Using Spirits in Beer

[ClarenceBoddicker]

Thinking ahead a little here, I want to make a Christmas beer using a kit (probably the Brewferm Christmas) but add extra spices to try and personalize and up the ABV slightly to make a heady, sipping Christmas brew. Happy with adding spices in boil but has anyone tried something like using prunes steeped in brandy and adding it at some point? Do spirits like this just ruin the flavor or would it work as an addition? Cheers.

 

[louis macneice]

I did a stout which I conditioned for a bit on the fruit left over from making sloe gin and blackberry vodka...it turned out very nice. The details are here: http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=50653.

Cheers - Louis MacNeice

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

I did a stout which I conditioned for a bit on the fruit left over from making sloe gin and blackberry vodka...it turned out very nice.

Thanks Louis, sounds interesting. Looking forward to the experiment.

 

[graysalchemy]

You could also try using some oak chips soaked in whisky, you will get the flavour of the oak as well as the whisky. :thumb:

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

You could also try using some oak chips soaked in whisky, you will get the flavour of the oak as well as the whisky. :thumb:

Mmmm, this sounds good too! I've got a bottle of Tallisker on the way.....

Thanks! :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

You could also try using some oak chips soaked in whisky, you will get the flavour of the oak as well as the whisky. :thumb:

Mmmm, this sounds good too! I've got a bottle of Tallisker on the way.....

Thanks! :thumb:

Pass the Talisker on to me and I will supply you with something more appropriate :whistle: :whistle:

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

Pass the Talisker on to me and I will supply you with something more appropriate

Ha! Well you can tell I'm a whisky heathen as I couldn't even spell Talisker properly. I'm new to that too - starting a small single malt collection with the 'money I'm saving' brewing my own beer

 

[graysalchemy]

Good choice, one of my favourite malts, perhaps it would be lost in a beer though, best drunk on its own IMHO :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Hawks]

My local micro adds dark rum and spices to one of his beers for a festival special... :thumb:

 

[RichardN00]

I had a chocolate stout with malt whisky from the Blue Monkey shop a couple of weeks ago and it was flipping lovely

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

Great. Some nice ideas thanks. I feel a practice coming on. Doing an export strength stout next from a coopers kit with brewferm dark malt extract and I was going to go with chocolate nibs soaked in vodka. I might split this in secondary and do half with whisky and oak too. Then maybe two Christmas kits with split flavours next. Will see how it goes. I guess I should add the extras in secondary but can I just shot them in the fv ot do I need anything special? :

 

[Borrovan]

I've always liked the idea of making a "fortified beer", using either scotch or (more likely since I'd be loathe to risk good beer with cheap scotch or risk good scotch full stop) spiced rum - can any of you guys who've had some success with it tell me how exactly you went about it? When did you pitch in the spirit? Did it affect the conditioning, or were you careful not to push the ABV up too high?

I like the idea of using the same principle as fortified wine to preserve some of the sugars, but I can't see any way of doing this without preventing the beer from conditioning properly - maybe using a high tolerance yeast would work with some careful scienceing to make sure the ABV was just under the tolerance of the yeast prior to bottling?

 

[Hawks]

I've always liked the idea of making a "fortified beer", using either scotch or (more likely since I'd be loathe to risk good beer with cheap scotch or risk good scotch full stop) spiced rum - can any of you guys who've had some success with it tell me how exactly you went about it? When did you pitch in the spirit? Did it affect the conditioning, or were you careful not to push the ABV up too high?

I like the idea of using the same principle as fortified wine to preserve some of the sugars, but I can't see any way of doing this without preventing the beer from conditioning properly - maybe using a high tolerance yeast would work with some careful scienceing to make sure the ABV was just under the tolerance of the yeast prior to bottling?

The one I know of with rum and spices all goes into the cask. I believe its a single bottle for the cask, so not a huge amount really.

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

OK so I bought the Coopers Stout kit in the Wilkos sale at

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

I'll come back to this - last post didn't work - off to the beer festival at the local Wetherspoons now!:drink:

 

[chrig]

I've had a bottle of "BOGGART RUM PORTER" from a local manchester brewery. It was a cracking pint.

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

Right. Back to it. Had some baltic titanic stout which was pretty good but had a few of the craft beers at two for a fiver. Especially impressed by one which I think was from sixpoint and was something to do with tigers...

Anyway. Bought the coopers stout kit at wilkos for 10.50 and picked up some American woodchips in boyes for a quid. My plan is to brew the kit with liquid dme from brewferm and a kilo of sugar and go short to 18l. I'll use a brewferm top fermenting yeast too.

Then I'll split the brew and do half with whisky and woodchips and half with chocolate nibs soaked in vodka.

My question is shall I split in primary and can I just add the ingredients as they are or is there something special I should do.

Looking forward to the experiment and thanks for an interesting discussion.