Found 2 different kinds of Jack Daniels Chips... which one?

[joeymac]

I read mash rookie's thread on aging UJSSM on jack daniel chips and I just finished making some UJSSM. I want to make a quart of each of the following bottles to find something I like most, maybe even a blend of two flavors, and then do a whole UJSSM batch.

1) UJSSM (110pr) white dog with 1" of split vanilla bean
2) UJSSM (110pr) on JD oak chips
3) UJSSM (110pr) on JD oak chips and dehydrated granny smith apple chips ... sort of a crown apple sort of whiskey
4) UJSSM (110pr) on JD oak chips with 1" of split vanilla bean
5) Try #2, #3 and #4 each blended with a touch of maple syrup or caramel.

My problem is I read about 3-4 different threads here about aging with JD oaked chips and didn't see anywhere saying exactly which product I need to get.
I found two different JD smoking chips on Amazon. Which one?!?

[still_stirrin]

Cost difference?

I see one bag is larger (more volumetric measure of chips). Both are made from shredded barrel staves. But the larger bag "looks" like it contains larger pieces. Chunks are easier to work with, so I would favor the one with bigger pieces. But, pictures can be decieving.

When you get them, be sure to rinse them in water good before pitching into you prized spirit. They are usually shredded when building barrels and the waste material is swept into a pile before weighing the bags. Not exactly the cleanest place to work, if you know what I mean.

Oh, and I don't know if the chips actually come from used barrels because it is very difficult to see any signs of barrel char on the chips.

Good luck.
ss

[cuginosgrizzo]

I found the JD CHUNKS, not chips. These are definitely barrel staves that have been cut to pieces:

http://www.firecraft.com/product/jack-d ... 8342017505

[Bushman]

I found the JD CHUNKS, not chips. These are definitely barrel staves that have been cut to pieces:

http://www.firecraft.com/product/jack-d ... 8342017505

I think the wood chunks would work better than the chips. When I first looked at the bag and price I thought "Wow that is expensive" but upon a closer look the bags are 9L as opposed to the 3L the bag of chips are sold in.

[joeymac]

...
I see one bag is larger (more volumetric measure of chips). Both are made from shredded barrel staves. But the larger bag "looks" like it contains larger pieces. Chunks are easier to work with, so I would favor the one with bigger pieces. But, pictures can be decieving.

When you get them, be sure to rinse them in water good before pitching into you prized spirit. They are usually shredded when building barrels and the waste material is swept into a pile before weighing the bags. Not exactly the cleanest place to work, if you know what I mean.
...

That was my initial thought too - go with the bigger chip that could have more exposed toast and char surface. And I was definitely going to rinse them off.
Although, I was under the impression that the oak chips used were from previously used barrels... not the waste trimmings during building.

[joeymac]

I found the JD CHUNKS, not chips. These are definitely barrel staves that have been cut to pieces:

http://www.firecraft.com/product/jack-d ... 8342017505

I feel the oak staves might be a superior option but take significantly longer to mature my whisky. I really wanted to keep with the information posted that seems to have gotten great reviews. In the thread that mash rookie posted, it looks like odin had a link (now long dead) to the actual product that bushman said he saw that mash rookie was using. Wow, that was a mouthful. After a bit internet detective work, there are more internet archive photos linking the top Jack Daniels picture I posted to the product I think odin was trying to show. Which fortunately seems to be the less expensive product, although it's also the small chunk.

[Bushman]

I found the JD CHUNKS, not chips. These are definitely barrel staves that have been cut to pieces:

http://www.firecraft.com/product/jack-d ... 8342017505

I feel the oak staves might be a superior option but take significantly longer to mature my whisky. I really wanted to keep with the information posted that seems to have gotten great reviews. In the thread that mash rookie posted, it looks like odin had a link (now long dead) to the actual product that bushman said he saw that mash rookie was using. Wow, that was a mouthful. After a bit internet detective work, there are more internet archive photos linking the top Jack Daniels picture I posted to the product I think odin was trying to show. Which fortunately seems to be the less expensive product, although it's also the small chunk.

Not a lot of difference in the price if you measure it out per L.
Lowes sells the chips for $6.99 per 2.94 L. That averages to $2.37 per L.
The above chunks sell for $22.95 per 9L. That averages out to $2.55 per L.

I did price the chips at different locations Cabela's is a dollar more per bag and Sportsman Warehouse is a dollar less per bag.

[joeymac]

But there's no actual difference in the chips despite the bags looking different?

[Bushman]

But there's no actual difference in the chips despite the bags looking different?

I was quoting the difference in price between the chips and the chunks (which are different). Hardly worth the difference in price, thus if I had access locally I would buy the chunks. The advantage of using chunks is covered on several aging threads on the forum.