Do my Angels have wings or sneakers.

Blindman · Post by **Blindman** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 5:55 am

I filled a 2 Gal. oak barrel with some fine corn whiskey (up to the top) back in April. I checked on it today and quite a bit is gone. I realize the angels get their sip but I would estimate a little over a quart is missing. Should that much be missing or are my angels wearing tennis shoes?

Post by **Tater** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:06 am

I took hot wax and using torch covered outside of my 1 gallon keg to slow down the angles.Small kegs evaporate a lot.

Post by **Husker** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:08 am

Tell me where your cask is at. I will stop by from time to time to shoo away those angels

H.

wineo · Post by **wineo** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:32 am

It was hot this summer,they were thirsty.

Post by **HookLine** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:15 am

Husker wrote:Tell me where your cask is at. I will stop by from time to time to shoo away those angels

H.

Real neighbourly of ya, H.

Post by **Husker** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:59 am

HookLine wrote:
Husker wrote:Tell me where your cask is at. I will stop by from time to time to shoo away those angels

H.

Real neighbourly of ya, H.

I am always prepared to lend a hand

Uncle Remus · Post by **Uncle Remus** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 11:05 am

tater wrote:I took hot wax and using torch covered outside of my 1 gallon keg to slow down the angles.Small kegs evaporate a lot.

Isn't sealing the outside defeating the purpose of using a barrel for aging. The booze has gotta be able to breathe, no?

I have a 23 liter keg (5 gallon) it's been sitting full since summer and I haven't lost more than an ounce or 2. Maybe the angels up here in Canada aren't as thirsty as their American cousins?

punkin · Post by **punkin** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 11:18 am

I spose in the end, you only have to top it up with some more free booze.....

Blindman · Post by **Blindman** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:14 pm

punkin wrote:I spose in the end, you only have to top it up with some more free booze.....

Yea, that's what I'm thinking too.

Post by **bronzdragon** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:28 pm

A lot also has to do with the make-up of the barrel ... i.e. how porous the wood is ... and also how hot it actually got where you kept the barrel.

I'd just top it off and move it to a cooler location if possible.

cheers

~r~

p.s. it's also possible to have an "angel" within the household sampling.

Post by **Tater** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 12:33 pm

Uncle Remus wrote:
tater wrote:I took hot wax and using torch covered outside of my 1 gallon keg to slow down the angles.Small kegs evaporate a lot.
Isn't sealing the outside defeating the purpose of using a barrel for aging. The booze has gotta be able to breathe, no?

I have a 23 liter keg (5 gallon) it's been sitting full since summer and I haven't lost more than an ounce or 2. Maybe the angels up here in Canada aren't as thirsty as their American cousins?

Wasn't sealed under bands and still looses some to the angles.Before sealing it I was loosen close to a qt every six months now about a pint a year.Getting ready to fill it with the fruit and honey likker I just ran.Reckin the angles here like to sample often on that little keg had rye in it for last 5 years

Blindman · Post by **Blindman** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:23 pm

Are you using the wax from your own hives?

I just emptied a barrel that had aged some corn in and am fixin to put a fresh Pymeat in.

tracker0945 · Post by **tracker0945** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:20 pm

When I got my small keg a few years ago (used it to store Port) the manufacturer took great pains in instructing that the keg should never be sealed in any manner as it would prevent the wine from maturing. Don't know if the same holds for spirit storage.

Post by **Tater** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:25 pm

No don't raise bees , The rye that was aged in keg tasted good to me if ya like charred grain licker Transplanted Hillbilly was here . Didn't seem to hurt him none either

TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY · Fri Nov 02, 2007 4:15 am

tater wrote:No don't raise bees , The rye that was aged in keg tasted good to me if ya like charred grain licker Transplanted Hillbilly was here . Didn't seem to hurt him none either

Nope didnt hurt me a bit, fine likker. Somehow the angels got in the bottle I brought home, cause they done went and drank it all gone.

My one gallaon barrel loses a fair amout too. I keep a half gallon of whats in it, beside it, and top it up a couple times. Works for me, plus I always pickup around 10 ABV in the barrel aging process. That is for a year + aging time.

Post by **Uncle Jesse** » Fri Nov 02, 2007 8:33 am

It's going to be different according to your location and the proof of the distillate in the barrel. Also your storage conditions are a factor.

In one traditional method, barrels go up on the top floor of a warehouse where it's nice and hot in the summer and nice and cool in the winter. This expansion and contraction of the barrel creates the "breathing" which gives the spirit a lot of character. Barrels are rolled down a floor every year or so and end up in a nice cool cellar to finish off.

However you also get evaporation, more in arid areas like California than in humid areas like Georgia. Here in California it's very hot on the valley floor but more temperate in the mountains which will also have it's effects.

I hear the angel's share for tequila distilleries is insanely high but I don't have any numbers to back that up. I've heard people in the industry who work as importers talk about it. However I can guarantee it's quite hot in Mexico most of the year.

Be sure you treat your barrel right before filling it. The tighter your seams the less evaporation. Pick quality barrels if you can where the wood mates up well.

DestructoMutt · Post by **DestructoMutt** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 5:31 pm

is it true that a barrel needs to be "quenched" before filling? (filled with clean water, to saturate and swell the wood)

if so, it is possible that a new barrel will "loose" more to the angels through wood saturation than through evaporation.

pintoshine · Post by **pintoshine** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 5:56 pm

I have a friend that makes barrels at Bluegrass Cooperage. I'll ask him again but I do believe he told me the barrels are shipped "wet" to the distillers. They are filled and allowed to swell for the pressure check and then drained and bunged. I have seen this in a few videos also. I don't think that the surface area and thickness of wood would absorb too much even if it were dry. A lot of the "Angel's Share" is from bona fide leakers. Most warehouses have a dedicated leak finder to make sure the stuff is not disappearing that way.

DestructoMutt · Post by **DestructoMutt** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 6:42 pm

so they are quenched, at least the ones sent to the distilleries.

the little ones that you can get at the wine/beer shops or online though, (at least the ones i have looked at in the beer/wine stores) are dry. some have been sitting, waiting for a fill up, for so long that they are covered in dust.

Blindman · Post by **Blindman** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 7:32 pm

No, the barrel was quenched for two to three weeks and checked for leaks prior to filling. They are kept in a cool dark place that never gets above 68 degrees nor below 60. My wine ages well there, I thought the distilled spirits would as well.

Uncle Remus · Post by **Uncle Remus** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 8:31 pm

The barrel I bought was wrapped in shrink wrap. I filled it with clean water and it leaked like a sieve for a day or so and then tightened right up. Then I filled it with whiskey . The only real loss I had was one day I checked it and it was down a little so I topped it up. A day later I lit a fire in the stove and things warmed up and the keg puked out the bung....duh, live and learn I guess.