Oaking and aging the T-Pee way

[AK49ER]

T-Pee , Have you every tried reusing your wood after you have pulled it from the jug on another batch ? I am doing an experiment on some GEN5 Cob with toasted charred pecan that I had all ready ran through the batch of gen4. My thinking was i could leave it on for longer and get all of the goody out of the wood. Have anybody tryed this ? If so what was the results. I'm hooked on the T-pee way of aging been trying every wood i can get my paws on that's good and seasoned. I think my favorite is toasted and charred pecan,and toasted and charred sugar maple.

[der wo]

Probably you know, the scots age their whisky always in used barrels. So it's logical to take used sticks for malt whisky.
I have done this a few times. You get less sweetness and less colour, but a similar spiciness. Because of the less sweetness it tastes more dry. I like it for malt whisky, because the maltiness AND the sweetness of the wood would taste too sweet, a bit like coke without CO².
I recommend you to try it, perhaps you like it.

[bearriver]

Der Wo, your descriptions sounds like used oak would be great in gin.

[der wo]

So far I haven't made gin. And I never drank a good one, only the supermarket stuff.
I would try used sticks for a more dry and decent flavour or for something, what has already some sweetness like malt whisky or for example distilled macerated green walnuts.
For something dry like apple brandy I would use either many unused sticks for a deep colour and sweetness and noticeable spiciness (aroma bomb) or a small amount used sticks for a light color, no sweetness, but noticeable spiceness. I would not try a small amount of unsused sticks for that, it would taste only sweet without spice, boring. Or many used sticks, it would have a nice colour but taste too dry.

By the way: I didn't recognice any taste transfers from the first aging into the next. For example I have 1 liter with horsefeed-whiskey I aged with sticks, which were in orange brandy and distilled elderberries before. I cannot find this flavours in the whiskey now. But I dried the sticks between the two agings.

[cranky]

At proof last summer I tried a gin that was aged in used bourbon barrels. The bourbon flavor was too dominant and in my opinion ruined the gin. The white gin was much better, it tasted pretty much like my own.

[bearriver]

At proof last summer I tried a gin that was aged in used bourbon barrels. The bourbon flavor was too dominant and in my opinion ruined the gin. The white gin was much better, it tasted pretty much like my own.

I tried that too and thought the same thing, hence my comment.

A subtle oak in gin is something I want to try sometime.

[jedneck]

I am in the don't toast camp. I use sticks that are 3 sided and about 1.5 inches to the side. I char with a propane torch till I get a heavy senior citizen alligator char. Usually takes 15-20 mins to char a stick. Taking that long I prolly toast with the torch. Does seem to take longer for the spirit to get out of the funk stage. Seams to take 5-6 months instead of 4. Goes through a nasty eating a oak 2x4 at about 2 months. Sticks get reused at least 3x. 2nd used will be in another batch that might get another used stick added if needed. The third use I do a fients run and it gets all the used sticks I got.

[S-Cackalacky]

I've used once used sticks once and they were significantly depleted of goodies compared to their first use. I would say double, or even triple, the number of sticks if you use them a second time.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

I've used once used sticks once and they were significantly depleted of goodies compared to their first use. I would say double, or even triple, the number of sticks if you use them a second time.

Yep. Took my sweetest, best uj last year, stuck a used sick in it for 6 months. Thought less us better, right?

Slight colour, mild taste. At 6 months, I had to throw a fresh unused stick in. That was 9 months ago. It is dark double oaked. I still don't know if its ready now. Might wait 2 years. Definitely would have used 2 used sticks, but hell, maybe it will be awesome in the end.

[AK49ER]

Jed , heavy senior citizen alligator char gonna have to try this for sure , I sure do like my charred stuff

clack, I will keep an eye on it and see where it takes it , The reason I'm trying this is the wood swelled up and i couldn't get it back out of my gallon jugs. should have split it smaller.

I seem to like it best half charred and half toasted best haven't tried a all charred yet.

