Adding spirits to brews? Anyone done it?

[phatboytall]

All this Innis and Gunn stuff got me thinking, i've had a few commercial beers where the flavours really felt like it had a splash of Rum or Whiskey in it.

I know Wadworth do it, "Swordfish is a unique blend of Wadworth 6X & Pussers Rum"
http://www.wadworth.co.uk/store/product ... fish_.html

Has anyone experiemented with adding Rum or Whiskey to a brew? Did you add to the boil or to the FV? Would the spirit ferment out and leave some flavour?

Interested to hear if this is a method of upping an OG and adding a flavour twist, or just a waste of a good drink!


Ed

[Befuddler]

I think you'd have to blend it with the finished, conditioned beer or the jump in alcohol might kill your yeast. I would very much doubt there's anything fermentable left in a spirit anyway, it's already been fermented and distilled quite thoroughly.

Personally, I'm not a fan of spirits, my palate is too girly for them. I've had some ciders that were conditioned in rum & whisky barrels though and the hint of flavour it brought to them was very nice. You could try conditioning your beers with oak chips to get that earthy whiskyness in there without chucking expensive liquor at it. I don't know how well that would work so I could be talking bóllocks.

[dave-o]

Did you add to the boil or to the FV?

I would add it at bottling stage if you have to have it pre-mixed. Don't add it during the boil or the alcohol will evaporate.

Would the spirit ferment out and leave some flavour?

With spirits like whisky and rum, there's nothing fermentable left, so no. With syrupy liqeurs the sugar would probably ferment.

I would advise adding it in the glass though. That way you don't ruin a batch if it doesn't work and you can try different spirits out. Like a "depth charge" (Stout and Irish whiskey).

A choc ale with added Cointreau has been suggested, and sounds good.

I added a shots of Amaretto to my stout at Christmas and it was bloody great, but may not be to everyone's taste.

[boingy]

It mostly sounds like a bit of a waste of beer and spirits to me (yes, I am conservative )

[raiderman]

I tried putting the alcohol back into noalchol lager when staying with friends who badly underestimated how much I drink, used vodaka and was orrible, vodka as are a lot of spirits isn't that dry so the end product was slightly sweet and undrinkable

[Hamish]

How about adding Burbon Barrel Oak Chips in the secondary, they're meant for bbq's but might impart the flavour you're after.

[Spud395]

I'm going to do a small experiment next brew.
Going to make up a 5 gallon ESB, come bottling time I'll rack a gallon off into a DJ and add some oak chips that have been soaked in Jameson.
Leave it for a week or 2 and bottle.

I reckon that should do the job!

[unclepumble]

I have a great recipe for a bourbon porter, 23l of porter and a 750ml bottle of good bourbon in the conditioning keg.

UP

[dogchillibilly]

I had a rum ale at the last Milton Keynes beer festival.
Very malty, minimal hops and a taste that suggested a single shot per pint. I also recall it was really smooth, so probably not a cheap and nasty rum either.
It was so good i ended the night on 2 more.

[Whorst]

Years ago, when I was really off my tits, I made a clone of Tennants Super. I brewed a very light lager with about 15 IBU's from Tettnager, and cut it with the cheapest vodka I could find.
It tasted just like Tennants!! Since then, I have refined both my techniques and palette.

[gdanby]

I tried a simple Innis and Gunn clone using a basic pale ale recipe and adding a bottle of cheapish bourbon to it. The best of this was was identifying how much bourbon to add, I started off with a load of glasses of the pale ale, the bottle of bourbon , measuring cylinders and pipettes. It started very scientific, but ended in a bit of a mess (but fun was had!).

Anyway, in the end I added 400ml of spirit to a cornie of ale (19l) and force carbonated, then bottled. ABV was about 6%. I found that a slight haze was introduced to the beer which has only just gone (after 7 months conditioning). At first, the taste and aroma seemed a little manufactured, but now its mellowed out more and is quite drinkable. I also had a lot of trouble with under-carbonation in the bottle, not sure if this is related to the spirit addition or not though.

[Brotherton Lad]

The old-fashioned way is a whisky and chaser, spirit and beer in separate glasses. Can't remember which you drink first, the whisky I expect. Suppose it doesn't matter after the first couple.

[EliteEvil]

the cheapest vodka I could find.

You guys might have all heard about this before but apparently someone is counterfitting Glen's vodka.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2008/feb/vodka

Another alternative to the ideas so far would be try using a bottle of "essence" intended to flavour vodka into other spirits, I think someone in the kit forum used a tequila one to mimic desperados, but I aren't sure how it turned out.

[Wolfy]

If you wish to add herbs or spices to a beer creating a tincture is a great idea.
I usually soak the herbs/spices in (cheap) vodka for a week or two, and then you can add a precise and measured dose to your beer (usually at bottling time).
So in a way I guess I've used spirits in my beer, but maybe not in the way you were expecting.

[Invalid Stout]

You guys might have all heard about this before but apparently someone is counterfitting Glen's vodka.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2008/feb/vodka

Glen's is pretty desperate in the first place, I guess the counterfeiters just wanted to target people who drink the cheapest stuff they can get.