Bourbon Flavored

[pgwolfe]

I have made numerous batches of meads (melomels, methoglins, cysers) and I am constantly experimenting. I'd like to do a bourbon flavored "mead", but am unsure of how to go about this.

Currently I have a 6 gallon batch made with Costco honey. I started the batch on May 11, and today I checked the ABV and it is around 13.25%. Typically I would keep the batch in the primary for at least a month. but am trying to plan on how/when to produce the bourbon flavor.

Suggestions on how to add flavoring to get a bourbon flavor?

 

[rb2112br]

Suggestions on how to add flavoring to get a bourbon flavor?

I haven't tried it in a mead yet, but I have added bourbon, whiskey, and rum barrel aged flavoring to a few batches of beer that I have made. What I have done is soak oak spirals or cubes in about a cup of whatever spirit I'm using and let it soak for a week or two. One cup of the liquor in a 5 gallon batch of beer doesn't have a drastic affect on the ABV, but the alcohol soaked oak adds a nice flavor to whatever you're making.

 

[pgwolfe]

I haven't tried it in a mead yet, but I have added bourbon, whiskey, and rum barrel aged flavoring to a few batches of beer that I have made. What I have done is soak oak spirals or cubes in about a cup of whatever spirit I'm using and let it soak for a week or two. One cup of the liquor in a 5 gallon batch of beer doesn't have a drastic affect on the ABV, but the alcohol soaked oak adds a nice flavor to whatever you're making.

Great advice. That will be my game plan. Thanks.

 

[Squatchy]

Great advice. That will be my game plan. Thanks.

Hi

I received your PM and thought I would answer it here so more could benefit later down the road. With Spirits, half the flavor comes from the barrel component. I have a fast answer that is the quickest way to do this. And then a short-ish answer to tell you something I have done. I have never found anyone else who did this.

You lose oak flavor if you add your spirits to a glass of oak. So don't throw out that liquor. Add it to the mead with the oak. After that, I would take turns. Add more spirit until you feel you are close to adding the rest of the spirit you want into the mead. Then add more oak (never chips) and leave it for a couple of months. Then decide. If you wish to more oak and more and, wait again for a couple of months. Do this until you find the sweet spot you're looking for.

 

[Squatchy]

Hi

I received your PM and thought I would answer it here so more could benefit later down the road. With Spirits, half the flavor comes from the barrel component. I have a fast answer that is the quickest way to do this. And then a short-ish answer to tell you something I have done. I have never found anyone else who did this.

You lose oak flavor if you add your spirits to a glass of oak. So don't throw out that liquor. Add it to the mead with the oak. After that, I would take turns. Add more spirit until you feel you are close to adding the rest of the spirit you want into the mead. Then add more oak (never chips) and leave it for a couple of months. Then decide. If you wish to more oak and more and, wait again for a couple of months. Do this until you find the sweet spot you're looking for.

I've done this before as well. Find a whiskey grain bill you like. Make up a mash the same way you would if you were going to distil it. Then add your honey to it to make the ABV you are looking for. Ferment it like a mead. You might need to make adjustments like the above. You can add some of your oak in the fermentation. Then start doing the adjustments. You can always add some oak to a jar and let it sit with some alcohol for several weeks. And just keep extra around to add that to your adjustments if you want it to finish up faster than the above.

Lastly I have three used whiskey barrels I bought and filled with mead then tagged it for a while till I find what I'm looking for. One of the barrels I used to fillup with the whiskey/mash/honey fermentation