Aging before 2nd distillation?
Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 8:49 pm
Hullo, I'm relatively new to this and I'm about to get a 5 gallon batch of molasses to make a sizeable load of rum. I'll be fermenting in 5-6x 5 gallon batches, doing a stripping run after each, and it occurred to me that timing-wise, I might end up having a fair amount of pretty harsh stuff sitting around for a few weeks before I have it all together and get around to doing a final distillation of it all (pot still).
So my question is, would there be any benefit to putting some oak in there while I'm waiting to collect all my pre-rum? I'm thinking that the oak would eat a fair bit of the heads and tails, letting me collect more, and that the second distillation would prevent it from getting over-oaked (I'd have to use new oak, since I don't have enough used stuff). Thoughts? Or is this completely nuts and I'd lose too much flavor?
So my question is, would there be any benefit to putting some oak in there while I'm waiting to collect all my pre-rum? I'm thinking that the oak would eat a fair bit of the heads and tails, letting me collect more, and that the second distillation would prevent it from getting over-oaked (I'd have to use new oak, since I don't have enough used stuff). Thoughts? Or is this completely nuts and I'd lose too much flavor?