Nuclear Whiskey / Nuclear Rum and Spirits Rapid Ageing

[Moonbeam]

Couldn't alcohol loss through vaporization be a problem with this method? Heating up the spririt in such an uncontrolled system as a microwave one could easily exceed the boiling point of the ethanol.

Welcome

Down The Rabbit Hole.jpg

I noticed you just joined today but have quite a bit of experience.
I've been here almost 6 months, NO experience, so I am a NOOB.
Let me offer constructive criticism you will see here often:
READ READ READ
Without getting off topic, this is a thread I am very interested in.
I read the WHOLE thing, all 31 pages, through once. And yes, there is a LOT that I would say is off topic.
(You are either worried about blowing up or not. If you are worried, don't do it.)

After I read it, I still continue to skim it here and on other forums. Maybe it's overkill.

If you ARE interested, do the work. Go back to page 1, and read. I'll suggest since it is so long, you might just read FullySilenced's posts. That saves time and keeps you focused on his logic and process.

If you still have questions, you'll find it easier to get the answers.
Cheers!

Lol. Thanks for the feedback and the tip! Much obliged. I admit I was lazy. I read the first page, having started to think about alchol loss (not fire), but never saw something addressing my concern. Opened page 2 and realized the thread had 31 pages! I got impatient and lazy. Point taken though. I appreciate it.

[Moonbeam]

Start with post one about 31 pages back ....

Will do. I guess I need to take some time off work!

[Shine0n]

LOL, you might have to to keep up with this thread!

I've done this to every oaked likker I make and will say without doubt that this works, I don't drink it fast enough to say that it's as good as some 2 year because honestly I don't have any 2 year but some are getting close and I'll take another look at that time.

I do my cycles and let it rest for a month, open and air out for a few hours during that time, shake it... it make a fine product in short order.
in fact I have some rum I made very bad cuts on, did a few cycle in the nuke and let it sit for 3 months and now is some really good rum.
I BELIEVE, I BELIEVE

[Spriit Tisler]

Should I dare to ask if oak cubes work as well?

[Stew8]

This thread reminded me of a time when I put a tea bag into a pirex clear glass mug and popped it int the microwave to heat the water. What was incredible was the rate at which the tea (brown colouring) came out of the tea bag, compared to endlessly dunking a tea bag in kettle boiled hot water.

There are a few scientific papers relating to tea polyphenol extraction using microwaves that made interesting reading with the context of this thread. The bold section below is interesting even though it relates to tea and not oak.

(Paste from source)

This study demonstrated a promising method for quickly extracting tea polyphenol (TP) by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) technology. Some influential parameters, including MAE temperature, microwave power, concentration of extraction solvent, MAE time and the solid/liquid ratio, were investigated. The optimum condition of MAE was obtained by dual extraction with 60% ethanol (v/v) and the solid/liquid ratio 1:12 g/mL at 80°C for 10 minutes under the microwave power 600W. The yield of TP was 96.5% under the described condition. Compared with traditional methods, including hot reflux extraction (HRE), ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), the extraction time was saved 8 times than that of HRE, and the yield was increased by 17.5%. The extraction time at comparable levels of production was saved 2 times, and the energy consumption was one fourth that of UAE. The extraction time was saved 5 times than that of SFE, and the yield of TP was increased by 40%. Moreover, compared with MAE of TP studied by others, it decreased the solid/liquid ratio from 1: 20 to 1: 12 g/mL without 90-min pre-leaching time, and the yield of TP was increased by 6%–40%.
Source
https://link.springer.com/article/10.10 ... 009-0282-6

[FullySilenced]

Thanks for posting the article. great info to make the mind work...

[cdd]

I added oak chips into a jar filled with a spirit but oak chips are floating on top and not falling to the bottom. Is this normal?

[Spriit Tisler]

Mine also float, but some of them have already gone to the bottom and I suppose the rest will too as they soak enough. Here's a pic from another topic:

[cdd]

Can somebody tell me the difference between "medium roast" and "dark roast" US oak chips (purchased both of these from a homebrew shop)?

[TDick]

Can somebody tell me the difference between "medium roast" and "dark roast" US oak chips (purchased both of these from a homebrew shop)?

Did a quick google search and these were on Pinterest from whiskey.com
Hope it helps!

