Bourbon dose

[Mill Rat]

Made an oatmeal stout:

6 lb Maris Otter
3 lb oatmeal (+ lots of rice hulls)
1 lb roast barley
1/2 lb crystal 55L

1 oz Amarillo 8.7% at 60 min.

1.056 OG

US-05 yeast cake

How much bourbon (Old Grand-Dad 86 proof) to be noticeable but not overwhelming?

[corkybstewart]

I use 1/2 cup bourbon to soak vanilla beans for my vanilla porter. It's identifiable as bourbon but far from overpowering.

[vance71975]

I use 1/2 cup bourbon to soak vanilla beans for my vanilla porter. It's identifiable as bourbon but far from overpowering.

Sounds about right. I have went as high as 1 cup without the flavor being overpowering but i wasn't using bourbon i was using scotch.

[corkybstewart]

Sounds about right. I have went as high as 1 cup without the flavor being overpowering but i wasn't using bourbon i was using scotch.
A teaspoon of Scotch would be just about perfect:rolleyes:

[Pale Embiber]

Thanks for the info Mill Rat... a question...

From the looks of the grain bill, there isn't much difference (in weight) compared to 2 row, for instance, substituting oats for malted barley. It is slightly over ten pounds and getting O.G. like an all barley grain bill.

Based on that fact, it looks like you can expect similar extraction efficiency from oats. Am I reading this right? Any significant differences in mash temp compared to malted barley?

I need to branch out, and would like to try this! Do I need to mash differently that all barley recipe?

[vance71975]

A teaspoon of Scotch would be just about perfect:rolleyes:

Lmao i love Scotch! i know i know im not OLD enough to be into scotch lol

[Mill Rat]

@ Pale: You're right, most adjuncts will give you about the same extract per pound as a base malt. There's probably some difference that would show up when you're measuring your malt by the sack and not the pound, but it kinda fades into the background noise at a 5-gallon-batch level.

I'm not sure how to answer your mash temp question. For the saccarification rest, no change from an all-barley batch, but at least with oats and rye, a protein rest (122-130 F) prior the sacc rest is beneficial to keep these brews from becoming gummy. Rice and corn would not need it.

[Mikegobrew]

FWIW, I think the amount of bourbon also would depend on how strong/other flavors are present. My KBS with coffee and chocolate I soaked about a quarter of a pint glass worth of oak chips in an entire pint of bourbon and added it, oak and all, and it's definitely not too much. ;) Still willing to share/trade btw as I still have a carboy in the cellar aging since 1/9/11.

[Pale Embiber]

@ Pale: You're right, most adjuncts will give you about the same extract per pound as a base malt. There's probably some difference that would show up when you're measuring your malt by the sack and not the pound, but it kinda fades into the background noise at a 5-gallon-batch level.

I'm not sure how to answer your mash temp question. For the saccarification rest, no change from an all-barley batch, but at least with oats and rye, a protein rest (122-130 F) prior the sacc rest is beneficial to keep these brews from becoming gummy. Rice and corn would not need it.

Yes, I just weigh grains on the scale anyway. Thanks for that clarification.

Gummy? No gummy, please. I want clarity in the flavor and some body in the mouthfeel, not mushiness.

I found out what is and how to do protein rest. So 122-130F allows proteases to break down proteins, and apparently use higher temps for generating longer proteins fragments which helps in head retention (whereas low range protein rest can result in short peptides, and poor head retention). Gee. I just thought I'd figured out how to hit the saccarification temp to get good yield. Now this. The idea of hitting 153F after a 125F protein rest will be a new challenge. One suggestion I have read is to add half a pint per lb at boiling temp to increase the temp from protein rest to 152-3F. I guess I'll just have to try!

[Mill Rat]

Maybe gummy isn't the right word, but the result is to make the batch taste quite heavy-bodied. If you can direct-fire, it's easy, but with infusion mashing, it can be a bit harder to hit the target. Nice thing is that the proteases favor a thick mash, and amylases favor a thin mash. So you can make the mash 2/3-3/4 qt./lb. for the protein rest and then add boiling water to hit the sacc. rest temp without exceeding the capacity of your mash tun.

[Pale Embiber]

Maybe gummy isn't the right word, but the result is to make the batch taste quite heavy-bodied. If you can direct-fire, it's easy, but with infusion mashing, it can be a bit harder to hit the target. Nice thing is that the proteases favor a thick mash, and amylases favor a thin mash. So you can make the mash 2/3-3/4 qt./lb. for the protein rest and then add boiling water to hit the sacc. rest temp without exceeding the capacity of your mash tun.

I think I know what you mean. "thick", "heavy", "dense", or maybe the right word is "viscous"

I have been drinking good beer for about 2 decades, and I know some of the standard language for describing characteristics of beer. I need to find a good resource for a more expanded list of standard terms. Wine connoissuers have a complete lexicon of interesting, often lofty sounding ways to describe taste... buttery, woody, chewy, citrusy, peppery, oaky, even raisiny. My favorite is "funky". That could mean very different things to any individual. Practically meaningless. The terms I come up with to describe beer always seem pedestrian.

A quick search and viola...
http://tasteyourbeer.com/researchterms.php
http://appellationbeer.com/blog/words-to-describe-the-beer-you-are-tasting/

That was easy. Now I need to read them.