How A Distillery Ages Bourbon In Days, Not Years

[Buccaneer Bob]

How A Distillery Ages Bourbon In Days, Not Years

[Bushman]

Sounds like we have done or discussed most of the processes using other means recently here with Microwave, Ultra Sonic Cleaners, and the mention of vibrating music to help smooth and kick start the aging process. Nothing like being on the cutting edge

[Rastus]

Interesting read, seems somewhat like what a few of the topics here are picking at, like microwave or ultrasound, i know i have been agitating my Jars a lot as they sit with the oak in them, the microwave heat causing a vacuum in the jars seems to cause the wood to breath, like forced CPR pulsing the Oak nectar out of the wood i guess... Breathe Baby Breathe.

Man $35000 a week in sales? that could pay for a lot of copper.... Yowsa!

[Rastus]

I will add on here regards to the music we have a nice selection growing in the thread "whats your music" just need some sub-woofers to vibe the casks... hmmm i wonder if the music makes a calmer more gentler Spirit?

[The KYChemist]

Ill take my Bourbon wood aged, with time... Yeah, a diamond created in a laboratory looks good, but doesnt look near as nice as the real thing.

[heartcut]

Don't know what it tastes like, but like the idea that Cleveland Whiskey caught on that well without being within a regular category of whiskey, like Bourbon or whatever. Pretty cool. Wonder if he reads any of the forums.

[blind drunk]

hmmm i wonder if the music makes a calmer more gentler Spirit?

Not if you play it "Paranoid"

[Rastus]

yeah rule out Sabbath then, maybe Bob Marley for some high spirits... laid back deep bass

[bellybuster]

How does he get away with calling it bourbon?

[Jimbo]

I will add on here regards to the music we have a nice selection growing in the thread "whats your music" just need some sub-woofers to vibe the casks... hmmm i wonder if the music makes a calmer more gentler Spirit?

haha ya baby, I mentioned in the Nuclear aging thread that I was gonna shove some quarts in the back of my guitar amp to get blasted during band practice. Theres not too much calm and gentle about the stuff we play tho

[Braz]

I got a chuckle out of this quote from the story.

Not everyone's a fan. Matt Wunderle, a whiskey aficionado from Cleveland who now lives in Columbus, calls it "a disgustingly dark bourbon" and likens it to paint thinner.

"It smells like a wood shop," Wunderle says. "It's hard to describe how bad it is."

[mash rookie]

I found a couple of interesting items on this thread. Sorry for thinking deep guys. Reading the link one thought really popped out at me. The loyalty for a local produced product can be quite strong. Likely the folks consuming the whiskey are not experienced but actually “Homers” Make it dark and strong. Top chef's know that like a good meal, you taste with your eyes first. For them dark means rich and the wood flavor unique.
What does that tell us? I should be selling franchises. Provide a still, recipies and a business plan that insists they name it after the major city they will produce in.

Ill take my Bourbon wood aged, with time... Yeah, a diamond created in a laboratory looks good, but doesnt look near as nice as the real thing.

It is common knowledge that there are “Man Made Diamonds” The most common use for diamonds in the world is for grinding and cutting equipment. I have many diamond tools in my shop. Grinders, diamond drills, diamond saws and polishers.Making diamonds was a dream when I was a kid. Millions were invested developing giant presses capable of generating pressures necessary.

Aussie members remember the Australian teenager that made diamonds in his garage??? I do. A short lived story with no follow up. Bought by Debeers in a split second and paid to be quiet. At 17 years old he reasoned that heat was more important than pressure. Brilliantly simple, He used his oxy / acetylene torch to create a reducing flame in a high pressure environment using another welding bottle. He had to wait until 18 yo to announce his patent application and process. Funny, Haven’t heard a word since.

What does this tell us? Anything is possible. To quote one of the most brilliant men I have ever known, “Most unique inventions are done by those that don't know that It cant be done” ....Get out your wood and vibrators guys. You never know.

[rumbuff]

I'm always surprised at how people resist non traditional ways to do things. Do they ever stop to consider that at one point, everything they've ever used was the new thing? It's called progress people! and hey, if we can get cheap diamonds and 30 year old spirits in a week, I say lets do it!

[MuleKicker]

To call it bourbon, it has to be aged for 2 years. Don't matter what it tastes like, it could be great in days, but all you can call it is whiskey.

[blind drunk]

I'm always surprised at how people resist non traditional ways to do things. Do they ever stop to consider that at one point, everything they've ever used was the new thing? It's called progress people! and hey, if we can get cheap diamonds and 30 year old spirits in a week, I say lets do it!

Wonder if it was a radical idea once upon a time to use oak barrels instead of the usual clay vessels or some such things.

[F6Hawk]

To call it bourbon, it has to be aged for 2 years. Don't matter what it tastes like, it could be great in days, but all you can call it is whiskey.

I can call it Grandma's Panties, Filtered Piss, or Kanadian Myst, as long as I am the one making it. That's the beauty of doing it myself.

[frozenthunderbolt]

I can call it Grandma's Panties

Got a recipe for that somewhere . . .

Here we go:

250ml rosewater
500ml gin
20gms dried English lavender
1 moth ball

Macerate a month, strain and bottle

Show Spoiler

Please note this is a bullshit recipe, i DON'T suggest ingesting mothballs

[Jimbo]

For the record, Bourbon has no age restriction.

The Federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits (27 C.F.R. 5) state that bourbon made for U.S. consumption[2] must be:

• made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn;[3]
  aged in new, charred-oak barrels;[3]
  distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume);[3]
  entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume);[3] and be
  bottled (like other whiskeys) at 80 proof or more (40% alcohol by volume).[4]

Bourbon has no minimum specified duration for its aging period.[5] Products aged for as little as three months are sold as bourbon.[6]

It isint until you put the word Straight Bourbon on it, that it has to be at least 2 years old, and if less than 4 marked with the age.

[rumbuff]

Wonder if it was a radical idea once upon a time to use oak barrels instead of the usual clay vessels or some such things.

Exactly my point, one day they might nuke the vapor as part of the stilling process and have the wash full of wood chips, bubbling the distilate with pure oxygen under pressure as part of the normal process, laughing at our "primitive" aging techniques. I find alot of tradition has to do with using the available materials and knowledge, not neccesarily the most effective process. For instance, making wood barrels would be cheaper than a fired clay vessel of the same size, and far less fragile. Genious? no, but necessity is the mother of invention. For us, there isn't enough time to wait 25 + years!