Most of my brewing stuff just arrived, and the first thing I opened was the box for my Bourbon Barrel Porter. Popping it open, I discovered this brew is going to be A LOT more complicated than I thought. Instead of a simple extract brew, it’s a partial grain brew, with a pound of mixed grains, two types of hops, liquid and powdered extracts, etc. All the stuff you see above. It calls for a 60 minute boil, with stuff being added along the way.
Then there’s an eight week fermentation, with two weeks in primary, then two weeks in secondary, then another two weeks with bourbon and oak in the secondary and finally two weeks in bottles.
It’s going to be a very challenging first beer to brew indeed. I can’t wait to get started – this just got MUCH more interesting!
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
just follow the directions. This was similiar to my first brew minus the oak chips and time frame. THe other thing you can do is skip the bourbon chips and use them on a future batch.
Couple things, Use your thermometer, don’t let the grain bag sit on the bottom of the kettle while you have heat on it, everything that comes in contact with the beer after the boil must be sanitized. make sure the wort has cooled down to ~70 before adding yeast. Since you have a smack pack, make sure you “smack” it a couple of hours before you start.
I’ll email you my phone number incase you have a crisis 🙂
Good luck, it will be fun! Relax and just follow the instructions.
Thanks Peter. I was reading the directions last night and thought it was a multi-step but simple process. I just need to know it dead before I start.
The grain bag tip is a good one. I haven’t heard or read that one yet and I’m sure I’d wind up cooking the crap out of my specialty malt.
And on the oak chip front – every beer is better with oak so I’m using them! If they provide a decent oaked flavor, it’s a terrific way to make future brews more interesting without buying a barrel (like some people I know). 🙂
I still say you just need to add a cup or two of bourbon during the Chipping process. Chips can add oak, but bourbon will add “Spirit”!
It calls for 16 ounces, actually. Not sure what to use, though. The recipe suggests Maker’s Mark, but I have no clue. I want it to taste as good as possible, but I don’t want to waste good hooch if you can’t really taste the difference. Oh, the dilemmas faced by a master brewer!
I would use either Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star, if you don’t want to use more expensive stuff that will add a great bourbon flavor, or I would go with Elijah Craig to get that hint of smokiness.
I like Elijah Craig and smokey beer, so maybe that’s the way to go. Of course I’ve never had ancient age, so this might be a chance to try some. I have four or five weeks to figure it out….
Pick up a bottle of each and then decide. The AAA will only be around $12 for a fifth.
My tip is to put the grain in the cold water, heat it to 160 (higher temps can cause a husky quality) and let is steep for half an hour. Once that’s done, remove the grain and pour some hot water on it (don’t squeeze the bag). I agree with Peter on the bag. I always tied it to the side handle of the pot and let it sit there like a tea bag. Other advice: Be clean! Be clean! Be clean! and take Peter up on his offer, if you need. Last advice, don’t worry yourself to death. You’ll do fine.
Why do I pour hot water on the grain bag after it has steeped? Also, the instructions say put the grain bag in cold water and heat to 170f and remove. Is it better to heat to 160 and let steep for 30 mins? Sounds tastier…
POuring hot water over the grains rinses converted sugars out 🙂
Where do I pour it into? Do I rinse the bag over the kettle so it catures the converted sugars?
I’m betting that you pour the hot wort over the bag, so as not to dilute the wort you had just created.
You wind up diluting the wort when you put it in the fermentor, by adding 2.5 gallons or so of water, so I don’t think a little hot water over the bag and into the kettle is a bad thing.
Personally I’d get your water to temp and steep it like a tea. Once again I haven’t done a partial mash, so I dunno if thats proper. Then I would take some of that water and reheat to 170 and run it over the bag to rinse more sugars out of it.
Also over here in the 2C is the Snake River Homebrewers club. snakeriverbrewers.org/ Jump on there and get on the forums, they are always up for helping out.
Thanks for the tips Marvin. I think I have a clear idea of what I’m supposed to be doing and why. I’m sure this is going to turn out fine as long as I don’t accidentally drool into the fermentor (which might happen).
Marvin, I didn’t know that you were just over in Canyon County! I actually live in Owyhee Co. Good to know the Snakeriverbrewers exist, because while my brother is brewing in Jersey, I’ll be starting up here in the next couple of weeks. Nice to know there are resources close by.
Lol, all I have ever done is all grain and somehow partial mashing seems more complicated. As for the hot water over the grain bag and temps, it’s to rinse the sugars out of the grain. Same reason you sparge when doing AG (all grain).
The prime temp for rinsing is right at 170, the higher temp makes the sugars more soluble. But after 170 degrees you can get off flavours from the grains.
As for steeping this is where personal preference comes into play. Lower temp (low end being 149) means more ferment-able sugars from grain and makes for dryer finish. And higher temps (160 the high range) means less ferment-ables and more maltiness due to residual sugars.
As for how much this will change your partial mash batch, I dunno. I have never done anything with extract brewing. My buddy had originally shown me how to brew doing AG and that’s all I have ever known.
Oh and if you steep at a lower temp I would increase the steeping time. If I do 149 degrees I mash out for 2 hours, but once again this is going AG. So I could be totally off base doing partial mash. And one hour for higher temps.
I am excited for you, weirdly more excited by you brewing then by the fact I get to brew tomorrow lol. Good times.
Thanks, Marvin, I’m excited, too. I think I have everything I need except maybe unscented dish detergent for cleaning stuff before sanitizing.
I just want to confirm that I pour the hot water over the bag and INTO the wort kettle. It’s the only place that makes sense, right?
Also, sounds like I want to ride the temp a little below 170. I’m all for maltiness and want to stick to the recipe as much as possible (being a babe in the woods and all) but I don’t want off flavors.
BTW, these nuances are getting me totally stoked. I love the level of control I’ll have, but even more the level of knowledge that’s available out there (and right here, too, thanks to you guys). I just wish I could taste it right after I finish brewing to see what I got, like when you cook a good meal. That way you can easily remember what you did and taste the impact it had on your creation.
Guess I’ll have to take good notes.