Temperature for barrel aging

Treatment and handling of your distillate.

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YankeeShiner
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Temperature for barrel aging

Post by YankeeShiner »

So, I've taken the next step and ordered a 20L charred white oak aging barrel to age my rum. I have 5+ gallons of rum cooling off in mason jars right now while I wait for my barrel to arrive.

I'm posting this to ask a question I'm confused about and getting conflicting information. I live in NY. Very cold winters, very hot summers, some months are dry, some months are humid. I know heat it good for aging. I know cold is also good because the hot/cold process pushes and pulls the liquor in and out of the wood, but from what I've read cold can also cause a bacteria issue.

My original thoughts were to leave the barrel in my garage exposing it to the extreme hot/cold/dry/humid seasonal climates of NY. Or, I could leave it in my spare room that is not air conditioned in the summer so it will get hot, and during the winter the temp never goes below 62F.

Garage or spare room?

Help a brother out...
BayouShine
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Re: Temperature for barrel aging

Post by BayouShine »

In my opinion, store it where the least amount of questions will be asked about it.

I keep all my barrels in my spare room that stay out of sight. Everything comes out fine.

As a side note, keep airing out your rum until the barrel arrives. Rum itself is pretty rough straight off the still and benefits greatly with bit of extended airing. My last batch spent 2 weeks with just a coffee filter before it went into the barrel.
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YankeeShiner
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Re: Temperature for barrel aging

Post by YankeeShiner »

BayouShine wrote:In my opinion, store it where the least amount of questions will be asked about it.

I keep all my barrels in my spare room that stay out of sight. Everything comes out fine.

As a side note, keep airing out your rum until the barrel arrives. Rum itself is pretty rough straight off the still and benefits greatly with bit of extended airing. My last batch spent 2 weeks with just a coffee filter before it went into the barrel.
It will be out of sight in my garage too. Still, in NY they have bigger fish to fry than some knuckle head getting caught with a barrel of rum in his garage. In my neck of the woods we have middle class kids getting hooked on heroine! If I did get pinched I'd just tell the cops that I bought a bunch of Everclear and wanted to age it. :crazy:

I'm going to open the jars in the morning and let them breathe. Thanks!
Ferment_It
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Re: Temperature for barrel aging

Post by Ferment_It »

My thoughts...

Rum is made and aged in the tropics. Hot, humid, and low temp swings - I'd try to keep it close as possible.

New 5 gal oak barrel is going to oak the shit out of that rum pretty quick. If possible run a batch of whiskey through it first to soften the blow.
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masonsjax
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Re: Temperature for barrel aging

Post by masonsjax »

Bacteria wouldn't be a problem in a high proof drink. If it was, cold weather would slow it down, they like hot and humid. It won't be an issue for you at any temp though.
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bitter
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Re: Temperature for barrel aging

Post by bitter »

If you want to speed up aging a temperature cycle of like 100-120F in the day and 40F at night might speed things up.

B
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nerdybrewer
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Re: Temperature for barrel aging

Post by nerdybrewer »

Mine are kept well ventilated "mostly" dry and by no means climate controlled.

Here's a good read, quoting Jim Rutledge of Four Roses:

"Four Roses’ barrel warehouses in Lawrenceburg, Ky., aren’t airtight and they aren’t climate controlled, and that’s the way they want them"

"Rutledge says extreme seasons are good for the aging spirits. When the barrels are warmed during the summer heat, the wood, American white oak, expands and absorbs a portion of the Bourbon. As the barrels cool during the cold winter months, the wood constricts and squeezes the Bourbon out, where a larger percentage of the Bourbon is in contact with the barrel’s charred insides, which generates the natural amber color."

http://www.gobourbon.com/the-bourbon-polar-vortex/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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YankeeShiner
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Re: Temperature for barrel aging

Post by YankeeShiner »

Great feed back! Thanks dudes...
hearts2gut
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Re: Temperature for barrel aging

Post by hearts2gut »

Just remember those barrels need to be conditioned.. I find hot water both inside and out does the trick in a couple three or four day cycles.

I have some brandy that's a month old in a toasted 1L barrel that I cut to 80proof from 160.. I added it to the barrel after washing it as said above and getting any crumbles of oak out. After a week I ordered three more barrels, all 3L this time, and specified deep char (AG this particular run).. more on that shortly.. the toasted barrel knocked the bite out of the brandy like a champ, with most the change happening in the last week... It only has a slight amber color to it right now... I can't wait to see how it tastes and looks in a year, but, that's the plan..

