OVHA Chat

I told Bob O. from Indy we would participate, but we can cancel if nobody is interested.

All clubs are to fill a Woodford Reserve barrel (53 gakkons) with any beer we choose to brew. We can get our free barrel at the Indy Winterfest in January. We then will need to supply a cornie for the reception of the Brewers' Cup next summer. I am not sure if the judging will be from the cornie or we need to also send up some bottles. There will be a special judging category for these beers. The rest is ours.

We need to decide if we are participating, what beer we want to make & figure out the details. I have a 75 gallon tank that we could use a a fermenter if we wanted to ferment everything together.

I vote lets do it.
I would like to help make 50 gallons of beer, and can donate some grain too.

Sounds great. Count me in. We can easily do this as a club.
We need to decide what style of beer.
Woodford reserve is a good Kentucky Bourbon. So the style would have to lend it's self well to that.
Since multiple brewers are going to contribute, do we decide to brew the same recipe adjusted for each brewer efficiency, or each brewer brew their own recipe with the blend having nice subtle flavor layers.
Should there also be a taster/judge to determine if the wort joins the mix?

Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale...
Bourbon Barrel Aged Tripel

Could we feed it pure dextrose during fermentation and get the ABV to 21% like 120 minute IPA or Utopias?
We're Gonna Hug It and Squeeze It and Stroke Its Oaken belly and Call It George!!!

I'm in for this. Just my $0.02 - this might be a perfect thing to do with the winning Big Turkey recipe. Unless you think that just isn't meant for oak Don.

Really depends on the timing of things. I might be able to drop 10 gallons in. I wish we could brew it all at once. But then again, I wish I could brew 50 gallons every day.

The other option would be to have a few people mash the grains. Then Mike and I could invert the sugar for the entire batch at once in one of my big pots.

We could get together and do a Monster Mash. I could contribute my five gallons to Jack's 2.5 bbl fermenter.

Here is more info from Bob. If we are going to ferment it all together I think we should brew it all together. When is everybody free after the holidays? Super high gravity would be cool, but we have less than 6 months to age it before the competition.

To: Indiana Homebrew Clubs,
Hi.

Anita Johnson and I are working with John Kruse of Brown Forman to get used-once Woodford Reserve barrels to Indiana Homebrew Clubs for a club competition at the Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup. Here's what we're planning.

Each participating club will get a 53-gallon wooden barrel. There is no charge. Brown Forman is donating the barrels.

Your club will probably have a big-brew day to make one batch of beer - your choice of style. The cask, of course, is to be used for barrel aging.
No, you don't get the grain or hops donated also.

Each club will submit one entry (late June) to the Indiana State Fair Brewers Cup in a special category to compete for the Woodford Reserve Cup.
This competition will be judged in category 22C - Wood-Aged Beer. It will include "base styles where barrel-aging is a fundamental requirement for the style (e.g., Flanders Red, Lambic, etc.)."

This competition will be judged by out-of-state judges.
Your club gets to keep the cask, of course. We encourage the winners, at least, to subsequently make a Pro-Am beer with their local brewery.
We need you to bring a 5-gal corny keg of your entry beer to the Brewers Cup (early July) for people to sample during the dinner and awards ceremony (and possibly other State Fair receptions).
The casks will be delivered by Brown Forman to the State Fairgrounds on January 30th, 2010 at the B.I.G. Winterfest. You'll need to pick them up there. Bring a pickup truck or a van. (Yeah, we can make special arrangements).

This email is going to one person in each club. If you aren't the right person, please forward it.

We need to have a final list by Jan 1. Yep, only a week away. Sorry. Please reply or call me at 317-856-6092 (after 10am) ASAP to let us know whether or not your club can participate.

This is being sent to:

Bloomington Hop Jockeys
Columbus Area Classic Alers
Duneland Homebrewers Association
Fermenters of Special Southern Indiana Libations Society
Foam Blowers of Indiana
Homebrewers of Preferred Suds
Howard County Homebrew Club
Indiana Brewing and Drinking Society
Jasper Homebrew Club
Mad Anthony Serious Homebrewers
MECA Brewers
Michiana Extract & Grain Association
Ohio Valley Hombrewers Association
Saint Gambrinus Society
Tippecanoe Homebrewers Circle


Thanks, Hope to hear from you soon.

Bob.

