Newbie wanting to distill a barrel as a retirement gift!

[Retirement Gift]

Hello gentlemen,

Somewhere this year I want to start my very first distillation run. My father in law is about 5 years away from retirement. He's also a bit of a whiskey afficionado. Naturally, when the time comes, I could buy him a nice bottle of whiskey, but where is the fun in that? I'm hoping to present him with a much cooler and more personal gift - his very own barrel of distillate. Since I have a few years to work with, I should have the time to:

A.) Learn as much as I can (I will be browsing this forum for AGES - and please don't mind the occasional 'dumb' question)
B.) Collect all the necessary equipment and raw materials
C.) Do a few trial runs (and go back to A when necessary)
D.) Produce a decent batch, and still have a few years left for it to mature in an oak mini barrel.

I have never attempted anything like this before, so I will assume there will be lots and lots of trial and error involved, but hey, I could use a new hobby anyway!

See you guys around!

[Bushman]

You are a great son-in-law and your aspirations are very noble. Welcome to HD!

[NZChris]

Welcome to the forum. A noble task indeed.

Be aware that the wood to liquor ratio increases as the barrel size decreases, so over oaking is possible in small barrels.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Welcome, Retirement Gift, you found a great place to start your adventure. Everything you need to complete your quest is right here at your fingertips!
I've been fiddling around with whiskey for just over 2 years now and I can say absolutely that your idea is doable. You will learn a great deal on the journey, and ultimately you will probably end up with a much greater gift yourself.

Dig in, take your time, learn and then learn some more, and make a lot of whiskey! That is how you will move ahead. There are many folks here, past and present, who will lead you to the promised land. We will all sign the barrel for ya.

Good luck and keep us posted!

[GrassHopper]

Welcome Retirement,
My, my....that for sure is a lofty goal. Hell, if my son-in-law wanted to gift me a barrel of whiskey, I would even buy the barrel.
Good luck on your quest. We are all here to support you on your journey.
Enjoy the adventure!

[bitter]

Nice.. Pick a size... Gibs barrels are top my list... but depending on the type of whiskey.... a previously used barrel could be in order.

What recipe you thinking. What does your FIL drink? Scotch? Irish? Bourbon? Canadian?

I'd advise going all grain. Next is how big a barrel? 5g barrel could be a fair bit of work to fill.. but the angels will get a large share over time.. also can't age as long... in a 5g compared to say a 53... its about surface area of oak per gallon of spirit. If it was me would go for a 15g but will be a lot of work to fill!

B

[Truckinbutch]

Ambitious and admirable goal . You can do this . Pick one tried and true recipe and use it until you are good at it . Then tackle the gift whisky and get good at it . Then fill that barrel .

[NZChris]

If you are making him a 55 gallon barrel, fill it quickly and the job's done.

I reckon that, if you are wanting to use a small new barrel, you would have to fill, age, then empty and recharge the barrel several times over the next five years, then make up a blend to fill the barrel for the day. That should avoid over oaking as long as you got the final blend right.

[Retirement Gift]

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

My father in law prefers Scotch, so I want to go for a malted barley mash. Since I am new to all this, I'd like to focus on quality first. No 'interesting' or 'novelty' recipes. If anyone has any pointers for a tried and true recipe that'll yield a quality product would be much appreciated.

I'm planning on building a copper still. I'm not too sure about the size - a 5 gallon setup is pretty easy to handle, but a larger still would probably be easier to manage and define the cuts. I'm thinking a 10 gallon setup would be a decent compromise.

As for the size of the barrel - I am definitely not going to try and fill up a 55 gallon barrel! I've found a supplier of 30 liter (8 gallon) barrels, which shoukd be plenty impressive without going completely over the top. To me, it feels like it'll be plenty ambitious to fill it up with a decent product.

As for the timescale - I'm about to move into a new house and I have a bunvh of projects to finish up. If everything goes to plan, I will start my still project somewhere in summer.

So that's roughly the plan. What do you guys think?

-RG

[bitter]

Good luck on your move. 8g barrel sounds like a decent size and doable

Does he like heavy peat'd scotch or the less peat'd scotch. This will help you hone in on your recipe.

