Homebrew Recipe: Pappy's Ol' Cough Medicine

Pappy's Ol' Cough Medicine Bourbon Imperial Stout (all grain)

Ah, the fall.  The time for pumpkin bread, pumpkin beer, and pumpkin spice lattes. Wait, those things already happened two months ago? Oh. Well, in that case, it's the perfect time to start planning your winter beer!  Truthfully though, if you're looking for a nice, warming, high gravity beer to enjoy all through the winter months, October is your time to get brewing. That was my motivation a year ago when I set out to brew a bourbon aged imperial stout.  In fact, one of the great things about big beers like this is that they will keep for quite some time. I even have a few more in the basement that I'm looking forward to enjoying by a campfire as the evenings get cooler (since it's actually fall now).

Recipe

Grain Bill

17 lb 2-row 

2 lb Crystal 90L

1.5 lb Roasted Barley

1 lb Special B

0.5 lb Chocolate

0.25 lb Black Malt

Hop Schedule

(60) 2 oz Challenger 

(20) 2 oz Willamette

Yeast

2 packets Safeale US-05

Boil Volume - 6.25 gallons

Fermentor Volume - 5.25 gallons

ABV - 8.7%

Procedure:  Mashed at 152F for 1 hour, mashout to ~168F, batch sparge.  Followed hop schedule, cooled wort, pitched yeast.

Fermentation/Packaging:  Soaked 2 oz medium toast oak chips in Elijah Craig 12 yr. bourbon for 2 weeks (during primary fermentation). Primary fermentation for 2 weeks at ~68F. Racked to secondary, added bourbon-soaked oak chips, let age for 4 weeks.  Primed and bottled, bottle conditioned for about 4 weeks before drinking. Time is your friend on this one. The longer you can keep your greedy little paws off of it, the better it will be!

Tasting Notes:  Dangerously smooth. This bad boy pours jet black with a tan head.  A bouquet of chocolate, caramel, and a touch of bourbon comprise the nose. A thick, silky mouthfeel caries the chocolate, roasted flavors, and it finishes with a caramel and vanilla sweetness which hint at the bourbon undertones.

Improvement/Tweak Ideas:  Brew more? Does that count? I did drain most of the excess bourbon off of the chips before adding them. In hindsight, I may have just dumped the whole thing in to make the bourbon and oak flavors shine through a bit more, but it was still fantastic the way I did it.