aging in 5ltr oak barrel

[WalkingWolf]

.You keep drinkin that rum, you's gonna turn into a pirate.

. . . with one shiny black eye, rolled back in his head as he roars his maniacal laugh . . .

[MuleKicker]

Shiver me timbers. LW, Scurge of the high seas. hardy har har....

[LWTCS]

You fellers are damaged goods

This is my (unofficial) company logo however.

Gotta get it tighten'd up a bit and some professional collor on it.

[WalkingWolf]

Cool L-Dub'ya

I see MK wasn't that far off.

[MuleKicker]

you fuckers make me laugh. Lw, aint you runnin yer own outfit. I kinda put 2 and 2 together. .LWT Construction Service.

[Kentucky shinner]

hey lwtcs... you should have that Tatooed on yourself somewhere....

[MuleKicker]

I wouldnt be suprised if he does already.....He's a bad ass

[LWTCS]

you should have that Tatooed on yourself somewhere....

Don't wanna be ID'd in a line up

[MuleKicker]

you should have that Tatooed on yourself somewhere....

Don't wanna be ID'd in a line up

dont worry, the eye patch will give it away...........

[Mud Mechanik]

Not sure Jake this is my first experience with the small barrels. I am going to try it after 1 month at 55%. I will let you know what I think about it.
KS

KS, You have the same idea that I had when I first started using these barrels, I age at 45% for 2 months on the first barrel use, ( still experimenting on the second filling aging times) and it has a very nice vanilla taste and seems to have mellowed out nicely. MM

[Kentucky shinner]

Ok guys I am 17 days into oaking with my new 5 liter barrels. I just pulled a sample from each and I am here to tell ya the shit is fiery hot... sombitch its hot. was not like that before I put it in the barrel. should I take it out or just leave it. Hell as far as I am concerned right now it is not drinkable. damn it.
gimme some opinions.
KS

[Mud Mechanik]

KS, mine was the same way after 2 weeks, just let it rest for 2 months and it will get better. MM

[Kentucky shinner]

KS, mine was the same way after 2 weeks, just let it rest for 2 months and it will get better. MM

Cool I was hoping that maybe I was jumping the gun.. when I tasted it I about shit... My first thought was I had really f****ed that up...
You make me feel better about it.. Hell I aint even gonna taste the shit now until 2 months is up..
Thanks MM

[Mud Mechanik]

I hope it works out for ya, mine has been fine, I am now on the 2nd filling of my first barrel and thinking I may have to let it go for 3 or 4 months to get the same results as the first filling. Only time and samples will tell, I do age mine at 45 to 50 % abv. MM

[Kentucky shinner]

I did 55% ABV

[MuleKicker]

my shit in the bottles looks great, tastes.......not so great. I know its early and im being impatient. But it scares me. I just need to wait longer......and forget about it. soon I will have sampled it all away and have nothing good left.

[Kentucky shinner]

soon I will have sampled it all away and have nothing good left.

LOL

[GreyGambler]

I let mine sit for 33 days at 55% abv in first barrel, turned out good now have second batch in and its been two weeks slight color strong taste this might take awhile longer

[Kentucky shinner]

What size barrel did you use GG?

[mikeac]

Just found this thread! I have two 5 liter barrels and a 1 liter barrel. I've used the 5 liter ones a few times and am just trying the 1 liter one now with some UJSM. Thought I'd add what I've found out so far:

I tried rum in the 5 liter to start with, and it kills the rum, the new barrels and the large surface area just doesn't work out [well didn't for me ] It started tasting like wood without doing anything beneficial (and I tasted every other day...)

Next I tried DWWG in the 5 liter: I really didn't know what to expect so my process was a little convoluted. I made sure I had enough white dog to fill both the barrel and an extra wine bottle. Every few day I took a taste of the keg and a taste of the wine bottle, if the barrel tasted better, I took a bottle worth out of the keg and topped it up with the first wine bottle. So in total I was really aging 5.75 liters. This seamed to work really well for me and it's what I'd continue to do. The spirit in the wine bottle doesn't age much, so you get an idea of how the flavor develops with time.
If you get to a point where the stuff in the wine bottle tastes better, empty your keg, she's done!

I'm trying to tire out my barrels a little then try rum again... Might put some wine in there for a few days before the run, I think many rum barrels are old wine barrels...

PS While you start the process with 5.75 liters, you may find you only have the 5liters left by the end

[Kentucky shinner]

I made sure I had enough white dog to fill both the barrel and an extra wine bottle. Every few day I took a taste of the keg and a taste of the wine bottle, if the barrel tasted better, I took a bottle worth out of the keg and topped it up with the first wine bottle. So in total I was really aging 5.75 liters. This seamed to work really well for me and it's what I'd continue to do. The spirit in the wine bottle doesn't age much, so you get an idea of how the flavor develops with time.
If you get to a point where the stuff in the wine bottle tastes better, empty your keg, she's done!

I'm trying to tire out my barrels a little then try rum again... Might put some wine in there for a few days before the run, I think many rum barrels are old wine barrels...

PS While you start the process with 5.75 liters, you may find you only have the 5liters left by the end

Let me get this right.You filled up your barrel and every few days basically you drained out 750 ML and added the new to it and then just rotated out until the taste was where you wanted it?

[MuleKicker]

hows yer stuff coming shinner? Gettin better or what?

[Kentucky shinner]

pretty damn rough right now.. I going to drain one and just leave the other and see what happens with it.. It just taste like wood to me. I am hopping it will smooth out once I put it to bed. I plan on bottling it and leaving it for a year,( if i can)
KS

[MuleKicker]

Tastes like wood? Thats no good. I never had any yet that got the wood flavor and lost it later in life.... Not to spoil yer hopes. Is it loosing the bite?

[mikeac]

Yup, that's exactly it. The first couple of batches oaked really fast (I think my one liter batch is done and it's been a week...) after that it slows down a lot.

[Kentucky shinner]

ya the bite is better

[Mud Mechanik]

Damm KS, I hate your having trouble with the barrels, I feel responsible for you buying them, I have just had good luck with them. MM

[Kentucky shinner]

A hell dont worry about it MM I was going to get me some anyway. Have yours ever tasted like wood? I am hoping if I leave it longer maybe it will fade
what do you think..

[Dnderhead]

that is one of the problems with small barrels they "flavor" more than age.
also to high of ABV will bring out more "wood" flavor.
best at or about 50-55% you mite try even lower it those small ones.

[MuleKicker]

So can you take it out of the barrel early and finnish in an open bottle?