Dan Comparet and I made an Imperial Stout for our reading group beer dinner (Dan did most of it, I mainly stirred the pot when he told me to.) We saved out a bit and added bourbon to it to try to create a bourbon barrel aged kind of taste.
Tonight I opened one of those that had been aging since November.
Wow! Looks great. Dark as old motor oil, a splendid head on it.
When we made the beer we tasted and added bourbon and tasted and adjusted until we thought we had it perfect. We were trying for just a hint of bourbon in the stout. We weren’t trying to bottle up boilermakers.
It tasted right when it went into the bottle, but after aging 4 months the bourbon flavor has faded out entirely. The stout itself is still just delightful. It tastes as rich and dark as it looks. We added extra roasted grains to it, and those paid off handsomely, giving it that almost burnt taste I love in a stout.
Spiking it with bourbon didn’t work, but even without it, it’s delicious!
Dan, this one’s for you!
Cheers!
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