What next for our barrel

Our local brew club "Liffey brewers " got hold of 2 Laphroaig whisky barrels and we brewed an RIS beer and have matured it in them. We are now ready to bottle them and so are looking for a recipe to replace them in the barrels. Given that the residue is wood whisky and stout we are thinking along the lines of an old ale or barley wine style. Has anyone got a suggestion and a recipe.

To add we already have 2 other barrels doing sours so we do not want to sour these ones.

By far my favourite barrel aged beer ever was a saison aged in a red wine barrel, but that doesn't help you here. Perhaps a scotch ale - malty with lots of crystal and low bitterness, aim for a red colour - they age very well and go down great.

I'd love to see something along the lines of gavroche from Saint sylvestre in a barrel. The malt is 80% Munich, 20% pilsner then a mix of dark and white sugar making up around 5-10% of fermentable and a fairly neutral yeast. Brewers gold or fuggles for bittering to around 23 ibu and then hallertauer with 20 mins left to add an extra 2-3 IBUs. Aim for 8.5% with kolsch or European ale yeast fermented low to keep it clean and malty.

Might just be the beer of my dreams!

Brown Porter would work, or a 60/70/80 Shilling type beer or an Old Ale.

A wee heavy is being mooted. The use of treacle too. Something like theaksons old peculiar with a 9% range. It's the smokeness of the Laphroaig that's leaning to this style.

Theakstons Old Peculiar is considered an Old Ale afaik. Should defo work in those oak casks. I know that Theakstons do still use oak casks locally and I've seen Old Peculiar in oak casks first-hand.

A Scotch ale would be great too, I like that idea

It has to be a "homonym heavy"

To say Laphroaig is peaty is an understatement. Our RIS beer is out of the barrels now and going to be bottled but the bang of peat is mega. Hoping it will smooth out in the bottle. We have now washed out the barrels and have a solution of citric acid and sodium metabisulphite in them. Trying to agree what beer to put in next.