Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale

I am working on a recipe for a Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale clone.

This brew is all about a balance between the base American Amber Ale and the aroma and mild flavor of Oak & fine Bourbon.  It has a well balanced bitterness but little detectable hops flavor or aroma.  There also seems to be little flavor contributed by the yeast.

I think I have the base brew where I want it, but I am undecided on an appropriate yeast and hops for this brew that will not overpower the bourbon.
Right now I am considering Mt. Hood or Hallertauer hops, but don't have a clue on what yeast to use.  The yeast must have good alcohol tolerance and not contribute any strong flavors.

This is my first attempt at building my own clone recipe, so I would appreciate any suggestions you might have.

What's your alc%.  I use a wyeast that is not in the beersmith file.  I don't even know if it exists outside the Northwest.  It's Wyeast 1764 Rogue Pacman. It's my new favorite yeast.  The decription is on the wyeast site.

I also have been thinking of making a whiskey beer but can't decide on the style.

Thanks for the suggestion, Mike.  The final ABV should be 9-10%, but my biggest concern is when introducing the bourbon oak chips.

I plan on soaking toasted oak chips in bourbon for a couple weeks, then adding to the primary fermenter.  My worry is that the addition of the bourbon chips will disrupt the work of the yeast in those first critical hours.  Maybe it would be best to wait until the fermenting is at its most active?  Or should I wait until fermentation is complete and simply let the fermented beer age several weeks with the chips?  That may be the safest route and closer to the barrel aging that is done at the brewery.

As you can tell, I am REALLY undecided on the details of introducing the bourbon oak chips.

This beer I am trying to replicate is brewed by Alltech Lexington Brewery, and is only available in a limited area.  The Brewery describes it as a "sipping beer", and I find the experience similar to drinking a fine bourbon and water, except that the water is replaced by an equally fine Amber Ale.  The result is a very easy drinking fortified beer. 

I live in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, so I can get it when I want it, but one of the many pleasures of home brewing is trying to duplicate your favorite beers and styles.

The link below is to the Kentucky Brewery that produces Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale.
http://www.kentuckyale.com/beer/Pages/KentuckyBourbonBarrelAle.aspx

I am also still looking for advice on the best hop varieties to use that will not overwhelm the subtle bourbon Taste & Aroma.

I hope others chime in here.  There were a few threads about the whole when to add the soaked chips and how much to add.  You might want to do a search.  I have not done this yet and plan to do one soon so I would like to here the different experiences.

Personally, I would put the soaked chips in the secondary after the fermentation but I doubt it would effect the yeast by adding to the primary. It's not like it's adding much alcohol.  I  secondary in a glass carboy so removal of the oak chips might be a bit of a B!***

I would love to taste the beer to find out if it's a 12% beer with the flavor of the whiskey or if it's a lower alcohol beer that they add whiskey to get the 12%.

Anybody ever get this recipe close. I had this again recently on a visit to lexington. I would love to brew this one.Thanks

My son and I are getting ready to give it a try.  We both love this brew, and have done a fair amount of testing and tasting as we try to develop a recipe.  We will be starting with a basic Red Ale recipe.  Though I normally like a heavy late hop addition, we will be going light on the late hops with no dry hopping.  The thought is to not interfere with the bourbon aroma. 

The tricky part is going to be controlling the oak and bourbon contribution.  We will actually be using Jack Daniels instead of the Woodford Reserve used in the original.  It will give a little different taste, but we think it will work.  My son has been soaking the chips for a couple weeks, and is nearly ready to start the brew.  He is using chips from used Jack Daniels barrels, and soaking them in some "Black Jack".  Our current thought is to add the infused oak chips at the end of primary fermentation and closely monitor the brew until it seems right.  This should equate to adding the brew to used bourbon barrels and letting it age for a few weeks at the brewery before bottling.

This will be an experiment for us, and I will be sure to report on any success or failure in the process.  At the very least we hope to learn from this, and have something to drink for our next attempt.

I have never had this commercial beer but my attempt will be with a porter.  From what I have read, the oak chips should be closely monitored in the secondary.  I have read anywhere from 3 days to a week and this is with the lightly charred chips.  I would think that you would not want too much  of a charred flavor.  I am also adding 1 1/2  to 2 cups of bourbon before bottling.

A friend of mine is also mad keen for me to make her this beer.
She has given me a bottle to try. Looking forward to seeing what it tastes like.

PS love the BeerSmith software!!!

tmc32 said:

My son and I are getting ready to give it a try.  We both love this brew, and have done a fair amount of testing and tasting as we try to develop a recipe.  We will be starting with a basic Red Ale recipe.  Though I normally like a heavy late hop addition, we will be going light on the late hops with no dry hopping.  The thought is to not interfere with the bourbon aroma. 

The tricky part is going to be controlling the oak and bourbon contribution.  We will actually be using Jack Daniels instead of the Woodford Reserve used in the original.  It will give a little different taste, but we think it will work.  My son has been soaking the chips for a couple weeks, and is nearly ready to start the brew.  He is using chips from used Jack Daniels barrels, and soaking them in some "Black Jack".  Our current thought is to add the infused oak chips at the end of primary fermentation and closely monitor the brew until it seems right.  This should equate to adding the brew to used bourbon barrels and letting it age for a few weeks at the brewery before bottling.

This will be an experiment for us, and I will be sure to report on any success or failure in the process.  At the very least we hope to learn from this, and have something to drink for our next attempt.

Click to expand...

I'm really interested in any advise for this clone based recipe.What yeast are or did you use? How long to age after bottling? Thanks

Considering process used to produce the barrel-aged beers of the Flanders region, I would certainly recommend adding the chips to the secondary for a few weeks, after removing the majority of yeast.  You may want to use chips that have a heavy char as that is typical of the vessels used to age dark spirits and this will soften the oaky character and impart more toast.  The soaking in alcohol is imperative, not so much for the flavor of the spirit, but for killing the bugs in the wood.  Oak naturally contains wild yeasts and lactic acid producing bacterial that will sour the beer (great if you're making a Flanders style red - not good for the whiskey flavor stuff).  The recommended usage for chips is approx .5oz per gal for end grain chips and higher (1.0/gal)for chips made from staves of actual barrels as they contain less end grain.  If the chips are new, it is a good practice to boil them few times in water first to remove a good quantity of tannins and then soak them for a week or two in the spirits.

Have fun...good luck.

The Kentucky Ale recipe uses East Kent Goldings and Fuggles hops and this is the grain percentages. 
Pale Ale Malt - 78%
Caramel 40 - 8%
Carapils - 4 %
Wheat - 6%
Aromatic Malt - 4%

I have a recipe for a Oak Bourbon Ale. I use the Jack Daniel's chips that you get at Supermarkets. I get mine at Kroger. I use 4oz in the secondary and have not had problems. Adds a nice smokey oak and bourbon aroma and flavor.

I recently toured the Altech brewery in Lexington where they make this.  The beer they use is exactly the same as their Kentucky Ale.  The brewmaster said he waits for fermentation to complete, then conditions the beer in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels for 6 weeks.    After this, the beer requires filtration to remove soot particles.    Those barrels are made of white oak and are charred before having bourbon introduced into them.