There seems to be lots of opinions on exactly what aging is. Some say oaking and aging are two different things. Others say oak is used for aging and aging stops when to take the hooch off the oak. So does anyone know what aging is? What sort of chemistry is involved? I can understand oaking for flavor but the aging part eludes me.
Thanks
What exactly is "aging" ?
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scrap
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Re: What exactly is "aging" ?
My understanding is if it is sitting and youre not drinking it.... it's aging
my experience with neutrals is the longer it sits (with a coffee filter on top) the smoother it became. Longest a neut has sat in my house is 1 month or so. Oaking is a little dif. I'm just starting to play around with whiskeys so someone with a little more experiece can help ya with that. also try a search with the google search. Lots of good info if you look at "aging" and "Oaking"
scrap
my experience with neutrals is the longer it sits (with a coffee filter on top) the smoother it became. Longest a neut has sat in my house is 1 month or so. Oaking is a little dif. I'm just starting to play around with whiskeys so someone with a little more experiece can help ya with that. also try a search with the google search. Lots of good info if you look at "aging" and "Oaking"
scrap
Last edited by scrap on Thu Aug 15, 2013 6:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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rtalbigr
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Re: What exactly is "aging" ?
Aging (oak aging) is a chemical process that involves the interaction of the ethanol and water with the wood components (hemicellulose, lignin, oak tannins, and the char layer). It is a rather complex process that results in changes to the final product through the production (also due to toasting the oak) of wood sugars, vanilla, numerous oxidation products, caramelization products, etc. It is not just a flavoring process, there are a number of chemical reactions that occur to actually change the chemical composition of the spirits.
Big R
Big R
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Jimbo
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Re: What exactly is "aging" ?
+1 to BigR's comments on Oaking. Oaking does wonderful things to apple brandy and bourbons/whiskeys. Turns them into dessert. haha
I saw a video of a small scale distller in Sweden or somewhere, I posted on here somewhere, Ill try and find it. But he gave a good description of aging. He made mostly white spirits. Described it as harmonization of the molecules that takes a few months. There are arms on an ethanol molecule that will pick up other molecules of esters and other flavor components and create complex molecules. This process takes time, several months. My experience is you can taste that happening at 3 months, and at 6 its better still. After that it becomes harder and harder to discern. Oaking with fresh new charred oak in the right quantity IMO takes about 6 months too, conveniently. So with good cuts, and proper oaking, in 6+ months I believe you can have something that rivals the best topshelf $40-$50 whiskey or calvados. Thats just my opinion, dont shoot me. They certainly dont get worse with more age, but at 6 months Im proud to take my stuff to tastings and get really good feedback.
I saw a video of a small scale distller in Sweden or somewhere, I posted on here somewhere, Ill try and find it. But he gave a good description of aging. He made mostly white spirits. Described it as harmonization of the molecules that takes a few months. There are arms on an ethanol molecule that will pick up other molecules of esters and other flavor components and create complex molecules. This process takes time, several months. My experience is you can taste that happening at 3 months, and at 6 its better still. After that it becomes harder and harder to discern. Oaking with fresh new charred oak in the right quantity IMO takes about 6 months too, conveniently. So with good cuts, and proper oaking, in 6+ months I believe you can have something that rivals the best topshelf $40-$50 whiskey or calvados. Thats just my opinion, dont shoot me. They certainly dont get worse with more age, but at 6 months Im proud to take my stuff to tastings and get really good feedback.
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frozenthunderbolt
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Re: What exactly is "aging" ?
Word perfect answer.rtalbigr wrote:Aging (oak aging) is a chemical process that involves the interaction of the ethanol and water with the wood components (hemicellulose, lignin, oak tannins, and the char layer). It is a rather complex process that results in changes to the final product through the production (also due to toasting the oak) of wood sugars, vanilla, numerous oxidation products, caramelization products, etc. It is not just a flavoring process, there are a number of chemical reactions that occur to actually change the chemical composition of the spirits.
Big R
With the note that even white spirits will show some improvement over time.
Where has all the rum gone? . . .
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MDH
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Re: What exactly is "aging" ?
http://translate.google.ca/translate?sl ... 6lang%3Dfr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
No oak involved, clear spirit
No oak involved, clear spirit
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frozenthunderbolt
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Re: What exactly is "aging" ?
Case in point MDH - excellent link thanks
Where has all the rum gone? . . .
Every new member should read this before doing anything else:
Every new member should read this before doing anything else: