Jack Daniels Oak chips?!

[freestyletrev]

I wanna age some DWWG whiskey, could i use JD oak chips, the ones that are made for smokers? i thought it'd be a pretty good idea.. has anyone tried this? Thanks in advance!

[Kifi]

I've heard from several sources that they work quite well...

[freestyletrev]

I hope so! haha, i don't think they would be AS strong as regular oak chips, but i hope to try it soon!

[rad14701]

As long as you realize that using those chips isn't going to make your spirits taste like Jack Daniels... It ain't quite that simple...

[likkerluvver]

I've been looking for these for a while. Maybe I'll find them as BBQ season approaches.

My plan is to toast maybe 1/3, char 1/3 and leave the rest. Should be good for Scotch and bourbon whisk(e)ys

[rtalbigr]

I have used some JD smoker chips but it has been a while back. They do an acceptable job but seasoned white oak is really better and oak barrels even better. Treat them like a once used barrel and leave them in to age a little longer. Ya could put more in if your in a hurry but I wouldn't recommend that. In my opinion less oak and more time will give you a better product.

Big R

[freestyletrev]

haha yes, i know it wont taste like JD but i thought it would be ok.. i dont have a place to buy chips, and i dont have a oven i could use for toasting them but i figured the chips would be enough flavor to mellow it out a little. unless i just toast my chips on a propane burner? thanks guys!

[likkerluvver]

Gotta follow up a lead for white oak, then toast some and char some.

Putting down some UJSSM and then, later, using the same sticks for "Scotch" might be a reasonable approximation of "real world" use.

So much to do, so little time,,,,,

[rad14701]

It's worth noting that while some meat smoking chips may work well for flavoring meat they all may not provide equally acceptable results for aging distilled spirits... It may be worth aging a small sample prior to trashing an entire large batch... Just some food for thought...

[Bull Rider]

As long as you realize that using those chips isn't going to make your spirits taste like Jack Daniels...

Thank God for that, you liquor can be something you're proud to serve.


Bull.

[Prairiepiss]

Here go READ this thread. It has many good points about oaking. And if you look around you mite find more threads that cover the same thing.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6597

[freestyletrev]

thanks guys! and yea, ill do a quart or something to test it out!

[DarkCornerMtnMan]

Kept a qt of hearts froma couple of days ago (62.5 ABV). The charred oak chips have only been in
24 hours and I'm having to swat my 25 year old daughter away like my Italian Nana used to do me.
After reading many different amounts to add per qt or litre, I decided to go with 2 tablespoons
per qt (10 grams total per qt). It is turning a beautiful amber and is tasteing delicious. Trust me
folks, start small with the oak chips!! Good day !!

[Oxbo Rene]

I bought one of them used barrels one time from a fellow selling them on the side of the road.
Smelled like whiskey inside (don't recall the maker).
I put about 4-5 gal of water in it, kicked it around out in the yard for a couple weeks, then got about a gallon
of pretty good whiskey out of it .
Just sayin ............

[freestyletrev]

awesome! sounds like its working well for you! Dark corner, did you use JD chips, or regular toasted oaks? oxbo, sounds like it works pretty well for ya!

[DarkCornerMtnMan]

I used dark toasted white oak chips from my local homebrew supplier. If I had
access to JD chips, I would probably try them. I still wouldn't use more than 10 grams
( 2 tablespoons) for every qt or litre. Good luck! Mine tastes better everyday. Looking forward
to this weekend. If I can stick with a qt of hearts a week for me, I will put up the 3litre bottle
of heads and some hearts on oak chips in my basement for months. It is about 70ABV and I will
cut it with spring water back to 50 ABV after several months of oaking. Man what a great hobby.
No wonder humans have been doing this for thousands of years in every kind of culture. Pretty Cool!!!

[ozone39]

I have been running them for a year and a half now. I think they work great....

[freestyletrev]

amazing! deffinatly a great hobby! sounds like a plan ill try to go by! and thats great its been working for ya!

[djamesnz]

Hi there,

As a totaly novice I bought some Jim Beam chips from my Homebrew shop. I put them into my distiled spirit as per the packet instructions. After 2 weeks I had something pretty close to Jim Beam, to the point where a friend was convinced it wasn't homebrew (having it in a Jim Beam bottle helped..hehe). I've now got some JD chips and am going to give that a crack shortly, but if its anythinglike the JB, it should be good.

