Initial tasting has a bit of alcohol burn, but the aging process should take this out. Overall, a decent tasting young beer.

The oak and bourbon have given this a quite strong bourbon flavor without too much bitter/sharp components from the oak. This will be bottled soon.

2008-10-19: The flavor of the oak has really melded well with the beer, and the sharpness of the bourbon has settled down as well. This tastes fantastic right now, and hopefully will be even better in a month. 

2008-11-18: OK, 1 day early and this beer is tasting quite good. The carbonation seems to have washed out a little of the oak flavor, but it becomes more pronounced as it sits out open in a tulip glass. I'm not sure it is an award-winner, but it is extremely drinkable.

1. Heat 2.25 gallons of water to 153 degrees F
2. Steep all grains in grain bag for 30 minutes.
3. Discard grain bag and boil wort.
4. Add 3.3 lbs of LME, return to boil.
5. Add bittering hops, return to boil and continue for 45 minutes.
6. Add the rest of the DME and LME, return to boil for 7 minutes.
7. Add the aroma hops, boil for 8 minutes.
8. Chill the wort down to about 130 degrees F.
9. Add to fermenter and top up to 5.25 gallons.
10. Take hydrometer reading and pitch yeast.
11. Seal fermenter, install airlock.
12. Soak oak chips in bourbon for approximately 24 hours. Add to sanitized carboy.
13. Rack beer from primary on top of the oak chips.
14. Bung and install airlock.
15. Aged for 83 days on the oak. Bottled with 5 oz of priming sugar and 5.5g of extra ale yeast for bottling.