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I just made up 5 gal of what I'm calling #4, it's a bourbon recipe with 20% millet that was sour mashed and thin mashed. Ran several stripping runs and then a couple spirit runs and ended up with a little over 5 gal of 140 proof. My friend found a 5 gal beer keg on the side of the road and I thought that would make an excellent ager. I painted it black so it would warm up better in the sun and my thinking is that being able to seal it tight would allow for increased pressure in the keg and thus force the hooch into the wood (I put 3-4 10" sticks of charred white oak in the keg). It gets 90 or so here in the day, but generally cools to the 50S - 60s at night, so I'm hoping for some good movement in and out of the wood. I also try to give it a good shake every day, although I'm afraid that I might of filed it too full and not allowed enough oxygen to do much. I also put in a few peppercorns, some anise, orange peel, angelica, and vanilla - not much, but hoping to add a bit of complexity to my final flavor.

Do you guys think that my aging ideas are on or not?

I'm aging it pretty proofy; Is that a good/bad thing?

GO BIG RED

Dang sure does sound like it's gonna be good. Force that goodness in yep.

I don't have near the back ground to offer anything useful to you.

But I'll be pulling for you never the less

Be REALLY careful with anise. It is very easy to over do, and end up with too much licorice flavor.

The other ingredients sound good. It should be fairly 'complex'.

I would open her up every couple of days, and get some fresh air in there. You might also get an aquarium pump, attach some 1/4" copper tubing to it, and bubble some air through it for a while (24 hours, 4 hours a week for 6 weeks or so). I find the exchange with the O2 to be super beneficial to good whiskey aging.

H.

Husker wrote:Be REALLY careful with anise. It is very easy to over do, and end up with too much licorice flavor.

The other ingredients sound good. It should be fairly 'complex'.

I would open her up every couple of days, and get some fresh air in there. You might also get an aquarium pump, attach some 1/4" copper tubing to it, and bubble some air through it for a while (24 hours, 4 hours a week for 6 weeks or so). I find the exchange with the O2 to be super beneficial to good whiskey aging.

H.

I dug into my gin botanicals to come up with the "extras". Forgot to mention that I tossed in some peppercorns, too.

You're probably right, that I should open it up every now and then. The only problem with that is that those kegs are sealed with a double snap ring and, man, what a pain in the arse they are to get in/out. Maybe I can find a thick single ring to replace it...

What do you think about the aging proof? After my cuts, I ended up with 5 1/2 gal of 140. Since the keg was 5 gal, I filled it up and then a couple of quarts jars. I didn't plan on 140, it's just the way it came out with what I had set aside to age it in. I would of watered it down to 120 had I needed more volume. The plan is to age it until Christmas, and then I'll have some presents to give out.

140 is near the top of what you want to age at, but should be fine. Most shoot for 120 to 130.

Husker made me a little paranoid about my anise level, so I cracked the keg open around 5:30 today for a taste test after a 90 degree day in the sun. She burped out some pressure when I popped the o-ring, so my theory about building pressure looks to be working. I don't know if that will force more leaching of the oak, but I think my theory is good.

Those kegs are pretty handy. A guy can still handle the weight of 5 gal easily for shaking it around, it has nice handles to grab it and doesn't take up much room.

ive been using them to store my low wines. they work great and are 100% SS. i take out the in and out tubes and all the seals. the lids close with <1mm gap. looking for some cotton rope to seal them fully

id be nervous about shaking them though. that big rubber top o-ring...

getting the liquid back out is also kind of a pain. i found the simplest way is to take off the main lid and unscrew both posts. you can then tip it and pour it out the post hole like a little spout. goes slow as hell but thats the best way i can think of.

looking for a way to hook up a fitting and use a few PSI of air to pump it out like a keg...

you need two ,in and out http://www.northernbrewer.com/kegs-disconnects.html
most brew shops should have them.

also in SS- for "high test"-http://morebeer.com/search?search=keg732

Put the long draw tube back in and add some pressure. Won't take long to transfer.

Hawke wrote:Put the long draw tube back in and add some pressure. Won't take long to transfer.

thatll work but i want it to be 100% SS or copper. you need a rubber o-ring to seal the downtube, else you just get air.

shouldnt be hard to solder a copper tube directly to a spare post bolt, just havent had the time.

eternalfrost wrote:ive been using them to store my low wines. they work great and are 100% SS. i take out the in and out tubes and all the seals. the lids close with <1mm gap. looking for some cotton rope to seal them fully

id be nervous about shaking them though. that big rubber top o-ring...

getting the liquid back out is also kind of a pain. i found the simplest way is to take off the main lid and unscrew both posts. you can then tip it and pour it out the post hole like a little spout. goes slow as hell but thats the best way i can think of.

looking for a way to hook up a fitting and use a few PSI of air to pump it out like a keg...

The keg I've got has a different setup than what you're describing. It's exactly the same as a 16 gal beef keg; You take out a double o-ring, turn it slightly so the ears line up with the slots, and lift the whole assembly out - kind of resembles a king's scepter.

You could throw a party tap on that and pump the spirit out.

brewmaker1 wrote:You could throw a party tap on that and pump the spirit out.

You bring the ribs and coleslaw, I'll supply the drinks!