1) It was the first homebrew book I had seen which discussed the use of oak chips and beer
2) The book has recipes to some of my favorite beers ( no, not just ones from Dog Fish Head! )
3) It has the recipe for Midas Touch :-> ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midas_Touch_Golden_Elixir )
I got an idea from a few different sources:
1) The local brewery Barleys, they make a beer called Jack Frost which is a winter ale aged in a Jack Daniels cask
2) There is a recipe in the Extreme Brewing book which discusses using oak chips soaked in Port
3) I really love whisky!
Here is the idea:
Take a basic recipe - in this case the nut brown ale recipe from Dog Fish Head. Then take oak chips soaked in some kind of whisky - add to the secondary fermenter for a while. I tried this idea out 8 months ago or so with Jack Daniels whisky. I must say, it was one of my best brews to date. All of my friends and family ask me: When are you making that whisky beer again?
Well, Here we go. It has been brewed!
The recipe ( slightly modified from the original )
2lbs 2-row barley
10oz British amber malt
10oz chocolate malt
2oz roasted barley
2 cans light lme ( Alexanders I believe )
2lbs dark amber honey
1/2 oz warrior hops for the boil
1oz vanguard hops, last 15 minutes
I toasted some oak chips. Very simple, covered a cookie pan with aluminum foil, dropped the chips onto the tray and then cover with aluminum foil. Cook over a flame for about 15 minutes and then leave to cool. Some of the chips were pretty charred, some were not - which is ok that is what I want. Once the chips cooled, I tossed them into an air-tight canister along with 2oz or so of Glenlivet 12-year whisky ( I know, to some this is alcohol abuse but hey, its got a purpose! )
The recipe called for ringwood yeast but the local brew supply did not have this strain. I picked up the Wyeast 1028 London yeast which should be fairly close - we'll see.
Upon racking, the beer had a pretty strong foam on top. I assume this to be the protein rich brew. I awoke the next morning to the wonderful aroma of the digestion gasses of the yeast. The wife hates it - personally I love it :-> Beer had a nice rocky head and the airlock was going bonkers.
The steps still remaining for this batch:
1) Transfer to the secondary fermenter
2) Add the oak chips ( drain the whisky off, should cut down on sediment )
3) Leave in the secondary for at least 2 months - maybe more
I think the really long stay in the secondary should help this batch ferment out fully. The original gravity was 1.080 or so, but the temp may have been a little higher than the hydrometer accounted for. The difference is probably almost nothing.
