My first bottled product

Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper 8)

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
User avatar
sadie33
Distiller
Posts: 1772
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 2:45 pm

My first bottled product

Post by sadie33 »

It's funny I've been doing this about 3 yrs now and this is my first bottled product. My UJSSM I don't age or dilute (moonshine). My rum I don't dilute, kinda use it like 151.

The sweet feed whiskey has been aging 13 months. I aged it 2 different ways to see which I liked better. I bought some French oak cubes, med toast. I did half in a glass jar with those. I did the other in a 2L oak cask that had been filled with rum (I know, backwards, oh well).

It was my first time diluting and I was really nervous. I have read how it goes cloudy on some people when they add their water. I also read the calculators aren't always accurate. After all that work and over a year aging I didn't want to mess it up.

I diluted with distilled water and absolutely no clouding :ebiggrin: I used the calculator as a guide. It told me to add 5 cups of water so I started with 3 and added 1/4 cup at a time until I got to 40%. I got over a half gallon of each.

After sampling both, my husband and I both liked the one aged in glass. When both samples were almost gone, he dumped them into one glass and that was really good! I think I will keep them separate though and maybe mix them when I want.

Here's a picture, you can see the difference in color.
DSC_0100.JPG
DSC_0099.JPG
User avatar
BlackStrap
Swill Maker
Posts: 414
Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 3:48 pm
Location: The hills of Appalachia

Re: My first bottled product

Post by BlackStrap »

Looks Awesome Sadie... Love the colors on the left.

Care to share you and your husbands tasting notes on either the sweet feed, rum or the ujssm (I know taste is subjective) Just curious what you came up with.

Cheers!!

Stay Safe & Have Fun
BlackStrap
Most questions can be answered here http://homedistiller.org/ and here http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=46

The one who cuts the firewood gets twice the warmth
SW_Shiner
Swill Maker
Posts: 478
Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2024 3:46 pm
Location: South Waikato, New Zealand

Re: My first bottled product

Post by SW_Shiner »

Lovely colours, and cool bottles too.
The first bottling is a great feeling. I used to only make more once i had run out so never had a chance to get some decent age on anything. Now that i run regularly, i've had the chance for a couple different bottling sessions. It is a nice feeling seeing a shelf stocked with various bottles of home made goodness.
User avatar
sadie33
Distiller
Posts: 1772
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 2:45 pm

Re: My first bottled product

Post by sadie33 »

BlackStrap wrote: Wed Apr 30, 2025 3:26 pm Looks Awesome Sadie... Love the colors on the left.

Care to share you and your husbands tasting notes on either the sweet feed, rum or the ujssm (I know taste is subjective) Just curious what you came up with.

Cheers!!

Stay Safe & Have Fun
BlackStrap
Thanks BlackStrap. I forgot to mention the one on the left was aged in the oak cask. Hmmm...I didn't take notes on the tasting. I took notes on every step, even the diluting, but none on the tasting. We just pour, drink and enjoy! But now that you mentioned it, I might have to take notes on tasting, I guess that is the most important thing.
User avatar
sadie33
Distiller
Posts: 1772
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 2:45 pm

Re: My first bottled product

Post by sadie33 »

SW_Shiner wrote: Wed Apr 30, 2025 3:49 pm Lovely colours, and cool bottles too.
The first bottling is a great feeling. I used to only make more once i had run out so never had a chance to get some decent age on anything. Now that i run regularly, i've had the chance for a couple different bottling sessions. It is a nice feeling seeing a shelf stocked with various bottles of home made goodness.
Thanks, I love the colors as well. I think my next batch of rum I might dilute and bottle, then I will have a bit more of a stock. :x
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13949
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: My first bottled product

Post by NZChris »

Congratulations.

That said, I have never had a bottling session for an aging product that I considered was finished aging. I only ever bottle enough for my projected needs and leave the rest on the wood.

Blending is good. Most of the product I bottle for my drinks cabinet is a blend of various batches and years and is better for it. If your husband prefers a blend, let him have it.

Cheers
Chris
User avatar
Saltbush Bill
Site Mod
Posts: 10582
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 2:13 am
Location: Northern NSW Australia

Re: My first bottled product

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Great result Sadie, it's good to see that you have stuck to the hobby this long and are now getting to enjoy the fruits of your labour.
Sporacle
Distiller
Posts: 1240
Joined: Sun Apr 25, 2021 10:45 pm

Re: My first bottled product

Post by Sporacle »

Well done Sadie, it's time and patience and you have both
" you can pick your nose and you can pick your friends; but you can't always wipe your friends off on your saddle" sage advice from Kinky Friedman
User avatar
sadie33
Distiller
Posts: 1772
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2023 2:45 pm

Re: My first bottled product

Post by sadie33 »

NZChris wrote: Wed Apr 30, 2025 10:51 pm Congratulations.

That said, I have never had a bottling session for an aging product that I considered was finished aging. I only ever bottle enough for my projected needs and leave the rest on the wood.

Blending is good. Most of the product I bottle for my drinks cabinet is a blend of various batches and years and is better for it. If your husband prefers a blend, let him have it.

