Tannin infusion from wood chips
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- Rumrunner
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Tannin infusion from wood chips
Morning,
I seem to have a slightly bitter tannin aftertaste to my first whisky batch, although the whisky is still most drinkable is there a way to remove it?
I seem to have a slightly bitter tannin aftertaste to my first whisky batch, although the whisky is still most drinkable is there a way to remove it?
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- Saltbush Bill
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
Few people will recommend chips other than the HBS owner who sold them to you.
Better to avoid the problem from the begining and use home made and toasted/ charred sticks. If you want to buy use commercially available adjuncts other than chips, things like SD Dominoes.
Better to avoid the problem from the begining and use home made and toasted/ charred sticks. If you want to buy use commercially available adjuncts other than chips, things like SD Dominoes.
Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
Mine go through a period of astringency. It mellows in a couple of years if I leave it on the wood.
- Deplorable
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
If you're referring to spirits that have only been on wood for a few weeks or couple of months, it's going through a stage where it's going to taste like oak tea. If you over oak it with too many chips, it may never come around If you leave the wood in.
How much wood did you put in? How long? What proof? All will have an impact on how much of what gets imparted in the spirit.
Wood chips, or what I like to call beauty bark, will make a great color real fast, but at the risk of making wood tea.
There's a lot of great information here around oaking in glass.
If you can find untreated white oak and cut your own sticks, you'll have better control of the process.
I find that 1 stick per quart of 55 to 63% is about right. My sticks are weathered outside in peices cut to 1.0×.6×6.0 inches. I'll split them as I need them to .5×.5 inch, toast them, then let them cool on thier own. Char them to between level 3 and 4, give them a soak in clean water for about half an hour then into the spirits. 1 in a quart, and 3 or four in a gallon jug.
How much wood did you put in? How long? What proof? All will have an impact on how much of what gets imparted in the spirit.
Wood chips, or what I like to call beauty bark, will make a great color real fast, but at the risk of making wood tea.
There's a lot of great information here around oaking in glass.
If you can find untreated white oak and cut your own sticks, you'll have better control of the process.
I find that 1 stick per quart of 55 to 63% is about right. My sticks are weathered outside in peices cut to 1.0×.6×6.0 inches. I'll split them as I need them to .5×.5 inch, toast them, then let them cool on thier own. Char them to between level 3 and 4, give them a soak in clean water for about half an hour then into the spirits. 1 in a quart, and 3 or four in a gallon jug.
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
In my little experience it will soften over time. However, the extraction of tannins has to do with ABV of infusion as well as the type of wood / toasting.
- S-Cackalacky
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
I've never had any real problems using chips made from ex-whiskey barrel staves after the initial learning curve. The amount you use should be bases on weight. I like to use about 4.5 oz of chips with 3 qt of spirits in a 1 gal jar. Or, to your own personal preference.
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- Trapped-in-Oz
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 1:29 am
Few people will recommend chips ... other than chips, things like SD Dominoes.
…… having found Still Dragon dominoes (which are made by Suber Lefort / Subar Oak International)………. I would never use chips again.
https://stilldragon.com.au/products/fre ... dium-toast
https://stilldragon.com.au/products/ame ... dium-toast
https://www.stilldragon.org/discussion/ ... oak-trials
Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
Don't confuse aging with oak infusion. My early whiskeys are aging on chips and are better than my more recent whiskeys aging on dominoes. To really know the difference, you would have to do side by side comparisons.
- Saltbush Bill
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
Ive done side by side on many oak products, chips would be my last choice each time. We all have different tastes it seems........do what you like and tastes good to you.
- Trapped-in-Oz
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
I get the idea that infusion is not ageing…...….. and if I only had chips I would soak them for five days in sacrifice distil (deplete the harshness) before putting them to use.
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
My previous post was about using chips made from ex-whiskey barrel staves. I use those pretty much straight out of the bag. Other chips may, or may not, be properly seasoned. I buy bags of cherry, apple, and pecan chips in the BBQ section at Walmart. For these I do a few cycles of soaking in water and drying. I then toast them and use a propane torch to char about 1/4 of them and mix them all back together. After this process I use these in the same way as the bourbon barrel chips for aging.Trapped-in-Oz wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 4:16 am I get the idea that infusion is not ageing…...….. and if I only had chips I would soak them for five days in sacrifice distil (deplete the harshness) before putting them to use.
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
Distillate from your sacrificial run is probably toxic and should be gotten rid of to prevent anyone doing anything with it. I put mine in the garden, in a can with a burning rag in it.Trapped-in-Oz wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 4:16 am I get the idea that infusion is not ageing…...….. and if I only had chips I would soak them for five days in sacrifice distil (deplete the harshness) before putting them to use.
Infusion isn't aging, it's just the first stage of aging. If you don't like drinking it while it's astringent, leave some white, or make something else to drink while it ages.
- Trapped-in-Oz
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
Okay……….. but for me ‘sacrifice distil’ means that which is not for drinking, not that it came from a ‘sacrificial run’.
Something like …… fill small jar with chips, add 60 or 70 ABV ……. with equal parts chips and strong dog it is not something you're going to want to drink.
I have some of my dominoes sitting in ‘red shop wine’, also some in ‘white shop wine’………. observing the colour change (not much).
Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
To me, infusing sherry/whatever into a domino then putting the domino into the likker has always seemed like a very inefficient/difficult way of adding it's flavor to the finished product. I put my thumb over the top of the bottle and dribble in as much as I think is needed.
- Trapped-in-Oz
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Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
not sherry and not putting anything into the dominoes ...... perhaps a slight priming of the dominoes, an insignificant suck on the dominoes.
No expectation, I just like looking at dominoes drown in wine…… weird and probably harmless…………!
Re: Tannin infusion from wood chips
Dissolve up some gelatin and add to your spirit, should flocculate the tannins and drop them to the bottom. Filter though coffee filter to remove the sludge. You should be able to remove the tannin and keep the color.