--
Cheers,
Bob Ostrander - bob@indianabeer.com - 317-856-6092

Whiskey barrels pretty much destroy a delicate beer IMO. You just basically need a clean base to work with and figure out what final gravity you want. A 25-30 IBU, mid gravity beer would be my recomendation so it's digestible but has enough creamy smoothness to try and help balance the whiskey contamination. If it were me, I'd shoot for a base around 8 to 8.5% with a finishing gravity around 1.016 to 1.018.

Oh, and again, if it were my own beer I'd give it some color with just a tad bit of roasted grain or carmelized sugar, more preferably. Just suggestions to the team.

Count me in!!

Doing a little internet research, there are a few breweries that have utilized Woodford Reserve barrels for aging.
Brooklyn Brewery in NY has made "Black Ops" a Russian Imperial Stout aged 4 months and at 10.7% ABV.
Sweetwater Brewing Company in Atlanta has made "Ron W. Burgundy" a Strong Scotch ale at 7.5% ABV.
New Holland Brewing company, in Michigan has made "Mad Hatter" an American IPA.
Ram Brewery in Indy has "The First Frost Strong Ale" at 7.25 % ABV.
District ChopHouse (Rock Bottom in DC) has "Woodford Reserve Bourbon Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout" aged only 6 weeks.
Terrapin from Athens, GA has "India Brown Ale" and American Brown Ale at 6.2% ABV

I haven't tried any of them, but I'd vote for the Scotch Ale.
We could have our theme song: George Thorogood "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer!"

OK, so here are the questions that need answers so far (I will keep this post up to date as things are answered.)

Are we doing this: Yes!

What beer to make : Don Heisler's Old Ale

When: ASAP as it will need to age, etc. etc.

Where to make it: Tentatively - We will be making it at Kenney Lucas' place (address to follow once this is finalized)

Fermentation: We will use Jack's big fermemter. We will ferment in Kenney Lucas' basement

Supplies: Jack can supply hops/grain at cost (at least).

Participants:

- Alvey : 10 gal.
- J Dippel : 5 gal.
- Dwayne : 5 gal.
- Norrick : 10 gal.
- Heisler : 5 gal. ?
- Mills : 5 gal. ?
- Jim P : 5 gal. ?
- Jeff Smith : 5 gal.
= 50 gal so far

If we were to go the Imperial Stout route, here's something based on Great Divide's Oak Aged Yeti:

5.5 gal. | 1.075/1.019 | 43 IBU | 41 SRM

OVHA Sasquatch Stout
13.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.00 %
1.50 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 9.23 %
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4.62 %
0.50 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 3.08 %
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 3.08 %

1.00 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 38.2 IBU
1.00 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 5.4 IBU

2 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale


---------------

If we want to do something to stand out a bit, and go lighter - how about something with Maple Syrup

5.5 gal. | 1.054/1.014 | 22 IBU | 18 SRM

OVHA Maple Barrel Breakfast Brown
9.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 80.00 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 8.89 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.22 %
1.00 lb Maple Syrup (35.0 SRM) Sugar 8.89 % (at flameout and/or more in the barrel - more mapleness in the barrel plus we could control the taste there.)

0.50 oz Magnum [14.00 %] (60 min) Hops 22.5 IBU (chosen for neutrality)

Here is my Old Ale this is my base Old Ale, and the beer I brought to the January meeting.

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
OG: 1.078 SG
FG: 1.024 SG
ABV 7.6%
Color: 28.1 SRM
IBU: 26.5 IBU
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
13 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.5 SRM)
10.1 oz (.63#)Malted Oats
10.1 oz (.63#)Caramel/Crystal Malt - 70L (70.0 SRM)
1.50 oz Challenger [7.00 %] (60 min)
0.80 oz Fuggles [3.70%] (10 min)
0.80oz Fuggles [3.70%] (1 min)
0.50 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)
1 lbs Dark Candi Sugar (60 min)
1 Pkgs WLP002 Cultured (2 qt. starter)

90 min Mash In at 1.25 QT/# Mash 154.0 F (lost 2 degs by end of mash)
10 min Mashout at 1.78 QT/# 168.0 F
Batch sparge until I had 6.75 gallons for 60 min boil.
Fermemtation
17 days at 68 degs then kegged and rested for 3 months.
Carbonated at 2.2 vol. 47 degs.

This need 3 to 4 months to condition and mellow, and still gets better with age up to a year or so.