Home Distiller

I vote that this gets moved to a "TRIED AND TRUE"

The entire thread is eye opening and thought provoking and True!!

Carry On

^^^^^^^^ What he said.

+1.

+2 and most cabinet shops will give you white oak scraps for free.

jb-texshine wrote:+2 and most cabinet shops will give you white oak scraps for free.

That will work just bare in mind most wood for cabinet making is now Kiln dried. Ideally you want air dried white oak. I am note sure what the flavor difference is I smell an experiment here.

+3 on tried and true!

B

Dehinitely tried & true, might as well put it there.

You guys just made my day.

tp

+1 On the tried and true.
For those of us who are not blessed with a basement for oakbarrels , it's a good alternative.
I have a 15 L glasscarboy full of whisky for aging that way...wonder if i should "test" it..?

This is more a method then recipe however definitely a sticky .

Thanks, Tater!!

tp

Took a little nip from both bottles tonight. They are at 4 months(Almost to the day) I have changed my mind. I like the bottle with the char'd sticks now better than the just toasted sticks.

The finish is nicer. Like a brown sugar on the finish just before the sour comes in..... So char'd it is from now on......... I also go more dried fruit notes and caramel now... but vanilla is overcome by the other flavors... Hope it comes in stronger later..

Now the char'd is also smoother but less rye flavor that the toasted. That part I like better in the just toast mix.

I also mixed them again and they seam to complicate each other. Going to see what happens in another couple months on the oak.

B

How is THIS for Fast Color??
36 hours since I dropped the sticks in the Half Gallon of 120 proof.
Placed the Jug in a warm spot and its really coloring fast.
One of the White Oak sticks has already sunk...Heavy Char after toasting at 380 for 2 hours.
Heartwood sticks cut last year from a dead tree.
Anybody want any White Oak just for the mailing costs???????? Have Oak will Travel.
This will be ready in a few months...takes a lot longer to get the taste change.

Looks tasty already A-S.

Appalachia-Shiner wrote:How is THIS for Fast Color??
36 hours since I dropped the sticks in the Half Gallon of 120 proof.
Placed the Jug in a warm spot and its really coloring fast.
One of the White Oak sticks has already sunk...Heavy Char after toasting at 380 for 2 hours.
Heartwood sticks cut last year from a dead tree.
Anybody want any White Oak just for the mailing costs???????? Have Oak will Travel.

DSCN6647.JPG

This will be ready in a few months...takes a lot longer to get the taste change.

Hey I'll take you up on that! I'll pop you a PM, if the offer is still good.

Appalachia-Shiner wrote: Anybody want any White Oak just for the mailing costs???????? Have Oak will Travel.

will it travel intercontinental? can I PM you?

I see a burgeoning market on the horizon.

tp (also blessed with oak "on the hoof")

T-Pee wrote:blessed with oak "on the hoof

Do it.

Anyone Else????

Well friends I'm not sure if I messed something up or I'm just being impatient. Over Thanksgivig weekend I split some apple wood chunks into 1"x1x3" strips, toasted at 365F for about an hour and a half, then chared with a propane torch. I'm running three pint jars experiments with this wood.
Jar 1: toasted only, one stick
Jar 2 : one smaller stick toasted, one smaller stick toasted and chared.
Jar 3: one stick of toasted and chared.

Its only been about a week and a half but the color already looks beautiful. So last night I decided to try a tiny sip just to see...I tried the jar with two sticks because it has the deepest color in it. It tasted.......like charcoal. With a burn.

Did I do something wrong or do I need to just hide that jar from myself until spring?

the colour comes in early, taste takes longer to develop, leave it as long as you can.
Also you soaked your charred sticks in water before throwing them in the jar right?

Yes I did soak them. Not very long though. Maybe that's what's going on here....

Oak has loads of compounds, some are much more soluble than others, its why higher proofs give different flavours and lots of end grain means lots of early tanins (often too much). Tanin and other not so wonderful resin compounds are the first out the gate and they taste like cold black tea and bitter sap, certain sugars will soon disolve correcting some of that and then some lovely vanilan compounds to smooth things over a bit. Toasting has caramelized some of the sugars and that will carry through. Charring is a bit more tricky, it burns sugars and other compounds to give a slightly acrid dryness and can add a smoke flavour some like. I use to char and smoke timber but have decided i dont really like it that much so now char very little (maybe 10 to 20% . Over char shine is as bad as over tanined and a PITA to correct, time will tell if that has happened but i suspect all is well and you are jumping the gun a bit

A week and a half?? It's still in the white with burned wood innit for all practical purposes. Leave it alone for a few months and try it. You'll be pleasantly surprised with some real comparison to work with.

tp

Ok so I have some double run pot still ujsm. Got some dead fall white American oak heart wood, cut into 3/4 x 3/4 x 4" sticks, toasted at 350* for 4 hours then charred with torch.. Put a stick in each quart at 62% and left for 6 weeks. Tried it tonight. Smells good, but tastes like green wood.

Do you guys let it age with the lids off the jars? I've had the lids left on the whole time and I'm think I should remove them. Will the "green" wood taste mellow out? Should I remove the oak or leave it in there?

Aging is mostly done corked up so it can breathe a bit. It's a chemical change on a molecular level that happens after time and has nothing to do with airing.

tp

T-Pee wrote:Aging is mostly done corked up so it can breathe a bit. It's a chemical change on a molecular level that happens after time and has nothing to do with airing.

tp

Oh contrare - It's been discussed many times on the forums that occasional airing (introduction of oxygen) has its benefits during the aging process.

Antler24 wrote:Ok so I have some double run pot still ujsm. Got some dead fall white American oak heart wood, cut into 3/4 x 3/4 x 4" sticks, toasted at 350* for 4 hours then charred with torch.. Put a stick in each quart at 62% and left for 6 weeks. Tried it tonight. Smells good, but tastes like green wood.

Do you guys let it age with the lids off the jars? I've had the lids left on the whole time and I'm think I should remove them. Will the "green" wood taste mellow out? Should I remove the oak or leave it in there?

6 weeks is not a long time. Try it after 6 months.

S-Cackalacky wrote:

T-Pee wrote:Aging is mostly done corked up so it can breathe a bit. It's a chemical change on a molecular level that happens after time and has nothing to do with airing.

tp

Oh contrare - It's been discussed many times on the forums that occasional airing (introduction of oxygen) has its benefits during the aging process.

Ok. Airing has a bit to do with it. I knew it didn't sound quite right when I posted and you were too quick for me to edit.
Ennyways, the rest of my opinion sound right?

tp

Spot on.

Wow thanks for the quick replies on this folks, that why I love HD!