Answers.Body: <p>First, congratulations on getting bit by the homebrewing bug!  </p>
  
  <p>Yes, you can actually drop bourbon/scotch/whiskey into your fermented beer to add that flavor. Why after fermentation? To make sure you don't kill the yeast before they do their job. The hardest part is getting the right spirit to blend with the beer you're making. Darker beers tend to hold up to spirits better because of the unfermented dark roasted malts and robustness that off-set the alcohol you're placing in them. Dropping bourbon in a sour would probably be a waste of time, effort, and good alcohol.  </p>
  
  <p>Homebrewers more commonly use "other" ingredients to impart other flavors to beer that might not be approved for commercial use. <a href="http://byo.com" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Brew Your Own</a> has a section called <a href="http://byo.com/mead/item/867-how-can-you-imitate-barrel-aging-homebrew-with-oak-chips" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mister Wizard</a> that addressed a little of this in one of the responses. This should kind of give you an idea of the "mad scientist" aspect of homebrew beer additives.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>The same is true if one chooses to add oak chips to the secondary fermentation. After I got the brew where I wanted it with respect to beer flavor, oak flavor and aged flavors, I would begin to play with adding the wine or spirit component. This type of blending is always best done by preparing several samples of beer with varying levels of blended mixtures so that the flavor impact can be tasted over a range of concentrations. You may find that even a little of the planned flavor additive makes for a vile brew and you can avert a disaster.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>However, the easier and more repeatable version (albeit more money than most recreational brewers will care to spend) is to buy a bourbon barrel and let your beer age in them to absorb the bourbon-y goodness. <a href="https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/335/5428/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Dragon's Milk</a> and <a href="https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/11036/51153/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Sexual Chocolate</a> are two solid mentions (in my opinion). </p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-04-10T14:54:44.343Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-04-10T14:54:44.343Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: BryceH
Body: <p>I am new to home brewing now having done only 3 batches, I am looking to add flavours, my last batch was a light beer which I added lime codial to and was great, but can I add Still Spirit Essences to my home brew beer to give that whisky or bourbon chaser effect and how would I do this? At what stage of the process would I do this? Your help would be greatley appreciated, Thank You!</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2017-04-10T12:42:23.287Z
Comments.Text: There is also http://homebrew.stackexchange.com/ where you could ask such a question.  There are indeed more users and visitors there than here.
Comments.UserDisplayName: can-ned_food
Tags: <flavor><home-brewing>
Title: Adding Spirit Essences to home brew beer
UserDisplayName: Paedro
ThreadText: # Adding Spirit Essences to home brew beer
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-04-10)
  
  I am new to home brewing now having done only 3 batches, I am looking to add flavours, my last batch was a light beer which I added lime codial to and was great, but can I add Still Spirit Essences to my home brew beer to give that whisky or bourbon chaser effect and how would I do this? At what stage of the process would I do this? Your help would be greatley appreciated, Thank You!
  
  **Tags:** flavor, home-brewing
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: There is also http://homebrew.stackexchange.com/ where you could ask such a question.  There are indeed more users and visitors there than here.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2017-04-10. Score: 3
  
  First, congratulations on getting bit by the homebrewing bug!
  
  Yes, you can actually drop bourbon/scotch/whiskey into your fermented beer to add that flavor. Why after fermentation? To make sure you don't kill the yeast before they do their job. The hardest part is getting the right spirit to blend with the beer you're making. Darker beers tend to hold up to spirits better because of the unfermented dark roasted malts and robustness that off-set the alcohol you're placing in them. Dropping bourbon in a sour would probably be a waste of time, effort, and good alcohol.
  
  Homebrewers more commonly use "other" ingredients to impart other flavors to beer that might not be approved for commercial use. [Brew Your Own](http://byo.com) has a section called [Mister Wizard](http://byo.com/mead/item/867-how-can-you-imitate-barrel-aging-homebrew-with-oak-chips) that addressed a little of this in one of the responses. This should kind of give you an idea of the "mad scientist" aspect of homebrew beer additives.
  
  > The same is true if one chooses to add oak chips to the secondary fermentation. After I got the brew where I wanted it with respect to beer flavor, oak flavor and aged flavors, I would begin to play with adding the wine or spirit component. This type of blending is always best done by preparing several samples of beer with varying levels of blended mixtures so that the flavor impact can be tasted over a range of concentrations. You may find that even a little of the planned flavor additive makes for a vile brew and you can avert a disaster.
  
  However, the easier and more repeatable version (albeit more money than most recreational brewers will care to spend) is to buy a bourbon barrel and let your beer age in them to absorb the bourbon-y goodness. [Dragon's Milk](https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/335/5428/) and [Sexual Chocolate](https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/11036/51153/) are two solid mentions (in my opinion).
  
  
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