Oaking??

[W.S.C.beachman]

How much Oak for a gallon of UJSSM. I know I have read like 1 tsp for a liter..OK Does that sound reasonable? I am just finishing up my spirit run and am going to chill it in the freezer at night and let it sit out on the counter during the day. At what proof would be good to age it at?

[goinbroke2]

I put one 1" cube of toasted hungarian oak in a 750ml bottle. In a gallon (US gallon 3.89L) I'd put 5. (remember less oak longer than more oak less time right?)

Also, when distress aging, I put it in the freezer for two days and out for two days. I have a bottle that actually lasted from 2 Sept 09 and gave it a taste the other night. I think it's as far as I'd want to go, it's starting to get a woody overtone or initial taste to it even though the aftertaste is awesome. I'm taking the wood out of it and a gallon I have from 5 Oct 09 is done too. I wasn't sure if you could leave it on wood forever or just a certain period...now I know. (Still can't believe I had a bottle that lasted since september!

[trthskr4]

From what I understand, commercial distilleries barrel theirs at around 65% and store to age. This eventually gets down to somewhere around 40% over time. At different proofs it pulls different flavors and takes on different characters from the wood. Something that we usually do not replicate is the condensing of the flavors with real time aging. All of the flavors are still in the final barrel product without all the alcohol it started with so they are concentrated in the final spirit. The only way I can think of to replicate this in any way is to warm the distillate after aging on wood to desired flavor to the point that some of the etoh and others evaporate off down to 45% or so. Stopping this and aging for a couple weeks at a time on the same wood that it started with.

[W.S.C.beachman]

Well tomoro I will make the cuts and see where I stand and see how much Ill use. Thanks for the input.

[W.S.C.beachman]

Well I got a gallon of 120 Proof for aging. Was 156 Proof then I watered it down. So Ill put in chard oak tomorrow and see where it goes!!! Yippee I finally made it to this step!!

[W.S.C.beachman]

Ok so I put in some chared oak peices in a fifth container with UJSSM. It is only 2 days in and already tasting like oak. I know there is no way that I put in more oak then what it would take to cover a let say 1qt oak barrel. Does the initial oaky taste go away? I probably just f... up didnt I!!!

[Dnderhead]

I figgerd it out once Im thinking it came out to 5 sq in. to the quart =a barrel.

[W.S.C.beachman]

Yah I definitely did not use even that much oak pieces. Hmmm well I guess Ill let it sit and see what happens. What I got was a completely different number than you DNDR. I figured I was wrong..

[rubber duck]

You only oaked one quart right? If that's the case let it go and see what happens. Taste it every few days and keep notes, this will give you a good idea on how long to oak. It sounds like you didn't over oak it and I'll bet it will be good in 30 days.

[goinbroke2]

STEP AWAY FROM THE BOTTLE AND NOONE WILL GET HURT!

Seriously, once I put in oak, don't even look at it for 3-4 weeks. I find it slowly gets worse until about week 5-6 then starts improving. I've noticed that most of the colour will come in the first 2-3 days then not a lot of colour change after that.
I see some on here and elsewhere that is really dark and I can't help wondering if it's like a wet campfire log. Mine is about an amber rum colour. Maybe pale yellow? But certainly not dark. I'm thinking I might be too paranoid and should leave it on longer but I have heard that guys have figured "if a full size keg is good for 5 years, a small keg is good for 2.5 years" only to find they over oaked. (and yes it was a store bought company not a home distiller) Smaller the keg the quicker it ages due to the contact area of the alcohol.

Maybe I'll leave a bottle on oak for a year just to see........

[W.S.C.beachman]

Ok will do Goin Broke 2!! I thought that the oak flavor gets stronger and stronger the longer you let it sit. Sounds to me like it spikes oaky flavor then gets smoother for a while and then does another turn and starts to go over oaked again. Gota love Aging!!!

[itsroger]

It might not matter, but I've read lots of places to keep it in the dark, so I put it in the freezer in daytime and on top of it at night. I also loosen the top upon taking it out and putting it back, makes me think it pushes and pulls more into and out of the oak. What I mean is the freezing makes it shrink, pulling a vacuum, the warming makes it expand making a positive pressure. By loosening the lid, you get twice as much pressure/vacuum.

[W.S.C.beachman]

I put it in the fridge at night and on top of the fridge during the day. I dont loosen the corks though. Ill give it a try on the next batch!!!

[itsroger]

It might push a cork out of your bottle, I use fruit jars and there is quite a bit of pressure after thawing.

[W.S.C.beachman]

Yah they build a bit of pressure but I don't put them in the freezer just the fridge. I pop the corks in the morning after I take them out and in the evening before I put them back in. They seem to be doing pretty good.

[The Baker]

It might not matter, but I've read lots of places to keep it in the dark, so I put it in the freezer in daytime and on top of it at night. I also loosen the top upon taking it out and putting it back, makes me think it pushes and pulls more into and out of the oak. What I mean is the freezing makes it shrink, pulling a vacuum, the warming makes it expand making a positive pressure. By loosening the lid, you get twice as much pressure/vacuum.

This is something I don't know a lot about, but....

Your product contains alcohol, and water.

If each of these behaves normally:

The water will EXPAND when you freeze it.

The alcohol doesn't freeze until a much lower temperature than the freezing point of water; probably it will not freeze at all in a domestic freezer so it would neither expand nor contract.

Maybe the mixture behaves differently than the components separately and I suspect it does; I have left brandy in a freezer without it freezing.

But if I am wrong there may be some risk of shattering the glass botttle in the freezer because of the expansion of the water.

What do you scientifically empowered people think?

[Dnderhead]

If all you want is to color your hooch up ,as that is what you will be doing.(or making essence?) that can be done in 1hour.
it is the aging proses that is illusive. and the best Iv found for that is pumping air or o2 threw it.but it still is not aged.
completely because there is chemical changes that has to occur. these are interactions between acids (from oak),
o2 (from the barrel "breathing"), and the alcohol, also some evaporation.