Cheers
Chris
Thanks, how does it not get over oaked if left for so long? I had read of other people doing this, but everyone talks about over oaking.
User avatar
Rusty Ole Bucket
Posts: 547
Joined: Sat Jul 27, 2024 12:39 pm
Location: Well, I'm not sure.

Re: My first bottled product

Post by Rusty Ole Bucket »

Nice job Sadie, those look great.

Rusty
"Knowledge is a paradox; the more one understands, the more one realizes the vastness of his ignorance" - Viktor (Arcane)

The Horny Goat Build
Electric Boozaloo II Build
User avatar
subbrew
Distiller
Posts: 1540
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:40 pm
Location: West of the Mississippi

Re: My first bottled product

Post by subbrew »

Over oak has two factors, amount of wood to product volume and time. But the amount of wood has to be above a certain threshold to over oak. That amount is dependent on each persons taste. For me I know it is some place above two oak fingers in a half gallon jar. I know have product that has been on two fingers for three years and just gets better. I am convinced it could stay on that wood for 20 years and never get over oaked because there is just not enough oak to push it there. If I could graph it the oak flavor vs time would be a line that ramps up for a year or so and then levels out flat as the oak available has been extracted (see below). As long as the line levels out below the oak favor level you consider over oaked you are good. On the other hand if there is enough oak to drive that line above your "over oaked" flavor threshold then time comes in and you need to remove the oak before it crosses the line. If your flavor threshold is the red horizontal line then it will never over oak. If your threshold is the black line then you have a certain amount of time before you need to get the product off the oak. Ignore the red dots, user error there.
image.png
User avatar
subbrew
Distiller
Posts: 1540
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 1:40 pm
Location: West of the Mississippi

Re: My first bottled product

Post by subbrew »

BTW those bottles are beautiful. The color is great.
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13949
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: My first bottled product

Post by NZChris »

sadie33 wrote: Thu May 01, 2025 5:23 am Thanks, how does it not get over oaked if left for so long? I had read of other people doing this, but everyone talks about over oaking.
By not using small barrels. All of mine is aged in glass with barrel staves.

If someone gave me a small barrel, I would use it, but to age more whiskey than it holds. E.g. for a 2l barrel, I might age 10l of whiskey, periodically emptying it back in with the rest and refilling it, plus having a stave in the container with the rest.
User avatar
PalCabral
Swill Maker
Posts: 292
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2024 4:02 am
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Re: My first bottled product

Post by PalCabral »

Very nice looking and mouth-watering products, Sadie! Well done.
Step by step, little by little.
User avatar
Yummyrum
Global moderator
Posts: 8894
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2013 2:23 am
Location: Fraser Coast QLD Aussie

Re: My first bottled product

Post by Yummyrum »

Good stuff Sadie
Iff’n you got no cloudy then you done well with your cuts and kept the stinky tails out .

Heck , it’s amazing , three years go by fast . I remember yiu here as a green horn .

Bottling isn’t the end of aging . Air in any bottle does magic . The best drink IMO is near the end if a bottle
Cheers
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13949
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: My first bottled product

Post by NZChris »

I emptied a 2015 aging jar today and proofed a bottle for the drinks cabinet. The wood went into a 2017 jar of aging spirit.

All of my aging jars are filled to 2/3rds maximum to allow for some O2 in the headspace, plus the corks are not pushed in so tight that they can't breath with changes in temperature, weather, pressure, etc.
MooseMan
Distiller
Posts: 2250
Joined: Fri May 28, 2021 4:54 am
Location: Wales UK

Re: My first bottled product

Post by MooseMan »

sadie33 wrote: Wed Apr 30, 2025 3:19 pm It's funny I've been doing this about 3 yrs now and this is my first bottled product. My UJSSM I don't age or dilute (moonshine). My rum I don't dilute, kinda use it like 151.

The sweet feed whiskey has been aging 13 months. I aged it 2 different ways to see which I liked better. I bought some French oak cubes, med toast. I did half in a glass jar with those. I did the other in a 2L oak cask that had been filled with rum (I know, backwards, oh well).

It was my first time diluting and I was really nervous. I have read how it goes cloudy on some people when they add their water. I also read the calculators aren't always accurate. After all that work and over a year aging I didn't want to mess it up.

I diluted with distilled water and absolutely no clouding :ebiggrin: I used the calculator as a guide. It told me to add 5 cups of water so I started with 3 and added 1/4 cup at a time until I got to 40%. I got over a half gallon of each.

After sampling both, my husband and I both liked the one aged in glass. When both samples were almost gone, he dumped them into one glass and that was really good! I think I will keep them separate though and maybe mix them when I want.

Here's a picture, you can see the difference in color.

DSC_0100.JPG

DSC_0099.JPG
Very nice looking bottles Sadie, we would call those "Decanters" here in the UK.

The one on the left has a beautiful deep colour! I get a similar, slightly red hue when I soak my used staves in red wine and dry them out before putting in my product.

I too find that a blend seems to be better, so I tend to bottle at least one blend for the shelf.
Make Booze, not War!
Stump Lake
Bootlegger
Posts: 139
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2022 7:01 am
Location: State of confusion

Re: My first bottled product

Post by Stump Lake »

Nice color. The bottles look great also.
Post Reply