Ideas for re-configuring a Stout?

[J A]

I have a couple of kegs of my Guinness-style stout and I'm thinking that I want to zhuzh up one of them and create a bigger, maybe flavored stout.
The current beer is very nicely dry, maybe slightly more IBUs than might be perfect (but who's counting? ) and with very bold roast flavor. It's a good version as is (and it makes a helluva black and tan with my Golden Ale) but I have a lot of it and I realized that I could make some additions to the keg that would take it to a different level. I figure I'll add up to a quart of 80-proof something to bump the ABV by at least a point or two and then I need to add some other flavors and maybe add some body.

I could:
Add some soaked chips/ spirals and make it "barrel aged" and maybe use a decent whiskey to boost the ABV
Add some chocolate and or cherry flavor and maybe some lactose
Add some coconut or pecan flavor and/or maybe caramel flavor or marshmallow...also good old Vanilla could work
Add some Kahlua and cold brew for a coffee stout
Add some honey/oats/Scotch slurry and go full Atholl Brose with it
Add a dose of actual liquid malt extract to mimic a higher FG and add a larger amount of alcohol to boost it into an Imperial Stout style.
Whatever I do, I'll likely need to add some body and a little sweetness to make it work.

Bear in mind that it's in the keg so anything I add has to be either an extract or something that's going to leach flavor without a lot of debris or gunk. I'll use my keg-hop spider if there's anything non-liquid

What do you think?

 

[Dave Y]

If you go in with Whiskey, Bourbon or Rye, you can soak the chips a day or 2, then add to the already chilled keg and get a good extraction of alcohol and flavor. I've done this a few times with success.

I've not added chocolate post brew; mostly I've used nibs in mash / boil. Post boil, be careful because nibs will turn your dark beer citrus-y bitter really quick, like no more than a day.

 

[Semper Sitientum]

My flavor go-tos are chocolate and coconut. For chocolate, I bake cacao nibs @300 for 12-15 minutes until they smell like brownies. Then, soak in vodka for at least 2 weeks to make a tincture. I add two days before bottling using a strainer. For coconut, use unsweetened, preservative free. Again, soaking for two weeks before bottling. I’ve experimented with toasting the coconut, but prefer the natural flavor. I know you can buy extracts of both, but for me that’s cheating.

 

[J A]

know you can buy extracts of both, but for me that’s cheating.

I'm not above cheating, but I agree that using "natural" ingredients to extract flavors is more desirable.

 

[Craigerrr]

Chocolate Cranberry is a combination I like. The Cranberry should be simple, you should be able to find 100% pure cranberry juice in the grocery store. It is wicked tart, you would never drink it at 100% pure. You could experiment adding measured amounts to the other stout you have to get a dosage volume. A little goes a long way.
If you do go with chocolate in some form, a small amount of vanilla helps bring out the chocolate flavor.

 

[Craigerrr]

I have done a 7.4% Chcolate Cranberry Stout. I added 76ml Cranberry juice, 15ml of pure vanilla extract, and a cacao nib / rum tincture.

 

[Megary]

A lot of great ideas above, but if it were mine…Vanilla beans (or extract) and bourbon.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[J A]

A lot of great ideas above, but if it were mine…Vanilla beans (or extract) and bourbon.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

Simple and effective!

 

[Craigerrr]

A lot of great ideas above, but if it were mine…Vanilla beans (or extract) and bourbon.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

How much Bourbon do you think you would add

 

[J A]

How much Bourbon do you think you would add

One pint of 80 proof alcohol raises the total ABV of a 5-gallon keg by 1 percent. In the case of my 4.4% Irish Stout, it might be nice to bump it up more than a point so I'd think about a full 750 ml, about 25 ounces, for a final ABV pushing 6%. That's still not a big stout but more alcohol than that when added to the keg might take over the flavor.

 

[Megary]

How much Bourbon do you think you would add

Not a great answer, but “to taste”. I don’t think you need a lot, because as JA says, the bourbon can take over.
Maybe 1-2 ounces per gallon, at packaging.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Add some soaked chips/ spirals and make it "barrel aged" and maybe use a decent whiskey to boost the ABV

All options are good ones but, my preference would definitely be the above.

