bourbon essence in an aipa? whaaaa

[bronson]

Hey,
I just put down an aipa this arvo and im toying with the idea of adding some bourbon or rum tones to it.
Whilst looking for some bourbon chips from my moonshine days i came across some top shelf bourbon essence. Just curious if anyone has had any experience with doing such things.
Originally I had planed on using chips to gain a more authentic flavour and oakey profile but if i can use what ive got even better.
b

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Give it a go. Just start of lightly with the amount of essence. You dont want to over power it and make it undrinkable.

 

[michaeld16]

Maybe use the essence at bottling time line 10 bottles up 1 drop in the first 2 in the second and so on thrn youll find the one that suits your taste

 

[bronson]

Ha ha yeah i will definatly give it a go , I was just hopping i could learn from someone elses triumphs /mistakes.
Im thinking being just a essence it wont need to be done in fermentation. I can probaly just add and re add to taste in the keg.

 

[Moad]

I did some hazelnut spirit essence in a nut brown and it was excessive. It said 2 bottles in the recipe and I used 1.5... was good but overpowering

 

[manticle]

I would try soaking some chips in bourbon and adding those.
Drink the bourbon or add the lot to the brew.
Soak an average whisky/whiskey in chips for a week and taste the amazing difference in the spirit.

 

[Judanero]

I used one bottle of hazelnut essence in a porter and it gave it a weird chemically hazelnut taste... not a fan- and the taste didn't mellow over time either.

Oak chips or dominos soaked in bourbon for a few days would be my choice.

 

[Moad]

I would try soaking some chips in bourbon and adding those.
Drink the bourbon or add the lot to the brew.
Soak an average whisky/whiskey in chips for a week and taste the amazing difference in the spirit.

Have also done this in a RIS. I put about 1 cup of bourbon in 25L of the stout. I'll increase it to 2 or get fresh chips this winter, just wasn't enough.

I think the chips are the best way, again you'll have to find the amount and method that suits but that is half of the fun. Good luck!

 

[bronson]

Thanks for the feed back. I'll let you know how I go.

 

[Killer Brew]

Do you add the wood chips straight to the fermenter? Any risk of infection?

 

[sp0rk]

Do you add the wood chips straight to the fermenter? Any risk of infection?

Soak them in bourbon for a bit first, that should kill any nasties
Also I'd use dominoes or ministaves, chips can add an unpleasant level of tannins if left long enough

 

[Yob]

He is going keg though spork, at least you can guage when to pull them out.. I've still got half a bag of chips but will be moving to staves when I'm done with these chips. Planning on soaking in drambuie again and adding to the RIS when the raspberry starts to drop off (if there is any left by then )

 

[bronson]

Ok,
so I though I'd touch base and let those who where interested know how I went.
I made a 15min IPA using 200g of home grown cascade. Approx. 25lt
Then after primary I split the batch into 12lt jugs dry hopping both with 100g of flowers.
Then leaving one as the control I added a bag of rum barrel chips to the other to steep for 10 days.
I then racked into 3rd FV's and cold crashed for 4days and bottled.

I'm really happy with my results except if I'm to repeat I think I would maybe add a bit of rum to the 3rd as some of the above posts have suggested.
I think a spiced rum could have some interesting results.

Thanks for the input guys
b