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jimdo64 wrote:How do you know the fores/heads are whats evaporating, and not just the hot ethanol, which evaporates at lightening speed when hot. Thats why its called 'rubbing' alcohol. Rub it on your warm skin and poof its GONE in a flash and all you feel is the cold from the rapid evaporation.

I don't know. I'm just posting what happened in the test I did. Maybe you can shed some light on the subject.

jarheadshiner wrote:

jimdo64 wrote:How do you know the fores/heads are whats evaporating, and not just the hot ethanol, which evaporates at lightening speed when hot. Thats why its called 'rubbing' alcohol. Rub it on your warm skin and poof its GONE in a flash and all you feel is the cold from the rapid evaporation.

I don't know. I'm just posting what happened in the test I did. Maybe you can shed some light on the subject.

I was responding to Dunder's comment. And I have no freakin idea whats happening jarhead, but Im watching this thread closely, and if it works bet your ass Ill be busy in front of the microwave!

Wasn't trying to be smart jimdo64. I'm just speculating like everyone else. I will tell you for sure the method makes a damn fine product no matter what's happening. I'm more or less just doing some rudimentary safety tests to hopefully ease some concerns.

if I can get through a stripper and spirit run tomorrow I will do some experiments also on white dog bourbon sugar head and also some straight bourbon. I'll post up results

I think the stripper would do me in

In my case it was the heads because the taste of them was pretty well gone after the nuclear party. Not to say that other stuff didn't go along for the ride, tho.

I can't say much about what's going where and personally that's not too important to me. I would think to know the real answers it would take some sophisticated equipment that most of us don't have access to. I was thinking that maybe doing some tests on tails would help but with the lower alcohol content I don't suspect that would tell us much of anything. My thoughts are that if it works then why ask why. If you stay around 150F then I don't see any real danger but I will keep my promise and finish what I started. Sipping on some SF that was nuked 3 times on JD chips and 2 more on some cherry chips that I toasted. Did it at 130 proof and then diluted to 80 and it is tasting mighty good with some ginger ale

I'm pretty surprised to see how much is evaporating!

Nice job Jarhead!

Thanks JD. I was pretty surprised too actually. Wish I could've finished up but there's always next week. Gotta find another microwave though which shouldn't be too difficult. I know a lot of pack rats

jarheadshiner wrote: 3rd test: 239 grams spirit/total weight in pint jar 496 grams
starting temp unknown (just poured the first 2 test jars in with what was left of my pint jar of fores)
lid on and tightened for 3 minutes 30 seconds
end temp 180 degrees
end weight 455 grams
In the last minute of heating you could hear a hissing sound coming from the microwave. When I removed the jar the lid was bent from the pressure
and causing the hissing sound. When I started loosening the band the liquid began to boil. I removed it slowly, relieving the pressure. When the lid was
off I got another flash boil when I inserted the thermometer. Nothing too violent but it did occur.

Am i reading this bit right? You put the lid on it and then nuked it? Because this would be 'a not very good idea' Metal in the microwave gives it the chance to arc
Also by heating a sealed vessel containing a liquid you had something very much resembling a bomb; this is why all still (a vessel containing hot alcohol like your jar) must have a atmospheric vent.

This would only be of any use if you are destruction testing the microwave outside far from things and people - flashboiling solvent exploding (or even just a crack in the jar) into a microwave with a metal lid that is potentialy making arc sparks

Please tell me i mis-read or mis-interpreted the above, or that you were indeed doing a destruction test

This thread has some potential for real benefit, and the process as it is originaly done, with care can it seems be a valid technique.

If anyone (not just this poster) is trying a destruction test - please put it in huge writing at the beginning of the post so that no noobs in a hurry try it!

Good Job Jarhead. Glad I didn't see it on the News. What I see funniest throughout the thread is that in order to have good whiskey you need some heads and tails along with your hearts. In the normal aging process the wood reacts in different ways over time to create the different products. With the Nucking process we seem to be removing at least some of the heads. I am like you thinking that there is just too much going on for our limited abilities of testing to prove or disprove much more than the process works pretty good. I think I will try a vodka instead of whiskey with the JD Chips. Anyway thanks for taking the chances and I'm glad it worked out safely.

@frozenthunderbolt

Yes he was destruction testing a microwave.

My guess is 2 things are happening, both touched on through this thread. 1 - The heat and vacumn is sucking the alchohol into and back out of the wood, pulling stuff out of the wood that might take many months otherwise.

And 2 - speeding up the 'harmonizing' process. Molecular aging reactions described in this video I posted at this link, discussed at 5:20 minutes in. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 2#p7079428

The spirit 'ripes'. 'harmonizing the alcohols' or 'riping' as he called it. WIth the long chain fatty acids (flavors, aromas) re-attaching 'log-on' to the arms of the ethanol molecule.

