over-oaked.

If you have more time, I would do .75# Rauch and age on cubes for 6ish months. That will lend you more complexity. Good luck with the comp.

The competition is in September. I'm planning way ahead this year. Above I hear three ounces for peat malt, so I'm thinking about going way back from a pound. I really don't want a beer where the first word you use is "smokey"; I'm looking for "Complex, malty but balanced by the presence of oaky and smokey flavors." I want it to be evident in the aroma and flavor, but not harsh dominating.

 

[SC_Ryan]

Peated malt it much more intense than smoked malt. I'd stay away from it all together. Sounds like you have plenty of time to age a delicious beer though. I like your recipe concept.