[The Booze Pipe]

I put 1.5L of SFW @ 58% on toasted & charred oak, T-Pee way. Coming up on one month, it smells woody and smokey. using T-Pee math I have about 30 sq inches; I'm not much for math myself, so I don't know if that surface area calculation is correct. I missed the step of putting the staves into a bucket of water. I think I did a quick rinse under running water but I have a lot of debris in my corked jug. Is the debris something you want to do without?
I haven't tasted it, after reading through the thread it sounds like I need to wait at least two-six months before its worth tasting. Am I on track with this moonshiner's aging process?

[T-Pee]

Yup. It's working. I age at least three months before drinking.
You can simply filter out the dark stuff through a paper towel. Seriously.

tp

[HDNB]

Yup. It's working. I age at least three months before drinking.
You can simply filter out the dark stuff through a paper towel. Seriously.

tp

I think it's NZC that says whatever your teeth don't catch, your liver will filter out!

[Swedish Pride]

Yup. It's working. I age at least three months before drinking.
You can simply filter out the dark stuff through a paper towel. Seriously.

tp

I think it's NZC that says whatever your teeth don't catch, your liver will filter out!

Call me posh if you will but i prefer my whiskey grit-less

[T-Pee]

Hence the paper towel.

tp

[The Booze Pipe]

I actually started using paper towels since I first found out how inefficient coffee filters are, in combination with a fine mesh sieve. It's effective.

[HDNB]

Hence the paper towel.

tp

i'm a scott's blue "shop towel" guy myself. the best paper towel filter ive found. blue dye does not come out, at any proof... and it soaks up oils completely.

[thecroweater]

The filters fish, chip and burger joints use to filter frying oil are the bomb and pretty cheap, I've ran out atm but I can say they are better than paper towel and 100% on coffee filters

[aceswired]

Where do you get them?

[HDNB]

Cabela's or wherever fine turkey fryers are sold. i use them to filter wash going in to pick up any stray grain. scott's towels on distillate tho.

[The Booze Pipe]

http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Premium-Con ... l+strainer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
This is what you're talking about? A paper cone filter for fry oil?

[thecroweater]

I'd say that's them, not sure they are paper though as they look more to be a fiberous cotton sort of deal. Never thought to hard about it but does anyone know what they are made of. Dyed/bleached paper never did turn me on that much so I went with the filters thinking they were likely cotton

[Swedish Pride]

I'm not to bothered about the paper i filter through, mostly it's kitchen roll i have at home, sometimes toilet tissue.
At some point we have to draw the line, after all we are producing a toxin, i think the booze have worse affect on me that the paper it passes through.

[aceswired]

I use unbleached coffee filters only. With all the effort to brew and distill it, oak it, and age it, why skimp on the final step?

[T-Pee]

Because imo coffee filters take too danged long for no real gain in particulate removal.

tp (patient to a point)

[aceswired]

I believe coffee filters rate at about 20 microns, paper towels much higher. It does make a difference. That's why it takes longer. If it made no difference, it would take the same amount of time. As a bonus, you're not passing your hard-earned drop through paper treated with bleach and other chemicals.

Just my opinion. We put a lot of time into our liquor. No reason to take a shortcut at the final stage.

[T-Pee]

So you're saying that there is still "bleach and other chemicals" in paper towels that are commonly used in food processing areas? What about white coffee filters? Do they still have bleach and other chemicals in them even though a good chunk of the planet uses them to make their daily morning coffee for consumption?

Are they safe or not?

tp

[MichiganCornhusker]

What the heck are you all doing with your coffee filters?
My whiskeys filter through them almost as fast as I can pour.
I know they are slower with macerations or PD's, but for oak aged spirits, to filter out any char, they work great for me.

I use the natural, unbleached, brown coffee filters because they go well with my dark green proofing cardigan.

[Jimbo]

I use the natural, unbleached, brown coffee filters because they go well with my dark green proofing cardigan.

I use them too, work fine. I dont have a proofing cardigan, but they also match the red velvet smoking jacket I wear with my red checkerboard Blackhawks pajama pants. Quite versatile they are, work well with most any ensemble.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Quite versatile they are, work well with most any ensemble.

The filters or the jammie's?