Accelerated aging process

[dmacnz]

Thanks to Covid-19 I have a heap more spare time!

I have been reading through a few patents of industrial whiskey accelerated aging processes.

It seems there are a few processes which appear in most of the different designs I have been studying.

-Heat
-Light
-ultrasonic
-pressure/Vacuum

I have ordered a bunch of parts to try and replicate the design which I related to the most.
My first attempt will be
- New make with wood heated to around 60*C for around 1-2 days.

- expose to uv light (wave length approx 400-1000nm) for a 2-12hours. While maintaining 60 degrees C.

- possibly run the whole chamber under a small vacuum with outside air being introduced to the spirit through a bubble stone. (Still needs a bit more planning.

The scientific results seen through other peoples research, it looks like accelerated aging is possible, and I’m not just talking about oaking.

Has anyone else had a crack at this?!

I don’t have the greatest whiskey judging palate, but will make sure to keep my results posted.

[seamusm53]

I have noted microwave and ultrasonic detailed on this site before. This issue is kind of the Holy Grail for those of us who are impatient - meaning damn near all of us, Hah!

[dmacnz]

A huge amount of info in this patent.

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis ... 3481A1.pdf

[SaltyStaves]

https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 44&t=55301

[shine_]

I did some tinkering with ultrasound and UV light. So far mixed results, still have stuff to work out.
According to my research UV light above 300nm won't work. I tried 254nm and it had some results. (I haven't tried other wavelengths, I read in some paper tannic acid absorbs only below 300. Our point is to break it down, right ?)

Also I noticed something really interesting when using different oak chips. I made ultrasonic oak tea with American heavy toasted chips, threated with UV light for around 8hours. Resulted in slightly less oak tasting beverage, no color change, around same volume and same ABV. (I did this in open container)
My next try was American medium roast. All the same procedure. This time all the oak dust with something extra to it (oils?) was pushed to the bottom of container. Liquid was crystal clear, almost no color. Volume decreased significantly, ~25%. ABV also decreased by at least 20%. it tasted with minimal improvement, like previous one. But then I stirred all the dust back in tried again - it tasted much better. After few days this weird substance settled on the bottom and I had same situation as described before.

Really would love to hear some opinions what happened here

[Triplequad]

From a chemist point of view, tannic acid peak adsorption of UV is 276nm. It's a pretty stable compound ie good bonds. Im not sure what that info is good for.

I was thinking of thermal cycling in a large water bath, say a poly barrel with a coil heat exchanger hooked to my glycol chiller and a immersion heater on a timed cycle. I would stack oaked jars in it and cover with water. I could then cycle jars into an ultrasonic bath for hours at a time. But it would mostly be hands off.

Hey, anyone know how deep this rabbit hole is???

[dmacnz]

I have started assembling some of my bits for my test rig.

In the mean time I have had 5L of 60% whisky at 60 degrees with oak chips for 30hours. Smells amazing and has great colour. I will turn off the heater tomorrow.
Hit the oak (bottom section) with light. The light I have is 380-800nm. So not sure if it will have any great effects! But it’s inline with the patent.

My only difference is I have a carbonating done in my bottom chamber. I plan to suck air through this into the spirit with a vacuum pump connected to the top. And try use this as a way to oxidize it a little.
I then May ultra sound it after the wood has been removed to try bond it all together a little...

Stabbing in the dark, but enjoying the challenge!

[Demy]

I've only done small heat tests and I think it's one of the main factors. I only heated the distillate in a water bath, doing a few heating cycles on different days, I opened the jar and oxygenated by mixing at the end of each cycle to evaporate some residual heads (I think very few in my cuts) and to oxygenate the product because I think oxygen is another important factor. I don't have any particular tools and maybe it's not needed on a hobby scale (from what I see in the results of the various posts).

[shadylane]

Hey, anyone know how deep this rabbit hole is???

Deep enough that's it's starting to get warmer.
I played around with using a Baine Marie with aircooled condensers on top pointing straight up.
So most of the vapors that tried to escape would drain back into the baine marie
The idea was to keep the alcohol real warm without losing to much to evaporation.

[dmacnz]

I have had the whisky for 3 days at 60 degrees with a few hundred grams of oak chips.
Also around 8 Hour of direct light onto the bottom of the glass where the wood chips are sitting.
The whisky has gone a beautiful colour with a great aroma.

I have moved around 2L of the whiskey to give it a dose of oxygen through a bubble stone and around 1 hour of ultra sonic (without any oak).

I will give it tonight to rest and then see how it goes!!!

[shine_]

I have had the whisky for 3 days at 60 degrees with a few hundred grams of oak chips.

wow I'm curious to hear about results. Few hundred grams on 2l ? I normally use 1.5g/l when doing some rapid oaking and it still feels too much.

P.S. From my experience giving ultrasonic treatment after oaking makes it worse. I prefer applying heat and US at same time with wood in it. I usually run it only for 30 mins to 1.5 hours.

[haeffnkr]

I have had the whisky for 3 days at 60 degrees with a few hundred grams of oak chips.
Also around 8 Hour of direct light onto the bottom of the glass where the wood chips are sitting.
The whisky has gone a beautiful colour with a great aroma.

I have moved around 2L of the whiskey to give it a dose of oxygen through a bubble stone and around 1 hour of ultra sonic (without any oak).

I will give it tonight to rest and then see how it goes!!! 76F52A75-2FD4-4A06-8783-98D95B41D63C.jpeg

Any update?

[v-child]

One reason to like rice vodka, no voodoo, black magic or alchemy involved.