I suppose some heads could be evaporating, which would be the equivalent of doing another spirit run and taking more fores out. But that alone wont make a drink taste aged. It will still have that white dog raw happening. Ive done 4 redistillations in my potstill and the shit still needed time to taste good haha.

I'm just guessing tho, agree with all that it would take some chemist and serious equipment to really understand the science of whats happening. Wish I knew a chemist lol.

If anyone (not just this poster) is trying a destruction test - please put it in huge writing at the beginning of the post so that no noobs in a hurry try it!

@frozenthunderbolt
I didn't consider the fact that someone may just see this thread and jump to the last page. I have been pretty active on this thread and initially was just planning on doing a destruction test only. It kind of grew from there and I added some more tests. I will make sure in the future if I am doing any dangerous testing that I will put a large DISCLAIMER at the beginning of the post.

wv_cooker wrote:Good Job Jarhead. Glad I didn't see it on the News. What I see funniest throughout the thread is that in order to have good whiskey you need some heads and tails along with your hearts. In the normal aging process the wood reacts in different ways over time to create the different products. With the Nucking process we seem to be removing at least some of the heads. I am like you thinking that there is just too much going on for our limited abilities of testing to prove or disprove much more than the process works pretty good. I think I will try a vodka instead of whiskey with the JD Chips. Anyway thanks for taking the chances and I'm glad it worked out safely.

Thanks. I'm not quite done yet though so keep the good vibes coming my way I thought I would use a good bit of everclear for this test so I bought 2 bottles. I only figure I'm gonna need 1 so I'm nuking the other one right now. Hell it can't hurt that swill! Gonna do 2 rounds on JD and 2 on cherry. If it turns out drinkable I will let you know.

Okay guys, I've been following this thread closely but have not tried it yet, however I am very intrigued. I just ran a spirit run of a Corn/Rye AG the other night of which I have a quart of 125 proof that I'm willing to give a chance with. I want to make sure I have everything right here before I do it. Here's my plan.

Split the quart into two pint jars:

Jar 1 - Add maybe a 1/4 cup of JD chips, add 125 proof alc, nuke to 150* F, remove and seal with lid and let cool down to room temp. Repeat 3-4x

Jar 2 - This is where I need some recommendations, I have previously used charred oak chunks (aged some UJ on it) or I can toast and char some new oaks chunks, and repeat the process the same as jar 1, which would you recommend?

Another question I have is, has anyone tried nuking whiskey that already has some age to it? For instance I have some UJ and some spiced rum that is a couple months old (UJ is anyhow, rum is a few weeks old) both have been taken off the oak. I wonder if this would improve the flavor of it without the oak in it yet?

Rivver wrote:Another question I have is, has anyone tried nuking whiskey that already has some age to it? For instance I have some UJ and some spiced rum that is a couple months old (UJ is anyhow, rum is a few weeks old) both have been taken off the oak. I wonder if this would improve the flavor of it without the oak in it yet?

I found it tends to smooth it slightly. Some think it's not as strong but the abv really hasn't changed so I think it is the smoothing out of the drink. Each persons tastes very and it doesn't take much to experiment and decide for yourself! My experiment was very limited as I tried it one's with some Sweet Feed I took out of a 4 gallon container that had sat for 3 months on JD chips and some plumwood I had charred.

Here's some safety/ LEL stuff for y'all. While nuking these jars, I put a catalytic LEL cell in the exhaust of the microwave. Never observed a response, looks like the quantity of air flowing through the oven was diluting it to under 1% LEL. Immediately after taking the qt jars out of the oven, took the temperature and stuck the LEL cell into the mouth of the jar. Doesn't look very dangerous at all as long as the fan is working. There's enough weight loss in these samples to blow the s*^t out of a microwave if the fan isn't operational. Enjoy:

Microwave Treatment LEL Observations
MSA Catalytic cell calibrated to Propane @ 40% LEL (1.7%V = 100% LEL), Ethanol @ 90% relative response (3.1%V = 100% LEL).
5/4/13

Jar 1 UJSM Gen 6 3/17/13
Tare jar and lid 400g
172 @ 69◦F = 164 proof
20g JD chips, light char, ¾” vanilla bean
Gross = 1700g
Taste = medium heads
2 min = 136◦F
LEL @ exhaust stayed at 0%, LEL at mouth of jar = 39%
After 1 min pause, lid on, 30 sec = 144◦F
LEL @ exhaust stayed at 0%, LEL at mouth of jar = 14%
Gross = 1600g

Jar 2 UJSM Gen 6 3/17/13
170 @ 69◦F = 162 proof
20g JD chips, light char, ¾” vanilla bean
Gross = 990g
Taste = light heads
2:30 min = 156◦F
LEL @ exhaust stayed at 0%, LEL at mouth of jar = 75%
Gross = messed up, added wood after weighing