How much Bourbon do you think you would add

I put the oak cubes in a small jar and add enough bourbon to cover the chips. I would guess it's 3-4 oz.

 

[Yooper]

A lot of great ideas above, but if it were mine…Vanilla beans (or extract) and bourbon.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

I like that!

I HATE coconut and chocolate equally so I’m biased- but a lovely roasted high ABV stout with some bourbon-tinged oak would be awesome. Vanilla would be good too, to help bring out the roasted flavors of the stout without harshness.

If the ABV is boosted, I do like medium French oak chips/cubes soaked in bourbon and then added to the beer for about 2 weeks (depending on how many you use of course!) makes a really nice flavor addition.

 

[J A]

I like that!

I HATE coconut and chocolate equally so I’m biased- but a lovely roasted high ABV stout with some bourbon-tinged oak would be awesome. Vanilla would be good too, to help bring out the roasted flavors of the stout without harshness.

If the ABV is boosted, I do like medium French oak chips/cubes soaked in bourbon and then added to the beer for about 2 weeks (depending on how many you use of course!) makes a really nice flavor addition.

I have French oak chips and an ever-increasing supply of good alcohol for soaking I also have a bag of Jack Daniels smoker chips which do a pretty nice job of bringing bourbon flavors in short order. I can get double duty out of the chips...using a sizeable quantity of the chips to "age" white whiskey and then using them to flavor the stout.
I don't mind chocolate notes in a stout but this particular beer has such strong roast notes it may be that any sweet chocolate flavors could get over-run. Vanilla does seem like the thing to smooth things out and bring all the flavors together. I have some 80 proof stuff that's pretty neutral and could boost by a point or more without taking over the flavor too much. The more I push the oak/bourbon/vanilla flavor and ABV, the more I'll have to back-sweeten with LME or maybe amber/dark candi-syrup.

 

[JVi]

I like the idea of whiskey or alcohol and/or oak chips. If you could get chips from used (dark)caribbean rum cask.

 

[Bigbre04]

So Amoretti chocolate craft puree is very good. i like a lot of their flavors and flavorings. I use LD carlsons coconut flavoring at roughly 1.5L/76gals and it gives a nice medium coconut flavor w/o being overpowering(this is generally in a stout or porter).

red fruits like cranberry, cherry, and raspberry pair well with the chocolate. but you could also go another way and add some chocolate and tangerine or blueberry. think about classic fruits that go into dark chocolate.

Cant go wrong with wood chips, but assuming its a low abv stout, it may not age super well. not sure if i would waste "good" bourbon, but i guess that depends on your definition lol,

Go VERY light on the vanilla. i use 250ml/76gals in big flavorful sours and dark beers. If you use the vanilla, add it slowly, it takes a while to fully go into solution. especially in cold beers. I generally give it 24 hrs before i come back and taste it. it is very quick to become overpowering.

 

[J A]

Cant go wrong with wood chips, but assuming its a low abv stout, it may not age super well.

I've got a pile of chips that I've been using to extract flavor for "aging" white liquor. I can throw those in there for 2-3 weeks and add some flavorful bourbon for extra ABV.

 

[Sandy Feet]

I haven't tried it, and you would probably need to use powder, but what about Peanut Butter?

 

[Bigbre04]

I've got a pile of chips that I've been using to extract flavor for "aging" white liquor. I can throw those in there for 2-3 weeks and add some flavorful bourbon for extra ABV.

that is certainly a good starting point! you may get more utility from a small amount of bourbon, the wood chips and then a touch of vanilla. start small with the vanilla, you dont really want to taste it. it will add a creaminess to the pallet that is very pleasant. i would start at 1.3ml vanilla/gallon. for reference my "standard" ratio is 3.2ml/gal

 

[Bigbre04]

I haven't tried it, and you would probably need to use powder, but what about Peanut Butter?

i was randomly at my friends brewery while they were brewing 3.5bbls of Peanut butter stout. The brewer was shoveling peanut butter powder in lol. as i recall, they had issues with it not really going into solution and ending up on the bottom of the kettle as a sludge. I left before i got the full report lol.

i am not sure how it would work in cold beer?