If you are a beer brewer, the wort wil be easy for you... basically unhopped wort. Aim for 7-8% potential and mash on the low side about 148-149

There are some recipes here if you use the search engine.. scotch normally uses a malt similar to golden promise.. Maris otter would work also as a base malt.
For a 20g batch you would need about 55lbs of malt assuming a 75% efficiency.. If your starting out you might not get there.

Malt ratios are upto you 100% peat (could be too much) 50/50 or 25/75 try different recipes see what you like.

Depending on your fermentation, will determine how much you get out of each batch. Depending on your taste buds.. will determine what you like.. (about 1.55 G of potential alcohol per 55lb bag @ 75% efficiency) Depends on your taste buds the tighter your cuts the sooner it will be smooth and nice. It might be worth going more into the tails for some complexity. But that is your call.

If it were me, I would take tighter cuts and keep all the heads/tails for a separate run after your done. The feints run might actually turn out nicer (Might be more complex but take longer to age if you take wider cuts).. that the others as you learn and train your pallet for the cuts.. the more you do it the better you will get. Also the feints run can be something for you.. to drink.. So plan one about 8 55lb bags worth of malt... for a 8g barrel (Should fill it and more.) I'd age at 62.5 %

B

[MichiganCornhusker]

Scotch whisky should be aged in a used barrel, so ship that 8 gallon barrel to me and I'll run a bourbon through it to condition it for ya.
I'll get all those nasty charred oaky vanilla and caramel flavors out of it so that it will be ready for your scotch.

A simple barley malt mash is great for an AG beginner, you won't need to fight a thick corn mash or a slimey rye mess.
I think one of the toughest things for a scotch is in the cuts. For me a scotch should have some bit from the heads jars blended in.
Then there's the level of peat. If you're going for a smoke bomb like an Islay, you'll need to use a lot of peat smoked barley.

To work up to an 8 gallon barrel, I'd suggest a 15 - 20 gallon still. 15 gallon kegs work great for boilers and I'd consider that a minimum for this endeavor.
I made my own 25 gallon copper pot and I love it. It holds 15 gallons easy with plenty of headspace, which you will want when working with barley malt recipes.

[Pikey]

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

My father in law prefers Scotch, so I want to go for a malted barley mash. Since I am new to all this, I'd like to focus on quality first. No 'interesting' or 'novelty' recipes. If anyone has any pointers for a tried and true recipe that'll yield a quality product would be much appreciated.

I'm planning on building a copper still. I'm not too sure about the size - a 5 gallon setup is pretty easy to handle, but a larger still would probably be easier to manage and define the cuts. I'm thinking a 10 gallon setup would be a decent compromise.
-RG

Hi, "Scotch" comes in a myriad of flavours from the "heavy peat" of a Laphraoaig, to the mild sipping type, like a Glenmorangie - can you name his favourite ?

Great project btw and Welcome in !

[Retirement Gift]

Gentlemen, thanks for all the replies! Sorry I disappeared for a while - I've had a very busy couple months..

I appreciate all the input!

Pikey - I'll have ask around to find out what's huis favorite. I know for a fact that he has one or two bottles of Glenmorangie. Not sure what else he has tucked away.

MichiganCornhusker - Thanks for the offer to 'break in' the barrel. Unfortunately, I'll have to find another solution, as shipping it across the globe would be expensive

What are the best options regarding the barrel - I'm having no luck finding a used barrel that's small enough. It looks like I'll have to settle for a brand new barrel. Is there anything that can be done to mellow out the wood smells and flavors?

Another concern - If I manage to fill up an 8 gallon barrel and just let it sit for a year or two, it will probably be way over-oaked, right? Would it be best to abandon the barrel idea altogether? It would make for an awesome gift presentation, but if it's going to be problematic to control the final product, then I'll find another solution.

I could store it in glass bottles, and control the oaking by using sticks or cubes of course and transfer it into the barrel before gifting it. I don't think this would work, as he's not going to consume it all in a mater of weeks (or at least I certainly hope not)

Would it make any difference if I'd store it at cask strength vs drinking strength? One thought I had was to gift it at cask strength, and add instructions to filter, water down, and bottle it - and let the bottle rest for a few more months before consumption. Would that work any better than just filling the barrel with finished product? Of course I'd prep a few bottles beforehand - it would be a pretty crap present if he'd have to wait half a year before he could enjoy it..

Thanks again, guys, for helping a noobie out.