Can't get oaking right

[scarecrow]

We get JD pellets over in OZ. BBQ's Galore and Bunnings have them.
I have never tried them. They may be different to the ones over there.
These are for smoking meats and I'm not sure if they are OK to use in my hooch.
I'm sure they have more than just old oak barrels in them.

scarecrow

[blanikdog]

Yairssss scarecrow, I bought some of them but decided that smoking stuff was the best use for them. Even that's a bit iffy as they seem to have a plastic in them.

blanik

[reb1251]

I use this method and I like the taste, you may not. I have a woodworking shop and I use the planer shaving. Vodka made from sugar at around 110 to 120 proof is pour over the shavings in a quart container. Fill it full of shavings and fill it with vodka. I only have to leave it there for 1/2 hour. Strain it through a coffee filter or paper towel. Taste this. I have used both red and white oak shavings and like to mix it 50/50. You can also try soaking this on Jack Daniels smoking chips after being on the shaving. This is where they have chip chunks form old barrels. I get mine at Walmart. I let it sit about 12 hours. I reuse the chips about 5 times and then use them on the grill. Sometimes I will add a teaspoon of maple syrup to a quart.

My intro. has photos

[Rargh]

Thanks for the interesting information Kiwi.

Just a quick question as I cant seem to fine the answer.
With your charred wood was it toasted first prior to charring or not?
What was your charring procedure?

Many thanks

[blind drunk]

I've done both; toasted then charred or straight ahead char. I like both. For charring I place the oak cubes or WHY on my bbq grill, spark up my propane bottle torch and char all of the sides. When it's good and charred (you'll know when) it's ready. Cheers, bd.

[kiwistiller]

With your charred wood was it toasted first prior to charring or not?

ahhhhhhhhh.... It's been a while, can't actually remember
I think I will have given the wood a sort of 'drying' toast that I was doing for a while (have abandoned now, no difference as I can see) of a low temp (like 100*c) for about an hour, then char. But yeah, seemed to make no difference.

What was your charring procedure?

I use the propane burner for my still. I pile up fire bricks to make a rough and ready sort of kiln to get the heat up higher, then one stick at a time and as needed chuck em over the burner (I use nice long tongs) and make sure it's well and truely torched on all sides. then quench in water, and straight into spirits. Should have that aligator skin looking char to it. If I had an acetylene torch I'd use that.

Kiwi

[olddog]

I just use a propane torch.

[kiwistiller]

Don't have one, and can't be arsed borrowing for charring wood.

[Rargh]

Cheers Kiwi

[Samohon]

Interesting experiment Kiwi, Thanks man...

[DCT]

just my 2 cents worth, I think quality of oak makes a difference, i have a whole timber of oak & some old growth, also have a small mill, & have found the old growth oak is far superior to new oak like from lowes or home depot, i have chared the old groth with great results on 60% abv, then one day in the shop i had half a quart of gerber & threw in a raw or untoasted/ charred piece of old growth, rather large 3x3 inch square, left it in the shed, forgot about it for 3 months, in the heat with lid on, to my surprise it had a medium to dark color, & smelled of fine whisky & tasted even better, drank it all in one after noon, wanted to leave it longer but couldnt stop drinking it, it was great warm right out of the jar!!!...sooo maybe quality oak with nothing done to it over a long period of time? remember this most wiskey barrels are not made with #1 grade oak, they usually use least quality oak due to cost...so my therory is #1 old growth oak is the key for small batch makers like us.

[ammo man]

Very interesting DCT. I have old growth oak on my land, and plan on one day trying a piece of "raw" oak as you suggested to see if it works for me.

Bert

[Barney Fife]

If you harvest your own, make sure you remove the sapwood right away(that's the living part of the tree, which will be the first inch or two, sometimes as deep as three inches, under the bark). Usually slightly lighter in color. You DON'T want that... Then air dry it at least a year for every inch of thickness.

Old growth or young should make no difference, as the heartwood(which is everything other than the sapwood) is dead, no matter how old or what the growing conditions were. As long as it's not beginning to rot or spalt(a fungus), all heartwood from a given species should be very similar.

I do agree that if purchasing oak to age with, it's a crap shoot as to whether or not they did avoid all the sapwood, and if you're using a wine barrel, good luck, as sapwood isn't separated for oak used as wine barrels, and is used without notice given.

[ammo man]

Barney, what are your thoughts on "raw" as opposed to charring the oak?

Bert

[Barney Fife]

I char the hell out of all my wood. Raw wood will give you color, but the spirit tastes like wood, in my opinion. I want nothing but char showing on all sides of my oak or maple. Commercial barrels are charred completely(and deeply; I measured my barrel at roughly 3/8" deep of char), with no raw oak left to make direct contact with the spirit; why would we want to be different? Most of the time, I make charcoal and use that.

Try both, and see what you like best.

[blanikdog]

This may be the way to go on my red gum rum experiment, barney. I was a bit concerned about toxins in our eucalypts, but by using charcoal with no wood maybe the toxins will have been removed. MAYBE.

[caspian]

We get JD pellets over in OZ. BBQ's Galore and Bunnings have them.
I have never tried them. They may be different to the ones over there.
These are for smoking meats and I'm not sure if they are OK to use in my hooch.
I'm sure they have more than just old oak barrels in them.

I'm quite sure they contain some sort of glue or emulsifier from looking at them. I'm happy to use them when cooking a steak, but I will not age with them.

[ChrisC]

Hi All,

I have only aged 40-45% neutral, not carboned, but double distilled, very clean neutal.

I ad 18 liters to a glass carboy, about 500 gram brown sugar, and 500 gram of store bought (LHBS) bourbon barrel chips, or chunks, but usually the smaller chips.

Throw it all in togethe, shake the daylights out of it, after a week I put it in the freezer for a few days, or until I remeber, then take it out and shake again, and so on.

My current batch had been sitting on top of the fridge for 12 months, still on the chips, with the lid on, it gets a shake now and then, but I am about half way through, and is about as smooth as I have had.

Some batches I have done when mixed with cola and ice put a foam (or small head like a beer) that settles down but lasts the whole drink, this batch foams a little but not as mutch as the last.

I have compared to many comercial bourbons inc Rare breed, small batch etc, and this to me is easie to drink, a double or tripple is nicer to drink than a commercial single nip.

Just my method, as I have never had a flavour from a bottle I liked and dont have the time to do allgrain sour mash.