Home Distiller

Talking to, and trying a guys rum, at the brew store. He said it was three days old and he had put about 2 oz of, light chard French oak chips in it. He then puts it in the sun all day, and then in the freezer over night. He just repeats this, day for day. I can easily say it's the best booze I've ever had. Is this anything new or just a great idea?

Might wanna try the search function .

It's called distress aging and if you type distress in the search function you will find 125 posts on it. Nothing beats 'age' aging though. The search function is a wonderful tool.

I've done several with this method. You get good flavor quick but the color will usually be quite a bit lighter than you'd normally see aged liquor. I agree with Blanik noting beats "time" ageing for the complexitites of the flavor to develop.

I'll use distressed ageing when I give it all away and I need to restock. This hobby sure has made me a charitable one.

Thx
Wasn't really asking with regards to the search engine, already know it works, worked great. Glad to know it only gets better. Just trying to bring what little I've found out on my own walk-a-bouts.
If it's this good with only three days, can't wait to see what it's like with more.

GL

Yes, I did actually realise that you weren't talking about the search function, I was simply directing you to an area that may - or may not - interest you.
If you think deeply about it, you only know what the HB shop owner wanted you to know and, of course, what you wish to hear, mainly because it's in his/her best interest to entice you back to buy more unnecessary products, but I have been wrong before. In answer to your question, no, it isn't new.

Keep reading and learning and you will be making better rum than that which the HB retailer gave you because you will be a craftsman..

Three days old!! I mean, honestly. There's no substitute for patience.

blanikdog wrote:Keep reading and learning and you will be making better rum than that which the HB retailer gave you because you will be a craftsman..

Three days old!! I mean, honestly. There's no substitute for patience.

+1 Blanik... Try leaving it for 2-3 months or a year if you can stay away from it, really makes a difference man...
I've never tried distress aging. Reading about it here on HD had its pros an cons, I went with the latter...

Be patient man, this craft in the right hands produce a beverage that is second to none...
There are many ways to age, search for Ageing on oak, oak staves, oak barrels, french oak, american...Well you get the picture...
It's all here an its all free...

Good luck in your journey forward.....

I will pour no Likker before its time. Unless Im really thirsty then its katie bar the door

I had been aging my Choya the traditional way- in my closet- for a few years, coz that was the traditional Japanese way of aging the product. Last year I saw a couple of videos on you tube about a bourbon maker that explained how their storage warehouses helped their product expand with the daytime heat and contract with the nighttime cold and this helped with the aging process.

After reading this, I split my yearly yield of Choya last year into 2 batches, half in the closet like normal and the other half up in the ceiling space of my house and I can definatively say that there is a huge diference how they have both "aged".

I now have a permanent "aging" space set out just for my likker in my ceiling.

I have just started trying some aging in the 5L barrels. On the second week I put mine in the freezer for 1 week. removed the barrels from the freezer, and put them back in my cabinet. after 2 more weeks when I tasted it the taste was like chewing a board.. Taste very strong of just wood. I am sure I screwed the pooch on this one by sticking it in the freezer. Im gonna dump in back in the still with a good wash then refill my barrels and try again.
KS

Possibly not KS. It may just need some time to relax a bit. I would just leave the barrel for a year and see how it goes.

I am currently using the Western side of my garage for aging. The wall gets very cool at night an very warm during the day. Nice temperature roller coaster to help the aging process.

I may try that sb. Hell I dont have anything to loose.'

I tried something once: I put a jar in my heated box for a few days. It went to 130f and after a couple of days it was very astringent. I think that was a bad idea of mine Now it's all up in a cupboard, in the dark and in a stable ambient temperature. I think I'll just let time do its thing, whatever that is. Cheers, bd.

Does distress aging give yer likker oak flavor fast? Yes. Does it work? Kinda. But there is really no substitute for time.

MuleKicker wrote:Does distress aging give yer likker oak flavor fast? Yes. Does it work? Kinda. But there is really no substitute for time.

+1

it will get you by. do a few bottles like this just to keep your tongue wet, but put the rest back to get your pants,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, forget i said that
spooky

What do ya'll normally find is the appropriate amount of time to distress age for? Afterwards, do you go ahead and drink or do you let it naturally age some?
I was reading a manual on starting your own distillery...has a lot of good info...and he was stating bourbon is not something that improves after it is aged for about 7-8 years. Not so sure about that. With our small volumes, I am curious as to what people generally find is an appropriate amount of time. 1 month, 6, a year????

heating/cooling is another way of just colouring and flavoring quicker. does not age any faster witch only time will do
generally 30-40 days per gal.(4L) is considered the least amount of time.

I once got a tip about distress aging: bottle your spirit at drinking strength (for me that's 40%) and put it in a water bath at 55 deg C / 130 deg F and keep it at that for an hour. Then let cool in the pan. Caps unscrewed a bit. Then store for a month or better, longer. He said if you don't believe it, buy two bottles of cheap store liquor. So I bought two bottles of cheap Scotch and mixed the contents, just to make sure. One bottle went on the shelf, the other in the water bath. Even the next day, after cooling, the difference in taste was noticeable. It got sweeter and less harsh.

WeeStiller wrote:I once got a tip about distress aging: bottle your spirit at drinking strength (for me that's 40%) and put it in a water bath at 55 deg C / 130 deg F and keep it at that for an hour. Then let cool in the pan. Caps unscrewed a bit. Then store for a month or better, longer. He said if you don't believe it, buy two bottles of cheap store liquor. So I bought two bottles of cheap Scotch and mixed the contents, just to make sure. One bottle went on the shelf, the other in the water bath. Even the next day, after cooling, the difference in taste was noticeable. It got sweeter and less harsh.

You drove off heads -- essentially, you upgraded your liquor. If you start out with hard cut liquor you won't see that big of a difference.

As I've said in this thread before -- I distress age when I've given all my goods away and need more drinking liquor. Know what? I'm out of liquor. I had a two month hiatus from running liquor and I find myself going into the holiday season with only two bottles of (damn fine) bourbon left. I've been running UJSSM washes every five days and racked/restarted another one this evening. My wife asks if I had gotten into "heavy" production for some reason . I said no, just hate to be out of liquor when kin folk come in from far off and ask, "ya aint got a'nutta bottle dat liquor you give me last trip? Sure wuz good." I'll distress age for a couple weeks then it ends up in gallon jugs up in the "liquor locker" on oak. Longer it sits the better it gets.