[bigfatjoey]

I was thinking about enhancing the rum flavor in a beer... with... well actual rum.

Has anyone experimented with adding a bottle of rum at bottling/kegging? Or in the primary or secondary?

Is this an awful idea?

Just something I'm toying around with.

[gordonstrong]

I haven't done it personally but that's mostly because I don't really enjoy beer cocktails.  But the flavor profile would likely match well with many styles.

You could do it by adding alcohol, but then you do wind up with a beer cocktail that has a burn to it.

You could use the same raw ingredients (molasses, dark unrefined sugar) in your beer and get a similar profile. Some of the darker (D, D2) Belgian candi sugar syrups will give you those flavors.

You could take a page from cooking and flame the alcohol before using it. That should preserve most of the flavor while removing a good portion of the alcohol.  Heat the alcohol in a shallow pan and then light it with a butane kitchen lighter or fireplace match. Leave it alone and let it burn off, then use the resulting liquid.  It will still have some alcohol in it, but less.  Cool it down and taste it and see if you like the profile.

Whichever approach you use, I'd also recommend that you start by blending an existing batch with whatever you want to use on a small scale (like a tasting glass). This will give you an idea if it's a bad idea or not, and will let you see what proportion you like.  If you come up with something that works, let us know.

[denny]

I make a bourbon vanilla imperial porter that has bourbon added to it.  I use 375 ml. of bourbon for a 5 gal. batch.  The idea is to get a bit of flavor without having the beer scream "bourbon!" at you.  I arrived at the amount by pouring 4 2 oz. samples of the beer and dosing each with a different amount of bourbon.  I tasted them and decided which I liked best, then scaled that amount of bourbon up to the batch size.

[bluesman]

I make a bourbon vanilla imperial porter that has bourbon added to it.  I use 375 ml. of bourbon for a 5 gal. batch.  The idea is to get a bit of flavor without having the beer scream "bourbon!" at you.  I arrived at the amount by pouring 4 2 oz. samples of the beer and dosing each with a different amount of bourbon.  I tasted them and decided which I liked best, then scaled that amount of bourbon up to the batch size.

....and its' good to the last drop. 

I have first hand experience with this fine beer.

[Hokerer]

I make a bourbon vanilla imperial porter that has bourbon added to it.  I use 375 ml. of bourbon for a 5 gal. batch.  The idea is to get a bit of flavor without having the beer scream "bourbon!" at you.  I arrived at the amount by pouring 4 2 oz. samples of the beer and dosing each with a different amount of bourbon.  I tasted them and decided which I liked best, then scaled that amount of bourbon up to the batch size.

I ran with that idea along with the fact that my wife's addicted to Haagen Dazs Rum Raisin.  Made a porter including Special B malt as it's supposed to give a raisin flavor.  Did Denny's dosing thing to come up with how much rum to add and went for it.  It didn't quite work out like I'd hoped, though.

[richardt]

Hmm... Interesting idea.  I love specialty beers.  And my wife likes Rum Raisin ice cream.

Homemade rum raisin ice cream is made with raisins that have been soaked in (dark) rum for at least one hour.  It helps if you prick the raisins with a needle, but simply giving it time (overnight) should also work.
You may wish to try adding rum-soaked raisins in the secondary in a future batch of porter.
Porters tend to be a bit dry (usually mashed at around 152-154 F)--you may want to add maltodextrins or mash at higher temps to have more residual sweetness in this specialty porter.  The extra sweetness should also help offset any rum-associated "hotness".
I am not sure how you'll get the creamy (buttery?) character except to say that you'll likely need more body (also from higher mash temps) and mouthfeel (dextrins, proteins, maybe even diacetyl derived from certain yeast strains).
Perhaps others can throw in their thoughts here.

[tom]

Some in our club have enhanced our bourbon barrel-aged beers with some extra bourbon, mmmm.

Maybe dose an Old Ale with Rum? Both Old Ale and Rum are often made with molasses.