Home Distiller

I left some of my pot-stilled wash (sugar) on different oaks from a whisky barrel (charred, plain and toasted) to see what would happen.
I guess I panicked and stopped the oaking too early as there was such a dramatic colour change in the first 12 hours I thought that it would carry on and over-oak my spirit, so I filtered the oak out and left it with a tiny bit of oak sawdust with the hope that this would smooth out what I'd made.

After a month, it hadn't improved.

So I was left with some rough woody tasting spirit but with a fantastic colour.

I then put 3 litres of it into a demi-john with some dried fruit, cinnamon and cardamon to try to disguise the acidic wood taste, it was okay, but not great.

So, I ran it through my still again after diluting the total run to 30%. I took a total of 950ml @ 70% ABV, before hitting the tails at 1000ml (still outputting at 45% ABV).

I'd already made foreshots and partial heads cuts on my first run, and I made another 50ml foreshots cut for the spirit run (4l boiler). The thing is that the heads (about 200ml of the 950) smelled fantastic, like a really thick "Rum and Raisin ice cream" and I was really tempted to include at least some of them in my final blend but decided against it, through nothing more than fear of a headache!

The rest of the stuff that I kept (from 200ml to 950ml, so 750ml of a 4l run of low wines), still had more than a touch of the "rum and raisin" to it after airing, but I am still tempted to cut in some of the heads. I know that heads can add flavour, and that from what I've read, commercial whisky makers do it, but it doesn't "feel" right.

Can someone talk me down from sitting on the fence and give me a shove one way or the other please?

Photonic wrote:I guess I panicked and stopped the oaking too early as there was such a dramatic colour change in the first 12 hours I thought that it would carry on and over-oak

What strength was this at? colour change and some other components (tannins for one, IIRC) of aging increase as strength decreases.

Photonic wrote:I'd already made foreshots and partial heads cuts on my first run,

What is partial? if the heads are gone, then you should be right....

but then to talk you back up onto the fence (can't make things too easy for ya ), here is my one and only experience with adding things I know I really shouldn't: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... eird+heads

Photonic wrote:through nothing more than fear of a headache!

a very, very valid fear in my opinion

Thats funny Kiwi.
I immediately thought of you and your weird heads post when reading Photo's post.

And, I have not touched a drop since last saturday for reasons I barely wish to mention.

Thanks to both of you.

I previously oaked at 60% ABV.

By partial removal of heads, I meant that I could have been more brutal on my first run. I know that I got rid of most of the nasties as this is part of the sample that I sent for analysis, I also couldn't detect any real change in smell/taste, but my instinct (which I ignored) told me to cut more off as heads.

Looking at your thread (thanks for that), it looks like you were in the same boat that I'm in now.

In my case, I put the great smell (that makes you want to taste it straight of the still) down to the fact that letting my low wines sit on fruit I've created a batch of "fruit essence", but that is just guesswork. I thought that I'd created something amazing, but as the run went on the amazing smell fizzled out and I'm so tempted to add some of it back but looking at the fact that adding such a small amount of heads to your brew made you ill, I think that I will just stare at the bottle of heads and ponder "what might have been"

Photonic wrote:what might have been

I recon it might have been ugly.

I was a little more silly that that, added something from before heads... but my point was better safe than sorry, there will be other runs...

While back my brother came over half baked and proceeded to explain to me (I was at the cutting bench at the time) why my first few collection jars were better than the ones closer to the middle.

Claimed he wanted to "do a shot or two of the sweet fruity stuff. That other stuff doesn't smell like anything".

Bout 30 minutes later he's telling me (with his long sagging face) how he should have listened to what I warned him about (and I'm paraphrasing). Anywho...

LOL.

Yes, it could have been ugly, and I (now) am sure that I won't use the heads but they smelled like the best bit

I'm intrigued by flavouring low wines still as it seems an interesting way to get flavour throughout the run.

Thanks guys.

I was still curious, so after blending what I considered to be hearts, I left the heads (still in their little glasses) out to carry on airing with a filter paper over the top.

After another night, that delicious smell had dropped away. They still smelled sweet like the rest of the run but underneath that was a definite acetone-like smell; so I guess I made the right decision.

Thanks again for keeping me on the straight and narrow