Cheers

[freestyletrev]

wow, that is great news!!! im going to try my best to get my hands on some chips. My friend and I roasted some oak chips the other day. Sadly we dont have an oven we can use; but we tried it on a fire, wrapped in foil, put it inside a steel drum(our type of oven ) It seemed welll. we chared some, then doused in water( i heard this is how to "activate" the charcoal). The other chip we just left toasted. tried a pint of each! hope it works! thanks for all the great advice guys!

[rtalbigr]

Dousing in water just puts out the fire, it doesn't "activate" anything. Making activated charcoal goes way beyond that.

Big R

[freestyletrev]

alright, thats just what i heard

[mfradman]

Hi all, I have been using LD Carlson french oak chips (medium toast) for about a year, this is how I do it. I have a few one gallon wine bottles that I fill with my corn magic leaving enough room for a hand full of chips. I found that I can leave the chips in for many batches and once in a while I add a little more chips, seems to work great for me. A four oz bag runs about $4.50 and like I said, it goes a long ways.
Here's to your health, Radman

[mash rookie]

THEY WORK GREAT !! I was planning on doing a post soon on them.

I have been using them with great success. I age my UJSSM on them 14 -21 days. Dark rich Burbony flavor. Don’t knock em until you have tried it.

Here is what is so great about them. Great flavor, No wood taste!

Other chips, no matter how deep the char always seemed to leave a bad woody taste from the tannins. Because the JD chips have already been exposed to alcohol (I think) the tannins are not present.

I am careful not to get any heads into my blend but, even after a few weeks the chips smooth out the liker. I have been oaking at 100 proof. It is ready to drink when it comes off the chips.

Two fingers on the rocks!

They work so well with UJSSM that I am going to see how they work with a neutral soon.
Mash Rookie

[freestyletrev]

Wow, that is great news! makes me inspired! im deffiantly going to try my hardest to get my hands on some JD chips! thanks a lot mash rookie!!!

[djamesnz]

Wow, that is great news! makes me inspired! im deffiantly going to try my hardest to get my hands on some JD chips! thanks a lot mash rookie!!!

Hey there,

How'd you go?
As per my earlier post I tried JD chips and was a bit disappointed in comparison to the results I got with the Jim Beam chips. I switched the spirit back to Beam and it tastes great.
These are the chips I use, rather than ones for a smoker.
http://www.spiritsunlimited.co.nz/produ ... chips.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Cheers

[mash rookie]

djamesnz
Did you use Jim Beam Chips and Jack Daniels chips with UJSSM or with neutral?

[djamesnz]

djamesnz
Did you use Jim Beam Chips and Jack Daniels chips with UJSSM or with neutral?

Hi there.
I used it with a neutral and soaked it for about a week. I used more chips than they recommended for a quicker result.
I haven't got around to trying UJSSM or the other recipes on here, I used a -cough..cough-...turbo yeast. If it tasted good with a turbo then it should taste great with a decent wash.
I'm gonna give the All Bran recipe a crack this weekend as I'm tired of dealing with carbons etc.

Gee, all this talk of bourbon made me realise it's beer o'clock here in NZ. Time for a brew

Cheers

[mash rookie]

Hey Djamesnz

I am soaking a small sample of vodka on JD chips now. Its been probably three weeks. I taste it regularly. I do full emersion.

I think it tastes like crap. No where near the results I get from UJSSM.

It may be that the Jim Beam chips will work better with neutral.

This shows that my great success with Jack Daniels chips is not from the chips doing all the flavoring, but when used with a corn liquor like UJSSM it does prove to be a good combination.

I am a bourbon snob and I like my stuff better than my favorite (Knob Creek)

I am going to run some sweet feed soon. I am going to soak it on the JD chips.

I plan on doing a posting on my results in “Flavoring” after that. Keep me posted on your results with JB chips and I will add that info to my post as well.

Mash Rookie

[Buteo]

I've got some sweetfeed on JD chips right now. Been soaking for about 3 weeks. Nice color and tastes great. I went through the bag and took out some of the larger chunks and chared them with a propane torch for a little deeper color. So far so good...