Brought over from the old message boards:
TonyBones
07/25/04 10:08 PM
Subject: Airing it out
Got to wondering what the best way to air out your spirits is. When I let a bottle of my goods set for 10-15 minutes w/ the top off I find the flavor to be more plesent than when freshlt unsealed. Why is that not the case w/ store-bought liquor?
I generally use Mason jars or 1/2 gallon glass jugs for storage and aging.
Not sure what to do w/ the mason jars, but I'm thinking a natural cork in the glass jugs might do the trick.
Thoughts?
Knuklehead
07/25/04 10:26 PM
Re: Airing it out [re: TonyBones]
For the mason jars just put a coffee filter over the top with a rubber band to hold it in place.
I am Canadian
Blanchy
07/26/04 06:35 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: TonyBones]
Commercial liquor, especially the good stuff is already completely "aired out". Conventional wisdom says that spirits don't age in corked bottles. You might try stoppering the top with cotton for a while to keep out critters and cut down the evaporation a bit.
Chuck
Yttrium
07/26/04 10:52 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: Blanchy]
If you cork the bottle there will be some airflow if the cork is dry. When wine bottles are stored, they are usually stored on their sides so that the cork stays wet in order to prevent airflow into the bottle. For liquor you want the opposite effect so keep the bottle vertical and the cork dry and you'll get some air flow.
Blanchy
07/26/04 04:01 PM
Re: Airing it out [re: Yttrium]
I recently had a discussion with a wine afficionado who complained that the world was running out of cork and that it shouldn't be wasted on cheap wine. Specifically because the expensive wines need to breathe oxygen through the cork, while the cheap wines are already ready to go.
I have read a few places that liquor won't age in a bottle with a cork in place, while wine will. The difference is that the wine just needs a little oxygen, while the liquor needs to vent out some of the lighter ends of the spirit in addition to the oxygen. Wine also ages in years or decades. If you don't want to wait that long, use a keg or something that provides more aeration.
Chuck
Fourway
07/26/04 08:44 PM
Re: Airing it out [re: Blanchy]
Wine would age if it was canned.
Liquor wouldn't age in an unglazed stoneware jug with a corncob cork.
Wine contains all kinds of stuff that can react and breakdown without an iota of outside influence.
plenty of small winemaker who aren't beholden to a whole lot of antique fables about the mystical properties of cork are using synthetic corks in very very nice wine.
Liquor doesn't really age unless it is in contact with wood... incontact with wood and air is a plus but wood is the most important thing. Liquor in and of itsself is pretty stable stuff, wine is not.
Blanchy
07/27/04 06:39 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: Fourway]
Dunno,
There are people really attached to those corks, maybe it's not scientific.
There are three mechanisms for aging, extraction, subtraction, and chemical reaction. Contact with air certainly makes at least come contribution to the last two.
Chuck
Fourway
07/27/04 10:52 PM
Re: Airing it out [re: Blanchy]
yeah but corks that actually pass air ruin the wine.
Gin was mother's milk to her. - George Bernard Shaw
Blanchy
07/28/04 06:32 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: Fourway]
Your not going to tell me that you are anti-wine decanting too?
Chuck
pothead
07/28/04 09:51 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: TonyBones]
I took a small fish tank pump and put a "T" on it,
I took a small hose and connected each end of it to each end of the "T" . Then I poked a bunch of holes in the hose, and dropped the hose into my spirit. Plug it in, and it's artificially aged and aired out in no time.
(I do however worry about what the hose will do to the flavor, Although, I haven't had a problem with it yet.)
Tony Bones
07/29/04 12:14 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: TonyBones]
Wow! Lots of info. here.
I've decided to go w/ a coffee filter rubberbanded on, then a natural cork.
Question: How long should I air it before corking?
Blanchy
07/29/04 08:59 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: Tony Bones]
Just taste it and see. If it's good, then it's good. Just make sure you dilute it to drinking strength for the tasting.
Chuck
Talisker
08/05/04 12:40 PM
Re: Airing it out [re: Blanchy]
would it work if you for example use a 5 Gal. glas jar, ad wood to it and take the lid off, lets say every months for half an hour?
I'd like to make a small barrel of whiskey as a present thats starts aging this year to the next anniversary. so, we are talking about 10 yrs. since small barrel feed the angels to much, i'm trying to find a another way.
tater
08/05/04 04:41 PM
Re: Airing it out [re: Talisker]
Made some corn a while back..Put it in a 3 gallon glass jar with pices of charred white oak in it.10 of em 6 in long and 1 inch by 1/2 in .Corn was 140 proof. Set in shed where heat and cool would affect it .Floor is weak so jar was bounced a little when walked on.Jar was corked but not touching brew.Lost about a quart to evaperation in the year I aged it.But had some extra to fill back with.Had better taste.Then corn aged in cool place for two years.smoother when tempered to 100 proof then some 10 year old store bought Ive tasted . I read somewhere on this sight about a guy who tyed his in a tree with a sail to shake it when the wind blowed.
thedude
10/14/04 12:14 AM
dumb question [re: tater]
what does it do to the product when you air it out???
tater
10/14/04 06:19 AM
Re: dumb question [re: thedude]
makes it taste better /smoother
Theres more old drunks then there are old doctors
Yttrium
10/14/04 11:45 AM
Re: dumb question [re: tater]
I believe it is sulfer compounds (mainly SO2 I believe) that give freshly distilled liquer that rot-gut taste. Airing out the liquer or maturing it gives the compunds time to come out of solution an evaporate.
PieterPost
10/15/04 12:03 PM
Re: Airing it out [re: TonyBones]
So, letting your spirits fall though the air when collecting (and splattering in the collection jar) isn't enough to air the distillate completely out ?
ProfessorDuck
10/15/04 01:41 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: PieterPost]
Not according to everything I've read about the wonders of aeration.
______________________________________
Question reality...
thedude
10/15/04 02:34 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: ProfessorDuck]
before i aired out my product it had a burning smell and when i tasted it it felt like it disolved my tounge then i aired it out by just taking off the cap of the bottle it was in for about 3 days and now the burning smell and taste is gone. did i lower the alc % or do all non aired out distillates have a burning tatse and smell?
thedude
10/15/04 02:38 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: thedude]
before i aired it out it tasted around 55-65% then i aired it out and it tasted around 30-40%
pothead
10/15/04 04:45 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: thedude]
I doubt that airing your product out would cause the alc% to drop unless your product was run through the best reflux made and produced a spirit of 100%abv.
Airing your product will mellow it quite a bit(get rid of the harshness), but it usually takes more than 3 days. I use a fish pump to speed the process up a bit.
theholymackerel
10/15/04 09:22 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: pothead]
The last batch of rum I made went from a bit whiff to very nice overnight... just took a few hours.
cartouche
10/15/04 10:20 AM
Re: Airing it out [re: theholymackerel]
I have a tumbler for cleaning rifle cases, I am going to try to put a jar of product on it and see what happens.
C.
Airing it out
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