Speed up aging

[shizam]

So I'm not the most patient person out there. I have about 3 and a half gallons of whiskey aging in a 6 gallon carboy. Now I heard two things about aging whiskey and why it becomes smoother over time. The first thing I heard is that it has to do with the whiskey interacting with oxygen. The second thing I heard is that the other chemicals that give the burning sensation evaporate over time. With this in mind I have come up with a technique that I thought might help speed this process up. What I do is take off the cork on my carboy and slosh the whiskey around. This causes the whiskey to have more interaction with oxygen as well as letting some of the fumes out.

So, is this helping the aging process or am I just wasting my time?

[Prairiepiss]

I would trust rock on this. Even his young whiskey is some of the best I ever tasted.

[shizam]

I have added some toasted American and French oak oak to the carboy. I have read that the reason whiskey doesn't age in the bottle is because it can't "breath." As opposed to oak barrels that can breath. Hence the reason that I take the cork off every once in a while and give it a little shake.

[jholmz]

i would say "breathing" in this case refers to the expansion and contraction of the barrel in the weather cycles when its hot out the barrel expands when its cold the barrel contracts which forces the spirits into and out of the wood, and yes some evaporates during these cycles ( the angels share). i dont think letting air into a glass container can replicate the process (although this wouldnt be the first time ive been wrong). however like has been mentioned you can get the wood flavoring by adding chips or staves in a glass bottle.

[sambedded]

If you have oak chips or cubes in your whiskey - aerating it 2 times per week with aquarium pump connected to SS wand with small holes increase aging speed significantly. I can"t say that you can get whiskies tasted like 20Yo in a few month. But taste and smoothness will be definitely much improved.

[FullySilenced]

Or if your in a drinking bind... and want something faster..

READ HERE:

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =4&t=38991

[Bushman]

I use an ultra-sonic 1/2 gallon cleaner. it does not substitute for aging but there are studies and patents on methods similar to speed up the process. I mainly use it as a kick start before barrel aging or as a means of infusion. Odin used the method before me but I first got interested in it when a local micro-distillery was using it and I enjoyed his product then started researching ideas.