2 replies to this topic

[TonyBrown]

what i'm looking for is a bourbon that will add more carmel/vanilla notes not so much the oak finish... I'm thinkin maybe the Elmer T Lee since its a mellower bourbon and a touch on the sweet side... Buffalo Trace is a possibility as well... and i've got what's left of a bottle of Booker's but that might be wasted as a beer addition... what yous guys tink on this???

[TonyBrown]

interesting, I tried brewing the NB Bourbon Barrel Porter today... my 1st runoff was about 5gal, did my typical rinse and my total collection was just shy of 9gal... boiled down to ~6gal of fermentable wort, gravity was spec'd at 1065, i hit 1080 and this is spose to be 5 gal kit, did I do something horribly wrong here?? how TF did my efficiency jump THAT much??? i'm not complaining or anything, i'm just going to enjoy a monster beer here in a few months... i'm just curious how my typical efficiency changed so drastically... only difference in this versus any other beer i've done in the past 2-3yrs is that this particular recipe used Crisp Maris Otter base malt and I typically use Rahr Pale, could this be the reason??

[strangebrewer]

When I was doing kit recipes from NB and the site that shall not be mentioned I had more than one come out way high. My best guess is they were heavy in their measuring by a bit. Now that I buy my own grain and measure it myself I've never had it happen again. It's tough to imagine getting 95% efficiency when batch sparging unless you've got more grain than you think you do! Especially since you collected so much from your runnings I doubt you would have noticed an extra pounds of grain.As for your bourbon question. I use Jim Beam Black label in my bourbon beers. I prefer a slightly less refined bourbon in my beers as the malt sweetness will take all the edges off and be the counterpoint. I think Buff Trace is a little too mellow and I'd pour the last of the Bookers in a glass neat to drink. I'd think you'd have to add a lot of bourbon to get the vanilla notes of the bourbon to come through. At that point it'll be more bourbon than beer. I'd get my caramel note from either my malts and/or a long boil and then vanilla from beans and just count on the bourbon to add well... bourbon flavor.