[cede]

Nice link Stew8, but I wonder how we could achieve this at home safely with oak and ethanol.

[Bagasso]

Nice link Stew8, but I wonder how we could achieve this at home safely with oak and ethanol.

That is what this whole thread is about. It's from 2013, people have been heating their white spirits with oak in the microwave for the past 5 years and not one bad incident has been reported, IIRC.

[Shine0n]

It's been going on for quite some while.

I've seen some take a microwave in the yard with a fire extinguisher just in case, some chicken out while heating up, some just too scared to even try.

I've been doing this since Feb 2016 and not one bit of trouble, I go for 2 minutes and check the temp then repeat until 150f, cap off jar and let it cool to room temp, I'll do 3 cycles and check after 2 weeks.

Pretty fn good! then in 3 months... Amazing!

What ever you decide on proof though, I do 140p 70% for my rum and 62.5ish 125p on whiskeys.

Be safe and keep an extinguisher just if shit happens but not that read one instance where it did.

Shine0n

[cede]

With all combustible vapors, you're just one spark away from a disaster !
How do you cap your jars ?

[FullySilenced]

@Cede I may have been doing this longer than most people. I have had no issues other than a boil over or two while I was figuring the idea through.
I use standard canning lids and seals and replace then when I suspect the seal will not function.

Hope you get it figured out.... if I can assist give me a PM OR post in the thread. Or both

[cdd]

My shitty (and dirty) microwave only goes up to 750 watts how long to boil this jar?

[cdd]

nevermind. Jar doesn't even fit into microwave it is to big

[Shine0n]

I wouldn't take it above 150, that's my target and it works fine.

You have some head room so get a smaller jug, you could use a separate glass bowl and dump into that jug there and cap it off.

Do you not have any mason jars? I'm not sure the one you show will seal properly. I could be wrong though

[cdd]

we don't have mason jars here in eastern Europe. I guess no nuclear program for me until I get a smaller jar for my next patch.

[cdd]

can I add oak chips when the spirit is airing?

[FullySilenced]

Yes if you so desire...

Happy stillin

FS

[kiwi Bruce]

we don't have mason jars here in eastern Europe.

They probably l have a local name...mason is just a brand name, there is also "ball" and a couple of other brands here in the States. They are preserving jars...used by country folk to save food, put up jams, fruit, vegetables even meat and chicken. We use them here because they are readily available and cheap. You can use any glass jar the has a seal that is not compromised by the ethanol.

[Bagasso]

You can use any glass jar the has a seal that is not compromised by the ethanol.

Seems to me like mason jars lids are one of those things where the plastic police look the other way. Canning jar lids are sealed with plastisol, which is pvc and only has a "fair" rating in regards to resistance to ethanol.

cdd: You can use any jar, like the one in your pic, only smaller.

[kiwi Bruce]

I have personally had a bad experience with generic jars from Walmart, we had a whole batch of tomatoes and beets fail because of the cheap gasket material on the lids...not just one or two, the whole lot. And your right on Bagasso, the seals don't hold-up for long with ethanol. The Ball lids do a lot better than some of the other brands, but I went with the silicon seals with the glass lids for aging, not cheap but they haven't let me down.

[bilgriss]

You can easily use PTFE gaskets inside the lids. Like this: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.a ... &catid=720" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[WIski]

Bilgriss Wrote'
You can easily use PTFE gaskets inside the lids. Like this: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow ... &catid=720

Yes the PTFE is a great way to keep the alcohol separated from the plastic on the inside of a common canning jar lid. Bag brings up a good point to remind everyone that these lids do have a plastic lining and are not suitable for storing our product. I also use common wax paper as a buffer under the jar lids. Works for me........

[zapata]

PTFE discs are great for storage in jars, but will they seal tight enough to hold the vacuum?

[Bagasso]

PTFE discs are great for storage in jars, but will they seal tight enough to hold the vacuum?

They would still have the plastisol behind them so they should just add to the sealing capacity.

An alternative could be dumping the contents of the jar into an SS growler with a swing cap.

Has anyone tried using a vacuum at room temp?

[The Baker]

'SS growler' ??

Geoff

[Bagasso]

'SS growler' ??

Like this, but not for putting in the microwave, heat in glass then pour into something like in the pic to seal and create the vacuum.

SS Growler.jpg (14.81 KiB) Viewed 13131 times