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This is a brandy that I made just for practicing aging and flavoring techniques.
This is after 3 rounds of nuking on charred cherry dominos.

Now it looks dark, but if you look closely that's just cause there's bits of char flirting around in there. The brandy itself is a light amber color. I had expected a deep reddish orange after three rounds in the microwave on cherry.

I read up on cherry last night and saw where quite a few people had good results with just using charred cherry and skipping the toasting process, so that's what I did.
Here's how my domino prep looked


Should I back up and punt, only this time do some toasting, like 2 hours at 400?

Nuking is mainly used as a Kickstarter not a finished product. Leave the alcohol on your cherry chips and let age. I sometimes use a Ultra Sonic cleaner to add flavor and use wood chips to get it started but I use it as part of a solera method of rotating my aging. This allows me to get more out of my oak barrels.

I thought the nuking was a cheat?
Not quite as good as the real thing but the same effect over the course of a day.

Is bits of charcoal floating in the likker normal? I just filtered mine through a coffee filter to get a better feel of the color and the result wasn't pretty.
It was like amber with a nasty looking grey-greenish hue. Tastes pretty bad too.
Do most people have to do extensive filtering after aging on dominoes?

No, I have never filtered whiskey only brandies infused in fruit.

Hillbilly Popstar wrote:Is bits of charcoal floating in the likker normal? I just filtered mine through a coffee filter to get a better feel of the color and the result wasn't pretty.
It was like amber with a nasty looking grey-greenish hue. Tastes pretty bad too.
Do most people have to do extensive filtering after aging on dominoes?

I don't eat anything blueish or drink anything blueish.

But I just leave the charcoal floaties in my drink. Only problem is...... it can sometimes be a little offensive when ya smile.

Hillbilly, have you tried the JD chips? Also, doesn't look like much char on your cherry? For what it's worth, I tried oak using a deep char, a light char, a toast, and no toast. I got the deepest fastest color with the heavy char within 24 hrs, down to almost no color with the light char for the same time. They were all still somewhat harsh until a few months had passed. The best so far is in an oak barrel for over a yr now. Haven't tried cherry, so I will have to defer to those who have. Just sharing my limited experience, with whiskey. Brandy may be different.

I don't really care for Jack Daniels much so the JD chips idea is off putting. I have a wood shop and lots of cut offs and scraps laying around. The more of it I can use the better. The cherry wood I had smelled so sweet and fruity I've been wanting to try it for some time.

I have a little left, maybe I will try and toast it.

I am wondering why I have so much charcoal floating if my char was on the light side?

I rinsed the dominoes in hot water before they went into the whiskey.

Back to reading. Thank you to those that replied.

Hillbilly Popstar wrote:I am wondering why I have so much charcoal floating if my char was on the light side?

I rinsed the dominoes in hot water before they went into the whiskey.

You're going to have charcoal floaties no matter what you do. Even after a year in the barrel, I still have to filter out what looks like fine charcoal dust from my whiskeys.

Looks to me like you put a light char on your dominoes and the color looks about right for that amount. If you burn them until the surface "crackles", you'll get a lot deeper color. Take a look here. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =4&t=56196

When my barrels are all full, I've been using medium charred oak cubes. They do a decent job giving off the deep amber color that most whiskeys have. Here's one of my last bourbon with 50 cubes. It hasn't been 2 weeks yet and I'm just about where I want to be, color wise.

Microwave works best with wood chips.

jb-texshine wrote:Microwave works best with wood chips.

I do have some apple wood smoking chips, I may try them next.

Apple wood tastes good but gives a light color.

Read the posts regarding toasting and charring your wood... there's more to it than just burning it on the outside...

BBQ sections have other chips than JD one's but you will or may need to oven toast them and or char them to get the most from their use...

If you have fruit wood cut it in thinner strips toast and or char them and give it a go..

Keep on trying till you find the combo that pushes your button...

My last post in the nuking thread was about a barrel aged then nuked and chipped bourbon... almost a year on wood now..

Happy Stillin,

FS

It's kinda like a Doctor does... you just keep practicing nuking... till you get something you enjoy

10-4
I'll keep on keepin on.

GrassHopper wrote: But I just leave the charcoal floaties in my drink. Only problem is...... it can sometimes be a little offensive when ya smile.

Isn't ingesting charcoal a survival trick to make you throw up after eating something poison? Am I making that sh*t up???

Haus wrote:

GrassHopper wrote: But I just leave the charcoal floaties in my drink. Only problem is...... it can sometimes be a little offensive when ya smile.

Isn't ingesting charcoal a survival trick to make you throw up after eating something poison? Am I making that sh*t up???

Your probably right. I seen a lot's of people in my time throw up after drinking too much store bought likker. Including yours truly. No charcoal needed.
The blueish color you mention is kinda baffling? But I always have floaties in my product when putting it on wood that has been charred.

Haus wrote:

GrassHopper wrote: But I just leave the charcoal floaties in my drink. Only problem is...... it can sometimes be a little offensive when ya smile.

Isn't ingesting charcoal a survival trick to make you throw up after eating something poison? Am I making that sh*t up???

I was thinking the same thing earlier. Lol

GrassHopper wrote:

Haus wrote:

GrassHopper wrote: But I just leave the charcoal floaties in my drink. Only problem is...... it can sometimes be a little offensive when ya smile.

Isn't ingesting charcoal a survival trick to make you throw up after eating something poison? Am I making that sh*t up???

Your probably right. I seen a lot's of people in my time throw up after drinking too much store bought likker. Including yours truly. No charcoal needed.
The blueish color you mention is kinda baffling? But I always have floaties in my product when putting it on wood that has been charred.

It's not exactly blue. I think it's just the Grey tint on top of the amber color playing tricks on my eyes.

it looks like you just heated those things up and got some propane soot on them.

Light 'em and char them! 1/8" deep when the wood is glowing red through the black, let them burn on their own for half a minute. all 4 sides.

douse with water, give them a good swish around a jar full of water and then into the likker.

I used an acetylene torch and flamed them till the corners glowed. None of the grain cracked though.

Definitely wasn't an 1/8" deep tho.

turn on the O2 and lay some heat to them. mine will hold a flame on their own for 30 seconds before i douse em.

Have you read the "Oaking and aging The T-Pee way" thread? It really does help. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =4&t=50348
Good discussion with a healthy dose of nonsense to keep it fun.

tp

T-Pee wrote:Have you read the "Oaking and aging The T-Pee way" thread? It really does help. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =4&t=50348
Good discussion with a healthy dose of nonsense to keep it fun.

tp

Yes sir!

Got about 13 pages into your thread. It's bookmarked, so I can continue.

I just spread apple wood chips on a cookie sheet and heat in the oven at 350 for several hours. I get plenty of flavor and color. I leave the charcoal for the grill.