bitter finish

[still_in]

hi all

i just finished "aging" both a rum (fancy molasses) and a whisky (smiley's pure corn recipe) on charred oak chips. both, especially the whisky, have a rather pronounced bitter aftertaste. the nose and initial flavour is good but when its swallowed it leaves a quite unpleasant acridness.

i am certain its not my cuts as i am very vigilant in that regard and take only the heart of the hearts so to speak. is it just the oak i am using? has anyone noticed this and "aged through it" and overcome it?

thanks for any hints or suggestions

[rubber duck]

How long did you age it? I would bet its one of 2 things. 1 it needs more time, or 2 it could be sap wood. Sap wood tends to mess it up prety bad front to back.

[kiwistiller]

or no.3 overoaking. how much chips? how long? my money's on over

[blanikdog]

Over oaking can do that I have to confess. I have a bundle of old likker that I intend adding new spirit to try to remedy this problem. Nice colour, nasty taste.

blanik

[Ayay]

Re-running the oaked spirits can make it worse. I once re-stilled oaked spirits because of bad cuts, not overoaking, and this created a bitter aftertaste. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=11700 .

A tablespoon of activated carbon/litre soaked for a week removed the bitterness. This is not an expensive remedy to try out first.

[still_in]

i dont think it was over oaked... i put a small handful of oak chips into 5 L of spirit and over the course of 2 months it was mostly fine, until the end. i've never aged anything for longer than that so I haven't experienced the "waves" that come and go in the aging process that i have heard of

the chips are medium toast oak chips from brewhaus. i bought too much of them so i feel obligated to use them up. yuck

[Dnderhead]

the higher flavored the more aging is neaded, some like tannen takes a long time. you mite put that "over done" hooch away
and age for a year or so, and it mite come out nice? it is a chemlcal proses, that happons over time. If I remember right gelatin
will help remove tannins. if you want. if you want somthing quick, stick with lite flavors or back flavoring.

[rubber duck]

Yep, if your useing comercial med oak chips it's not sap wood And a hand full on 5l isn't overdoing it. I'm with Dunder let it sit for a year and see what happens, it should turn out good with time.