Toasted apple and cloudiness

[Aidas]

I toasted some cut and dried apple wood at 200 degrees celsius for two hours -- wrapped in foil (just like I do with my oak).

I've now put aside some Uncle Jesse's sourmash on the apple to see how it compares to the oaked. I've also done the same with some rye whiskey, as well as some freshly run calvados.

Unfortunately, it seems that the distillate and the wood are having a reaction of some sort. It's not affecting the taste (the taste is FINE!), but I'm getting a cloudiness in the distillate. It's like there's different layers of density within the bottle. It kind of looks like oil and water mixing.

This is happening in all of the seperate distillates on apple.

Is this normal? What could be causing it? Have I not toasted long enough?

Aidas

[Husker]

You may not have toasted long enough.

There is a LOT of volatiles in apple. It is an oily wood. However, it does have an awsome flavor, and I imagine that the goodness of the flavor would impart nicely into whiskey.

When I use apple in my smoker, I actually get oily tar dripping, which in that environment is actually not a bad thing. However, I image you are seeing all of those oily properties. Not sure how you are going to rid the product of that oil. You might have to redistill, and age again to remove it.

I also have a lot of apple, and will be aging some UJSM with some. Thanks for the heads up, I will toast them a bit longer than "normal", just to make sure this does not happen to my product.

H.

PS, does anyone have experience with mesquite? I would like to give that a shot also, as an aging wood.

[Uncle Remus]

I think what I would do to get rid of the cloudiness is stick it in the deep freeze overnight and then filter it through a coffee filter or some cotton balls. If that doesn't clear it up then try filtering through a small layer of charcoal, not too much cuz you don't want to lose any flavour.

[Aidas]

Thanks for the tips. If all it will take is filtering through a coffee filter, I'll be very relieved.

Husker, after you get a good result, let me know how long and at what temp you toasted.

I think I'm gonna throw them into the oven for another two hours at 200 c. and see if it helps in later batches.

Aidas

[possum]

I don't just toast mine, I get a deep char on the outside.
I try to select the red colored bands of wood in my apple from apple cut at least several monts before use.
My only bad experience with apple wood was when I used some untoasted sawsust/small chips, I didn't notice clouding, but I thought the taste was funny,not bad, but not what I desired or had found from a good chared apple.

[Aidas]

Update.

Since starting this thread, I've not only noticed, but also tasted the liquor.

The cloudiness is gone (without filtering or anything) and the taste is Oh so fine!

I find it strange that the cloudiness disappeared of its own accord.

Any ideas?

Aidas