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Rockycreek gave you some good advise. When your new barrel arrives fill it with water untill you are ready to use it, keep adding water untill it quits leaking. When you drain the water cover the bung hole with screen wire to keep the (loose) charcole in. If you keep it full for at least two weeks a...

From what you have posted so far, the only place the vanilla taste could come from is your oak wood. You probably will not get that the next time you use that wood.

Unless your 80% has something wrong with it (off smell or bad taste). Why not dilute it down to 100 proof and drink it ?

copperhead; Just fill your barrel with water. Every day top it off, untill it quits leaking, usually 3 or 4 days. Make a roll of screen wire and stick it in the bung hole and drain the water out. (the screen wire will keep your chared bits in). Then put the barrel where you are going to keep it and ...

Buy one of those barrels from 1000 oak barrel Co. They are cheep and will add no flavor and change the color very little.

If it was me I wouldn't add anything. Just fill the barrel let it set for a coupla years. Then taste it and deside if you need to add anything. The longer it sets the better it will get. A barrel used the second time around will make good whiskey, it just takes longer. Scotch whiskey is aged in used...

I was just going to screw in the wood screw far enough to seal good. My bungs fit so tight I have to loosen them to get the spigot to work. I plan to put the threaded hole in the bung, that way I could just unscrew it and the whiskey would flow out the spigot. Was not planing on it getting wet.

Rocky_Creek; I live way out in the country. Store my whiskey in oak barrels in an old log corn crib. If you ever have to move every thing, believe me you don't want any oak barrels larger than 5 gal. Had a brother-in-law get involved in a nasty divorce case one time. They got to telling every thing ...

Yes they are worth the investment, there is no comparison between a real barrel and glass with oak chips. Don't get a barrel you can't handle, 5 gal of whiskey in an oak barrel is heavy, all I want to handle. Gibbs barrels are the best. I try to add on a new barrel every year or two. I number my bar...

Not used wine barrels, but I have used, used whiskey barrels. If you can get a used wine barrel, order a barrel cleaning kit, use it. Then fill it with whiskey, you will be ok. Might take a tad longer but they will work.

Bean-o will work fine, go ahead and use it. If you use the mashback method you only have to use it in the first mash. From then on just grain, sugar and backset.

Sounds to me like a good recipe. If distilled right you will probably have a good whiskey.

Why? I thought S.Africa was a wine producing country. I would find out where they get their barrels and get the real thing. Even a used wine barrel can be recharred and used. You will always be better off using the real thing rather than some substitute, unless you are in jail and have to use what y...

yea that happenes to all of us, at one time or another. Just remember to always keep the temp to low and very carefully bring it up to opperating temp. DO NOT TRUST A THERMOMETER, when your temp first starts to rise, if it jumps, turn on the water & lower the heat to almost nothing. If it goes u...

It will just keep getting better, also you will be getting more experience making the cuts. When making the cut for the heads it's allright to be a little late just to make sure you are drinking the good stuff. Also if you keep tasteing (just stick your finger in the distillant coming out and get it...

Dont know about Ausieland but I bought mine at a boating supply store. I'ts a bilge pump for use on larger boats. Sometimes after these pumps have been on a boat for several years the boat yards replace them because they are old and may fail at the wrong time. They will sometimes give these to you.

Yes use the copper mesh packing. Stay away from the grocery store stuff. The colum does not have to be packed full of the real stuff. loosley roll some (bout like rolling up a sock) and put 3 or 4 rolls in your colum, you can leave a space betwen them, want hurt a thing. Will definately make your wh...

Be patient with your mash, let it quit bubbling and rest for a day. If you have access to a reflux still, order some copper mesh to use for packing. Don't go for pot scrubbers, that's for people trying to make jail house houch. Remember nothing but copper and glass comes in contact with your vapor o...

when you get your bigger still you'll need a larger fermenter, plastic barrel will make a good one. Just increase your recepie by 3 and you'll be fine.

Catch a coupla drops of your whiskey in a spoon, in a dimly lighted area light it with a lighter, as long as it burns an almost invisible blue, it's high proof. When it burnes with a yellow flame its getting weak, when its hard to light you better start tasting it, cause you are in the tails.

Horse feed is usually a mix of ground grain (corn, wheat,& rye) with a mineral package added during the mixing process. Be sure to skim off the floating stuff every day, that will be ground corn cobs(fiber) and spent grain hulls. You are making a very nice mash that is particularly well suited t...

DBM SAID: after taking off the heads, I can put a 5 gal carboy down to collect in, set the output at a steady little stream, temp will usually be around 188* and go to bed. I usually wake up once or twice during the night and check to make sure everything is ok. DBM also says he don't give a rats a...

possum; Get one of those cheep copper pipe cutters 2.99 and pay a visit to any old mobil homes you can find. I've probably got a 100 extra feet of copper water line I got this way. Its good for making cooling systems. the 7/16 copper line can be connected using about 6 in of 7/16 plastic tubing whic...

possum; When the col made my last still I had him add two 7/16 copper lines right at the full mark. Also had him add a 1 inch copper drain at the bottom. To fill the still I have a 3 ft.piece of 7/16 copper with a filter(screen wire) on the end , I connect that to a bilge pump with ,7/16 flexible tu...

I make corn whiskey, age it in oak barrels. My favorite drink is to take two shot glasses, fill one with whiskey the other with rootbeer. Then drink the shot of whiskey, savor the taste, then drink the rootbeer. If rootbeer is not available reglar beer will work just as good.

Oak chips are for smoking meat, put your whisky in oak barrels.

Jaxom;
Is there any reason you can't just take your stuff to the local machine shop and have them weld it for you? It would probably cost less tha 20 bucks for a professional welder to do it for you, and will look better too.

Hillbilly; If your structured packing is copper mesh, don't worry about cleaning it. On your first run, take off your forshots and discard, then the heads will start coming over. Taste frequently and run a little of the hearts in with the heads. You are not loseing anything because you will recover ...

I have one, it's supposed to be the 20 gal but it holds 24 gal. I use the 32 in reflux tower with copper mesh as "packin". It's the cats meow. I use the mashback method of making corn whiskey. after taking off the heads, I can put a 5 gal carboy down to collect in, set the output at a stea...

You are doing fine. If your grain whiskey is coming off at 140 proof, just seperate your heads & tails to go into your next run. Save your main run untill you have enough to fill your oak barrel at 130 proof.