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’m an amateur (extract + steeped grains) stovetop brewer, and am hoping to get some advice on my next beer recipe. I’d like to do a "bourbon barrel" brown ale - which, at this stage in my brewing experience, means chucking some bourbon-soaked oak cubes into the secondary as the beer is aging. The question is a two-parter.
1. What kind of brown ale recipe should I start with for the brew? I usually order from Austin Homebrew, and I was thinking of starting out with either the Northumberland Brown Ale (http://is.gd/4I8qK) or the Evil Brown Ale (http://is.gd/4I8sP). In your opinion, would either of these recipes be complementary to and stand up to the oak and bourbon flavors? Any suggestions on other recipes, either to order as kits online or straight-up original recipes?
2. I’ve dry hopped and racked onto ingredients in the secondary before, but never with oak cubes. How much oak should I use, and how long should they be in the secondary?
I’ll now defer to all of you wonderful experts. Thanks for any help you can give this fledgling brewer.
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If you go with either of those kits, I would purchase some more malt extract because you’ll need some body to stand up to the bourbon and oak.
As far as the oak cubes go, the best answer that I can give you is that no matter how much oak you use you should taste the beer weekly (ideally with a wine thief) to determine if the oak levels are to your liking. When it reaches that level, it’s time to bottle.
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I would use French oak cubes and go with .75-1oz. Plan on a couple months but check it to see if it’s getting overbearing.
In my personal experience oaking can get overdone quite easily. Go lighter than you think.
And definitely bump up the gravity on your base beer.
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There is a way of cheating. Take the oak and soak it in a jar of bourbon for two weeks to a month, depending on how oaky you want to be. Use plenty of bourbon because a bunch of it will absorb into the cubes. Gradually add the oaked bourbon (no cubes) to your beer until you get to the taste you want. This method will pull a lot of vanilla out of the wood.
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