How/why age?

[Bottles]

Hi all, second introduction.
Read quite a bit of the forum in the last few years. Just gone looking for aging basics? Why do you age? How long too age? Is they're a basic explanation of aging techniques? I'm not looking at nuclear aging super special shyte. Just what's the best starting techniques and process for future drinking?
I can find and understand still builds. But aging only seems to be details, no over arching basics.
Have I missed something?
Andrew
P.s. spent two nights looking with no clear explanation. FYI I'm looking at whiskey, vodka, gin as a starting point.

[Twisted Brick]

Why do we age? My wife says she ages because of all the goofy questions I ask!

This should help get you started...

Flavoring and Aging

[Bottles]

Thanks. I found that day one.. Working tjhrpoufgh several years of posts yo fgind the ideas most agree on gets tedious.
There are posts on types of stills. Lots of disagreements of what's best but basic concept.
Aging, seems random. Maybe more reading to understand, for me.
Andrew

[NZChris]

Choose a product to make. Make it. If it doesn’t need ageing, don’t age it. If it will benefit from ageing, search for methods to age it that suit you.

[Stonecutter]

The chart in this thread is IMO a great way to toast your own. Plus it’s got a great run down of the how’s and why’s. Hope it helps

[jonnys_spirit]

Whisky: about oak finger / liter. Let it age as long as you can in orders of magnitude. 1 mo, 10 mo, 100 mo. Or thereabouts. Toasted, charred, toasted & charred. Master distillers have their secrets to keep and regulations to adhere to. We don’t.

Gin: a couple weeks? A month? Straight off the pipe? A few months? I think a little melding time will benefit but it’s prolly good off the pipe too.

Vodka: same as gin or similar enough.

Maybe go to the likker store and compare some 2/4/8/12/18 yr product.

Lots of options and paths so not a straight answer.

[Saltbush Bill]

Couple of rules of thumb.....most people agree that oak spirals or chips are not the best option for oaking as they contain to much end grain.

[XDStill]

I'm by no means an expert, but one recommendation as far as aging tips for folks new to the hobby is this: Volume.

Once you are sure you have enough interest in the hobby to justify the time and expense, jump in deep enough to make enough aging products to outpace your consumption.

When I first started, I was running 5 gallon ferments having come from a beer background and having all the equipment for that scale. Between learning process and cuts and wanting to try to make everything under the sun as quickly as possible, I really didn't make enough end product to put enough back for any amount of meaningful aging. I couldn't quite understand the folks here talking about finding jars/jugs they had run years ago and 'forgotten about'.

I finally decided that anything worth doing, was worth doing at scale (for a home enthusiast) and kicked up to 15 gallon mashes, with a 3 mash per spirit run regimen for my pot stilled liquors. Instead of trying to dabble between many products, I focus on a style of the month/quarter, and make enough to let it do it's thing. I have enough jars to be able to experiment with different types and treatments of wood, and see how they compare over time, apples to apples. I've also filled a few 5 gallon barrels and a 15 gallon barrel which was a heck of an achievement for me.

I am finally able to put away enough finished product that I am now able to pull jars with 2+ years of aging and experience what only time to can do to improve a whiskey. I still get to do a sampling every once in a while to see and understand how they progress without fear of not having anything left by the time it's hitting it's stride. Granted, I am still a newbie in the scale of whiskey age, but had I not broken out of the small batch mindset, I'd never have been able to make some of the product of the quality that it's finally starting to get to through age. My first year fiddling with small batches was pretty much a zero sum game.

As an aside, to cure my distilling itch when I just want to experiment, I use an air still to play around with gins, akavits, ouzo, etc. Once or twice a year I make large enough batches of neutral (TWP works well for me) to keep multiple gallons of neutral hand for just this kind of experimentation. 4 gallons can go a long way. This helps me keep things interesting while I'm in the middle of a 'quarter of corn whiskey' periods and the like.

[Saltbush Bill]

I am now able to pull jars with 2+ years of aging and experience what only time to can do to improve a whiskey.

That's about it in a nut shell, without making a heap more than you can drink you never do get to learn what different oaks and different methods of oaking will make to your end product.
Bare in mind that it is said that up to 80% of a Brown Spirits character can come from the oaking and aging process.

[WithOrWithoutU2]

Aging is a broad term. As such it is often misused. In it's simplest form it storing your likker in an intentional manner to will improve the taste over time. What the likker is stored in, how it is stored, how long and what else is added while storing it all affects the flavor. Vodka and Gin aren't generally "aged" but there are exceptions. Setting those aside, we can look at Whiskey. Typically a whiskey is stored in a wooden barrel. The barrel may be toasted to enhance the flavors of the wood. It can also be charred to bring in other flavors. The time spent in the barrel is called aging. During the aging the whiskey is interacting with the wood in the barrel. The type of wood, time and temperature swings all affect the taste.

For us, barrel aging is not as common given we don't typically produce enough volume to fill barrels. So we store in a variety of containers. Most commonly a glass jar or stainless steel container is used. Some have wooden lids to provide contact with the likker to add flavor in the same manner as a barrel. However, most of the time we will place wood (toasted and/or charred) into the jar. It is important to leave some good head space in the jar and open the jar occasionally to let it breath just like a barrel does.

What type of wood, toast and char level is personal preference. A search can give you information of what you can typically expect from different woods and toast/char levels. A similar search will give you some general guidelines for how much wood to use, although it is more preference than hard rules. How long? Some will say the longer the better. Others will say too long and the wood flavors can turn into off flavors. This is why you should periodically taste as you age. So some will "Age on wood" for awhile but then pull the wood and continue to age without it. It is all subjective to what you like. However, once you get to the place you finished aged enough, you then need to store/bottle without the head space and seal it air tight.

[Oatmeal]

I am an ignorant, so bear with me- my impression is that alcohol off the pipe is "raw" in the sense of being chemically unstable. Resting, even vodka, allows it time to "settle" into a bit more equilibrium as various reactions continue to happen/ volatiles fly off.

Odin suggests 5 weeks 'rest'.

On my most recent (and quite frankly first) vodka run the distillate was "richer" younger and lost character as it settled in.

With oak and aging, the time allows chemical changes to occur in the interactions between the congeners and tannic acids that produce the desirable flavors. Also oxidization.

Can confirm gin is hard to stop drinking in any form young or old, but does seem to marry together if you can not drink it all (first bottle made is still 2/3rds full and almost 5 weeks, but will not last much longer!)

Just an excellent post/response, XDStill. Nice perspective!