I screwed up, I think, by getting the deep charred barrels. I think a light to medium would have been better for my purposes based on the toasted used for the brandy. The water that drained out of the barrel while it was conditioning was black as could be, and not likely something anyone would want to drink of it will share any similarities with what it did to the water.

Time.. that's the key. Temp swings will speed it, but it won't mellow it like time will. Turning the barrel at least once a week, rotating it on its stand with the spigot being used like a clock hand will allow it to mellow and ensure the wood retains its integrity if there is any air in it.

Good luck!!!
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YankeeShiner
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Re: Temperature for barrel aging

Post by YankeeShiner »

hearts2gut wrote:Just remember those barrels need to be conditioned.. I find hot water both inside and out does the trick in a couple three or four day cycles.

I have some brandy that's a month old in a toasted 1L barrel that I cut to 80proof from 160.. I added it to the barrel after washing it as said above and getting any crumbles of oak out. After a week I ordered three more barrels, all 3L this time, and specified deep char (AG this particular run).. more on that shortly.. the toasted barrel knocked the bite out of the brandy like a champ, with most the change happening in the last week... It only has a slight amber color to it right now... I can't wait to see how it tastes and looks in a year, but, that's the plan..

I screwed up, I think, by getting the deep charred barrels. I think a light to medium would have been better for my purposes based on the toasted used for the brandy. The water that drained out of the barrel while it was conditioning was black as could be, and not likely something anyone would want to drink of it will share any similarities with what it did to the water.

Time.. that's the key. Temp swings will speed it, but it won't mellow it like time will. Turning the barrel at least once a week, rotating it on its stand with the spigot being used like a clock hand will allow it to mellow and ensure the wood retains its integrity if there is any air in it.

Good luck!!!
Thank you! The barrel was delivered and its filled with water now. I did the whole rinse, re-rinse, fill with hot water procedure. It's curing right now, filled with distilled water and stopped leaking. It's a medium charred 20L white oak. It's nice but I think I'm going to get the 3L barrel and keep the 20L barrel for long term projects. The issue is trying to get run rum to fill it has made my hobby become a chore! I have a 10 gallon pot still, running 20L washes and this is taking some time...
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nerdybrewer
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Re: Temperature for barrel aging

Post by nerdybrewer »

Heh - I have a keg boiler so that's 15.5 gallons but yeah it does take some time to get enough to fill a barrel.
I got an 8 gallon Black Swan barrel and I filled it with rum, I have two 18 gallon ferment barrels so it took a lot of effort to get enough good product to fill that 8 gallon barrel.
What I want to express is how much it was worth it, I now have aged rum that's better than any I can afford to buy.
I'm dieting to lose a lot of weight I gained last year so I'm currently enjoying rum & coke zero.
My go-to is rum & Mexican Coke.
Lots of time I enjoy the rum neat.

BTW I have about 5 gallons of Scotch in that barrel now, oh that's going to rock my world!!

YankeeShiner wrote:
hearts2gut wrote:Just remember those barrels need to be conditioned.. I find hot water both inside and out does the trick in a couple three or four day cycles.

I have some brandy that's a month old in a toasted 1L barrel that I cut to 80proof from 160.. I added it to the barrel after washing it as said above and getting any crumbles of oak out. After a week I ordered three more barrels, all 3L this time, and specified deep char (AG this particular run).. more on that shortly.. the toasted barrel knocked the bite out of the brandy like a champ, with most the change happening in the last week... It only has a slight amber color to it right now... I can't wait to see how it tastes and looks in a year, but, that's the plan..

I screwed up, I think, by getting the deep charred barrels. I think a light to medium would have been better for my purposes based on the toasted used for the brandy. The water that drained out of the barrel while it was conditioning was black as could be, and not likely something anyone would want to drink of it will share any similarities with what it did to the water.

Time.. that's the key. Temp swings will speed it, but it won't mellow it like time will. Turning the barrel at least once a week, rotating it on its stand with the spigot being used like a clock hand will allow it to mellow and ensure the wood retains its integrity if there is any air in it.

Good luck!!!
Thank you! The barrel was delivered and its filled with water now. I did the whole rinse, re-rinse, fill with hot water procedure. It's curing right now, filled with distilled water and stopped leaking. It's a medium charred 20L white oak. It's nice but I think I'm going to get the 3L barrel and keep the 20L barrel for long term projects. The issue is trying to get run rum to fill it has made my hobby become a chore! I have a 10 gallon pot still, running 20L washes and this is taking some time...
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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