Home Distiller

Hi Gang: I was surfing for barrels and found these. Spiral flavor inserts, any body tried them yet? The concept of wood strips is not new, but these are made of American and French Oak and the price seems good...

https://www.thebarrelmill.com/pdf/spiral_bro.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

BJJB

That's pretty clever. Increase the surface area by cutting an acme thread down a dowel. I don't have time to sit and figure it out right now but he's getting about 3 or 4 time's the flavour out of the same piece of wood.

Simple but beautiful idea. I like it.

stillman wrote:That's pretty clever. Increase the surface area by cutting an acme thread down a dowel. I don't have time to sit and figure it out right now but he's getting about 3 or 4 time's the flavour out of the same piece of wood.

Simple but beautiful idea. I like it.

And probably sells the chips from the machining as well. - Good idea.

I can't quite affors a barrel yet, I might give these a try....I'll let you all know.

did you ever try these and if so at what results

They're interesting, but this post;

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=6890

seems to accomplish the same thing more or less, and can be made by anyone with a table saw, or even a router, maybe even with a circular saw if you have fingers to spare.

A little toasting in the oven and you're good to go.

Kinda like a salad made with tomatoes from the garden always tastes better.

But maybe that's just me.

Bob

OK I get the idea but it seems a lot of trouble to go to. Oak splits easily enough into thin strips and if you then steam them you can soften them enough so that you can twist them into a spiral. That way when you put them into your spirit they don't lie together and you get maximum exposed surface. This has surely been done before?

It is exposing more end grain . which will allow more of a free flow /penetration. but in my opinion,this is flavoring not aging.

I'll second what dnder said... I've used them in wine and thought they were excellent. I haven't cared so much for how they flavor likker tho. They are better than cubes, about on par with some of the better homemade sticks... not even in the same league as a small barrel. They do work very fast.

I've been using the spirals for a while now (they were a gift). The french oak tasted like tree when I tried it. The American oak medium roast works very well, but it doesn't take much. I use a hacksaw and cut off two to three spirals for a quart of spirit. After a month it has good flavor and fair color. When I tried more, it flavored too quickly and was hard to control.