Jar 4 UJSM Gen 6 3/17/13
166 @ 69◦F = 158 proof
20g JD chips, light char, ¾” vanilla bean
Gross = 1110g
Taste = hearts, drinkable neat
2:30 min = 148◦F
LEL @ exhaust stayed at 0%, LEL at mouth of jar = 92%
Gross = 1100g

Jar 7 UJSM Gen 6 3/17/13
170 @ 69◦F = 162 proof
20g JD chips, light char, ¾” vanilla bean
Gross = 1030g
Taste = late hearts, strong flavor, very good
2:30 min = 146◦F
LEL @ exhaust stayed at 0%, LEL at mouth of jar = >100%
Gross = 1020g

Jar 8 UJSM Gen 6 3/17/13
156 @ 70◦F = 148 proof
20g JD chips, light char, ¾” vanilla bean
Gross = 1050g
Taste = late hearts, strong flavor, very good
2:30 min = 145◦F
LEL @ exhaust stayed at 0%, LEL at mouth of jar = 67%
Gross = 1045g

Jar 9 UJSM Gen 6 3/17/13
168 @ 70◦F = 160 proof
20g JD chips, light char, ¾” vanilla bean
Gross = 1010g
Taste = early tails, good spicy flavor
2:30 min = 150◦F
LEL @ exhaust stayed at 0%, LEL at mouth of jar = 41%
Gross = 1005g

Finally got done with my test batch of Everclear. Did 3 runs with JD chips, 3 runs with charred apple wood, then 3 more runs of JD chips. Results? Its drinkable, not much flavor tho. Fun experiment but nothing beat 6 months on charred oak. BTW started out at 75% ABV ended up with 68% ABV. Guess I boiled some off. I used about 25% chips, probably not enough I'm guessing

id say much experimenting needs to be done.
maybe "flavor" with the vacuum proses then try nuking?
id keep it simple a possible. if you do to many things at once you wont know what made it better or worse.

baron4406 wrote:Finally got done with my test batch of Everclear. Did 3 runs with JD chips, 3 runs with charred apple wood, then 3 more runs of JD chips. Results? Its drinkable, not much flavor tho. Fun experiment but nothing beat 6 months on charred oak. BTW started out at 75% ABV ended up with 68% ABV. Guess I boiled some off. I used about 25% chips, probably not enough I'm guessing

has any one else taken before and after ABV readings ?

reading this thread from the begining this appears to be the first ABV #'s

I showed no noticeable loss in ABV when I tried it

I am planning a SF run later this week. After my cuts I plan to experiment with both micro and ultra sonic and do some comparisons. Hopefully I should have something besides taste to bring back to the forum.

Currently making a run and am trying nuking the early jars to 120degF before putting on the coffee filters. Seems like it might help, eh?

I put mine to 150-155'F per run

I lost about 6-7% ABV starting at 63%. Negligible loss for better tasting likker

Yeah, here's another one I'd be interested in seeing others results. Just nuking with no additions. I tried it with my buddies El Cheapo LTD brand whisky. No additions, just nuked 3 times to ~150F, then sealed in a Mason jar, then cooled to room temp, ~70F. NO metal in the microwave. And it noticeably improved it. I know I didn't take precise measurements, but we did lose some volume. Just as a test by a few others to see how much the microwave heat alone affects it.

I did another taste test today, nuked UJ vs 6 week aged, same JD chips. Gotta say the 6 week stuff is smooth as a babies bottom, nuked stuff is good too but not near the other stuff. Same batch of UJ
I'm convinced, good method for quick drinkable stuff but not a replacement for natural aging.

I'm gonna try it again this time with a bit of Odin style rye bread whiskey. This time I'm gonna do it at standard aging strength (65%) and use a little more chips. Second trick is to heat it, let it pull a vacuum and sit a day (shaking it occasionally), then open it up, break the vacuum and throw it in the freezer, take it out and let it get to room temp. So basically wild temp swings over a few days from 37 degrees to 150 degrees.
Just playing around here, most of my stuff goes on oak for long term aging, but I like to drink some white dog too. Would be nice to find something that work, drank some of that Everclear batch and it gave me a nasty headache. Back to back with my 6 month old UJSSM is like Kate Upton standing next to Rosie O'Donnel.

This pass weekend i tried a new experiment. Had a free bottle of Grey Goose the inlaws left at the house and i dont drink Vodka of no sort and niether does the wife so it made a great canidate for an experiment. In a qt jar.. filled to 1/2 way with JD chips and then the rest with Goose. Nuked 4 times cooling between cycles and also 1/2 teaspoon mcCormick vanilla. Next Jar... filled 1/2 way with toasted apple wood chips that i lightly charred with torch and the rest of the way with Goose. Nuked 3 times cooling between cyclesand vanilla also. Ran both jars through 2 coffee filters and bottled. Took 1/2 of 1 bottle and 1/2 of the other and blended those. So now i have 3 different taste. I then took those 3 bottles and went to a BBQ yesterday and waited for there responses. U want guess which was a HIT.. .... Blended bottle hit a home run!!