Oak sapwood mistake!

[Barney Fife]

I just realized i made a major blunder last week.

I just pulled out my red oak board to slice off some new oak strips for charring today, and saw that my previously obvious sapwood was all but missing(just a little "wedge" of it is left)! I last used the oak on the brandy i made last week, so I just checked it for taste, and sure enough, bitter'n bitter, and very strong of wood. tastes like fresh oak sawdust, if you've ever done any woodworking with oak. Not good.... at all! I make dozens of small, shallow cross cuts to expose more end grain in the oak, so the flavors and 'aging' come across quickly, which in this case made it all the worse!

Is there anything i can do to rid or mask that taste, or shall i run it back through the still? And will that even work?

---- a note as to why I'd left the sapwood on the board in the first place: I leave the sapwood present on the boards so that I can cut small pieces when needed, and the extra inch or so of sapwood means my fingers will never be too close to the blade. But from now on, I may go ahead and paint the sapwood so this mistake never happens again.

[Dnderhead]

I fiend read oak is not as good as white and sap on Any wood is the worst Id run it again( no other way to take away off flavors)

[Barney Fife]

Yeah, I'm sure there's no way to remove flavors, but I was hoping an opposing flavor may mask it; perhaps vanilla? I'm an optimist <lol>. I believe you're right in that I'll have to run it through again, but before doing that, I'd like to try a few things first, and turn this into a learning thing.

I've tried red and white oaks side by side on the same batches when i was starting out, and didn't find much difference. So, i just seek out the slowest growth oak I have, and the most open-pored as well, and use that. This board of red oak has proven very good, but for this sapwood booger...

[Dnderhead]

you can try but i do not thank it will work ,wish you luck ,you can always run again

[Barney Fife]

Well, I finally got around to trying some ideas, and I can say with certainty that vanilla didn't work. Ooogh!

But, pure maple syrup sure helped! Takes the bitter "edge" completely off and makes it very palatable. Kind of nice, even, in its own distinct way. I can still taste the "fresh cut oak" flavor, but it's not bitter, nor overpowering as it was, and there's not bitter aftertaste at all. I do believe I've saved this batch from a re-run.. About 1/2 to 2/3 tsp per liter(@ 40% ABV) dos the trick.

[Husker]

Maple syrup (the REAL stuff), is a hell of a good smoothing and finishing agent for whiskeys. I find that even for a very good flavored home whiskey, it adds that finishing touch. Most of us here try to get a quick finished/aged product, in a matter of weeks or months. Just a touch of maple syrup added to these quick aged spirits turn them from very good, to exquisite. NOTE you might get a little solids settle after the syrup. I would let it sit a week in a undisturbed area, and then rack off the good stuff from the thin layer of solids.

H.

[punkin]

Yeah, i use twelve Ml to the litre of 100% Maple Syrup in my UJSM.

Adds that sweetness that the bourbon drinkers like. I don't put it in whiskeys i make for the Scotch drinkers and they don't complain about it lacking, so i think it depends what you're trying to match.