I've been offline for a week; because of router problems, family medical appointments and attendance to the needs of visiting guest. Finally fixed the Internet connection problem after crawling around on my hands an knees in search for cat-V cable or DSL phone line issues.
I wish to address a few statements or ideas from “DBCFlash”. (where he said)
-“I would compare the change to be like a pot of chili......1st day you can find or taste each individual ingredient …...but next day the flavors have merged”....
-“I will continue to set aside a dram of untreated each time to make comparisons”
-“the presence of the oak block might interfere with the wave propagation. It's porous nature would likely just absorb the energy”
-“the microscopic cloud of bubbles immediately stopped practically the moment the wood was introduced”
Firstly, the analogy between aging spirits and the seasonings melding in chili - is a very good one.
Secondly, I wonder how many people here recognize how small a dram really is? I've only seen the word used probably on the side of boxes of shotgun shells where “dram equivalent” is supposed to indicate how much recoil is to be expected. (When black powder was the primary propellant in shotguns it was measured in drams ( 1⁄256 pound or 1⁄16 ounce )). Today's US teaspoon is equivalent to exactly 1⁄6 US fluid ounces or 1 1⁄3 US fluid drams. A “shot” is legally defined in the U.S. as having one fluid ounce in volume. The 1.5 oz “jigger” was adopted by bartenders because the “official shot” made for a stingy drink. It would take 8 drams to fill a legal shot glass or 12 drams to fill a normal jigger.
Finally, wood is very porous and probably does act like a big sponge that absorbs energy, but; perhaps you are not using enough energy. After watching several videos on ultrasonic cleaning I noticed that several setups used multiple transducers and multiple frequencies to clean items. Cavitation alone without wood chips probably benefits new-make spirit. Upping the amplification of the acoustic energy delivered seems necessary to overcome the loss absorbed by added wood.
I am hesitant to speculate how far or how fast the spirit soaks into dry wood chips, and then what might be happening at the molecular level if vapor cavities begin to form on the surface or below the surface of that wood. Also: the bubbles from boiling and the “bubbles” from cavitation are very different. During a boil, gas in solution within the liquid is released and since it is lighter than the liquid – it will rise to the surface. Bubbles caused by cavitation however are voids or vacuums caused by the liquid being pulled. These type of bubbles contain no gas or vapor. While these short -lived bubbles might not be compelled to rise they can implode vigorously instead – creating those intense little shock waves that are substantial enough to eat metal away from propellers, turbine rotors and pumps.
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