What to put in Bourbon Barrel?

[kingwood-kid]

My homebrew club has been gifted with a bourbon barrel. Excluding sours and lagers, what should we put in it? so far, I've come up with the following list, but feel free to add to it, or to tell me why something on it won't work well.

Wee Heavy
Quad
Tripel
Imperial Stout
Baltic or Robust Porter
English Barleywine/Old Ale

 

[Dave37]

Im sure there are a couple commercial examples which are great but i personally dont know how well bourbon would blend with the very aggressive characteristics of the belgian yeasts used in the tripel and quad. I could see the brews on your list that are mostly malt forward like the wee heavy or imperial stout or porter being best suited for the bourbon treatment.

 

[Cyclman]

I am drinking a Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad clone as I type. I used spirals soaked in Maker's to "cheat" but it still came out incredible. Very basic Quad recipe, 1 lb. Black Cherries per gallon, homemade Candi Sugar (get it super dark). Delicious.

 

[Dave37]

I am drinking a Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad clone as I type. I used spirals soaked in Maker's to "cheat" but it still came out incredible. Very basic Quad recipe, 1 lb. Black Cherries per gallon, homemade Candi Sugar (get it super dark). Delicious.

There you go what do I know?. I would love to try that one too.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

for your first brew using the bourbon barrel, I recommend something a bit on the malty side, the bourbon that will get imparted the first time you use the barrel will be very strong and will over power a light beer, by the second brew you can start to dial it down, maybe an Irish Ale, and by the third batch put threw the barrel, a nice English Ale is perfect, I had to add a little makers Mark and oak cubes to the barrel after 3 weeks aging in the barrel.

 

[kingwood-kid]

I am drinking a Boulevard Bourbon Barrel Quad clone as I type. I used spirals soaked in Maker's to "cheat" but it still came out incredible. Very basic Quad recipe, 1 lb. Black Cherries per gallon, homemade Candi Sugar (get it super dark). Delicious.

I don't know if I can sell the rest of the club on it, but a cherry quad sounds awesome. Maybe I'll make one for myself if nobody else is interested, which I might say about any other suggestions that come along.

 

[unionrdr]

Bourbon barrel porters & stouts are not a new invention by any means. From early colonial times through Prohibition they were called "Whiskely" by the masses. I brewed another batch of my Whiskely & has been in bottles long enough to start drinking but needs more conditioning. It's a pm traditional stout with Kentucky bourbon soaked white oak chips in secondary. About as traditional as you can get for a whiskely. Porter or stout was tipically used in the used bourbon barrels to make it. I liked the fact that it's an old style that can still be reproduced accurately today.

 

[TheZymurgist]

We did an imperial stout earlier this year, and we're currently working on a wee heavy. After that, I think the club is going to auction the barrel off to the members, but I'd like to see it used further. I'd be interested in doing something a little more experimental.