Russian Imperial Stout with Bourbon Soaked Oak (2019 Version) - Tasting Notes

This was my second attempt to brew a Russian Imperial Stout based on Goose Island's amazing Bourbon County Brand Stout.  This is a beer aged in bourbon barrels - it has a really amazing whiskey character.  I based my recipe almost exactly off the real beer (they have made their recipe public) and ended up just a bit high on my FG (1.055 vs 1.040).

Brewing the beer itself is actually the easy part (in theory, as I messed that up even).  Getting the whiskey and oak character right is the real challenge.  I used 6 inch sticks of white oak which I cut, then toasted at ~400 F and then charred.  These were soaked in Everclear that I'd watered down to 60% ABV (which is barrel strength for whiskey) for several months up in my hot attic.  I used 2 (0.5x0.5x6) small sticks and one large one (1x1x6) in the beer for 7 months.

At bottling I added a bit more of the barrel aged spirit when I found the beer was lacking in much barrel character (even after the aging).

It has been in bottles for 8 months now.  I've been drinking it quite a bit.  It definitely makes a nice substitute for BCBS (which I'm just about out of now).  I wish I could say it's spot on the mark as a clone and that I wont be buying any more BCBS this year at $13 a bottle.  Not the case sadly.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Dark chocolate with a bit of coffee are the most dominant components.  Get a bit of whiskey and oak - the beer has a boozy character.  There are mild fruit notes mixed in as well (raisin maybe).  Maybe get some caramel faintly in the background too and something that reminds me of honey
• Appearance:
• Very dark brown.  Can't say if it's clear.  Pours with a very think layer of brown foam which is gone in seconds
• Flavor:
• Sweet up front.  Then a bit of booze hits once that clears.  The next wave of flavor is a firm toastyness with bitter dark chocolate.  This lingers into the finish and lasts for some time after the swallow.  A fair amount of booze/barrel character make it to the finish as well but i's definitely balanced more towards the malt.  No hop flavor comes through but I get a fair amount of hop bitterness in the finish.
• Mouthfeel:
• Full bodied and sticky on the palate.  There is a warming alcohol presence
• Overall:
• A really rich and boldly flavored beer with a broad array of flavors which bring a nice complexity.  Really nice sipping beer.  Judged on its own merits, it's a really nice beer.  I believe the whiskey character is a bit too far in the background to bare much resemblance to BCBS (will explore that further in a direct vertical tasting soon).  Still happy to drink this beer and not unhappy that I may have missed the mark a bit.