Home Distiller

Hey yall I was just wondering were yall bought your oak from . I'm thinkin I want a light toasted oak to age my brandy when I run it. Also doesn't anyone sell wood lids for mason jars? So the product can breath

Spring is here so go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy a half JD barrel they sell for flower pots. Beat the rings off and you have more than enough to last a long time.

Aren t they charred on the inside ?

Well yes, it's a whiskey barrel. You'll still probably need to char it yourself after you cut it up. I think the rule of thumb for oak aging sticks is 3/4" X 3/4" X 5".

You can also order white oak online and do it from scratch. You need to start with well seasoned wood. You can also use something like Jack Daniel's BBQ chips or buy oak blocks used for smoking. There are some good tutorials here on the forums for prepping and using the wood.

Sounds good . I wasn't going to char the sticks for my brandy , is that
a problem?

Can someone post a link to a toasting tutorial. I can't find one

Forum google search toasting oak then hit go

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =4&t=50348

tp (and blatant self-promotion)

+1 on T-Pee's blatant self-promotion.

My local hardware store has whole and intact oak barrels for $125 by the front door. They look practically new and smell like bourbon. Yard art deco. Thats enough oak adjunct to keep you stocked for many years, or you can filler up with whiskey if you got the stones to put it down.

This reminds me. I'm overdue to send some dominos to a member here. I made them from a hardware store bourbon barrel. Works a treat in a glass aging vessel. Gonna do that tomorrow...

Thanks fellers. But do I need to char my oak? I would think for brandy just toasting it would be bettee

bearriver wrote:My local hardware store has whole and intact oak barrels for $125 by the front door. They look practically new and smell like bourbon. Yard art deco. Thats enough oak adjunct to keep you stocked for many years, or you can filler up with whiskey if you got the stones to put it down.

This reminds me. I'm overdue to send some dominos to a member here. I made them from a hardware store bourbon barrel. Works a treat in a glass aging vessel. Gonna do that tomorrow...

Can I age in a mason jar with the regular lid?

Diesel410 wrote:Thanks fellers. But do I need to char my oak? I would think for brandy just toasting it would be bettee

Personally I use a medium char on the oak sticks I use for my apple brandy. You could try one jar just toasted and one toasted and charred and see which way you like it.

Mason Jars are commonly used as is. However, there is evidence the lids are not tolerant to high proof alcohol. Some cleaver people here have come up with viable alternatives.

New oak gets a toast and char. Oak from a barrel should have the old char scraped off then recharred. I like rubbing the sticks together after to remove loose char. Then I soak them in water for a few days, and finally rinse them off in the sink before use.

I found these in the grocery store with the charcoal.They also had cherry, apple, pecan, mesquite,hickory and sugar maple.