Beer Forum

I would really like to experiment with a dubbel that I recently brewed and add bourbon and oak chips. I have read about a few beers like this and the feedback on the examples I found were all pretty good.

My question is, would I take the same approach as if I were doing this with say a porter or stout? My thinking is that since a dubbel has a drastically different flavor profile from a porter, would i need to scale back the oak and bourbon?

I know that the NB bourbon barrel porter recipe calls for 2oz of medium + oak and 16oz of bourbon. I know the roastiness of the porter stands up to those doses of oak and bourbon, but would those amounts overpower a dubbel?

Also, I am going to be using chips as I will only have a week or two available for the beer to be in contact with the oak. Since I am using chips, I know I have to cut the amount down anyway.

Any recomendations on the amount of oak chips (and toast) and bourbon to really balance nicely with 5 gallons of dubbel?

Thats kind of a tough question. Its all up to you really, some people like to really know the beer was barrel aged and others like it as a background flavor. I would cut the bourbon back for sure and the oak is up to you. In my opinion it would be best to do this in a corny keg. Add say 1/4 the amount an let is sit for a few days, taste it and if you want more add the next 1/4. When you reach the desired flavor profile push the beer into a fresh corny and drink up.

My suggestion would be to take a smaller amount maybe a 1/4 of your brew and add the oak and bourbon as that recipe directs (2oz of medium + oak and 16oz of bourbon). Then blend back to taste with the remainder of the batch. Then you will get the flavor profile you want. You can keep the remainder of the mixture and do the same next time you brew it or blend it into another similar beer style the same way.