As I am starting up my home production, I don't have the output yet to set up a Solera system. I need to find out what works and what does not, my cuts, what toast and char to use, etc. But I am planning to set up a Solera, for whatever spirits I don't use up the first year after distillation. This is an excellent thread, full of information, and so are the threads where SBB and Vlagavulvin are sharing their Solera systems. So much insights.
I see three school of thoughts, just showing how "dynamic" dynamic aging can be. They are: 1) Start big and slim down - biggest barrel first, then stepwise smaller barrels, 2) equal size through out Solera, and 3) grow in size, smaller barrels to a final big Solera barrel.
The "equal size" model makes sense if you have a regular production of the product you want to mature - what you take out from the Solera is replenished from previous barrels and the youngest barrel is filled with an equal amount new take, or at least young spirits. The "grow in size" also makes sense if you are not consuming as much as you are producing, i.e. building up stock - replenish the Solera from previous layer, which is in turn replenished etc.
But I can't really make heads or tails of how the starting with the "biggest barrel first" would work, to me it feels inefficient. Let me try to explain by using the example of SBB, starting with a 50L pre-oaking barrel in steel, then a 50L barrel, a 25L/15L/10L, and finally a series of 5L/6Ls barrels - which are set up in the traditional equal size Solera system.
And sorry if it seems like I am questioning SBB here, I'm not, I am merely using his detailed explanation of how his system works to put my thoughts across.
Saltbush Bill wrote: ↑Fri May 24, 2024 2:34 am
My first is a 50L ,which is used to top up a 25L ,this then tops up a series of 5 or 6 L barrels.
The 50 is kept full from a 50L stainless beer keg full of Rum which has a heap of old used Dominos and used home made toasted sticks in it to help with pre-oaking......most of my barrels have done a lot of work...pre oaking lightens their load
This method works well imo, that end barrel will end up having a blend of all that you have made over many generations and many years.
Let's assume that the final volume of product after a batch is 10L and that the maximum you take out of the Solera barrel in the end of the system is 1/3 of the barrel's (5L) capacity. This means that the volume to be replenished back through the system is only 1.8L and the biggest and youngest barrel will only need to be topped up at 3% of its' total capacity. You'll be having to mature 8.2L of new take in some other barrel or holding them in a resting jar until the next time the system needs topping up. That's a lot of excess.
I am not saying it doesn't work but I am saying that a system that starts big and goes small is not as efficient as a system of equal size or of growing size. What I see is a replenishment system that clogs up and where the youngest barrel in the Solera system is not refreshed with new take fast/often enough, unless you use the youngest barrel for other purposes than feeding into your Solera system. (I work with process improvements in my day job, so you can call this a work related injury.
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No harm done, I am pretty sure that SBB is using the excess from his 50L and 25L barrels for younger bottlings or maturing in other casks
Step by step, little by little.
