How do you stop yourself from drinking your stash too early?

[Beerbrewer]

I'm having a problem with this currently, and will probably give in shortly, I managed to make up a fair few bottles of Odin's Whiskey and Gin but now my gimlet eye has turned to a half litre bottle that I may (read will) get into shortly.

My initial plan was to only drink something when I had made up another batch (next year as I distil between April and September) but a cash shortfall and a ready bottle of whiskey I'm probably going to have to 'test' what I made in July, just too see how it's going.

Any suggestions as how I can stop myself with the rest of my bottles? And yes I know they will be better in a years time but I have no cash, homebrew is not ready yet and it's a Saturday night.

[Swedish Pride]

drink it all now.
get start making big batches in april, make one to be drank white and one to be oaked.
distilling more than you drink can be a challenge, you just have to distill more or drink less:)

[Pikey]

......Any suggestions as how I can stop myself with the rest of my bottles? And yes I know they will be better in a years time but I have no cash, homebrew is not ready yet and it's a Saturday night.

Obviously a problem requiring an instant solution !

I'm with Swedish !

You have come up with a very good argument for just drinking what you want !

Get a couuple of those 200 Litre Olive barrels to ferment in next summer and just make a lot !

[Edit - in fact, I'll take a glass of Odin's Corflake (Whitedog tho') - with you ! - Cheers ! ]

[Twisted Brick]

Any suggestions as how I can stop myself with the rest of my bottles?

No.

[OtisT]

Get really drunk on one bottle and hide the rest just before you black out. That should slow you down a bit or a lot, depending on how big and messy your property is.

Seriously though, you could look for a recipe intended to drink white and make that next. Also, I have also gotten into the habit of taking one jar of hearts from almost every batch I make, giving me something to enjoy right away *.

* I do like to let my white drinks sit a bit too, but not nearly as long as it takes to oak something.

Otis

[NZChris]

Any suggestions as how I can stop myself with the rest of my bottles?

If it's already off the wood and bottled, there won't be much 'aging' happening, so drink it.

Next season, use a large fermenter, like at least three still charges, making something that doesn't need much aging before you make something that does... and keep the fermenter busy.

[dieselduo]

Just keep making until the oldest bottle you are reaching for is at least a year old

[nerdybrewer]

If P < C where P = Production and C = Consumption then P+n until P > C.
Fairly simple math here...

[dieselduo]

+1. There you go nerdybrewer

[fizzix]

1)
Non-stop distillation. For a year I've always had three 6-gallon buckets bubbling. Only recently have I given it a rest,
but ramping up again.

2)
Gin. Lots of immediate gratification from Odin's gin kept me away from the barrels and oak jars.
I made about 10-gallons of gin and it helped me to wait. Now I have a mature Cornflake Whiskey to help keep me
from the others.

3)
Make beer and drink it. That complementary hobby has kept me from double-dipping, too.

[JellybeanCorncob]

Any suggestions as how I can stop myself with the rest of my bottles?

AA



JBC

[The Baker]

If P < C where P = Production and C = Consumption then P+n until P > C.
Fairly simple math here...

You must be one of the younger ones; that < mathematical symbol wasn't taught in school when I was there!

Geoff

[MichiganCornhusker]

If it's already off the wood and bottled, there won't be much 'aging' happening...

My experience has been that my whiskey will change quite a bit in the bottle, off oak, over time.
I've had stuff that tasted rough and grainy when I bottled it and it became some of the best whiskey I've made after being bottled for quite a while.

It may be that commercial hooch that has already set in a barrel for 5 years might not change much after being filtered and bottled, but my homemade whiskey definitely changes over time when I bottle at the one year mark or less.

As for drinking up your stash, I agree that larger batches will solve that problem.
It will be worth your while to set some aside, even if it's just a small jar.
You owe it to yourself to see what a great product you made, and that will take time!

[Yonder]

Well I gotta tell y'all I do love my wife and now n then she offers some advice ta soothe my whining. She advised "jesus, if ya like it drink it. Make some more. It costs $12." Dear woman just wants me ta be happy, ya know.

[NZChris]

I've had stuff that tasted rough and grainy when I bottled it....

I don't recall ever bottling anything that still fits that description. I'll have a nosey of my young stuff and try to find something suitable.

[Saltbush Bill]

A bigger boiler run more often helps get plenty of well aged stock.

[Beerbrewer]

Thanks for all the suggestions I don't really have the room for a massive FV but I will invest in another one and try to keep ahead like that, most of my gin went into the wedding fund so I only have one bottle left which I want to keep until next year. I'm going to try and ramp up vodka production and maybe look at getting a bigger setup.

Interestingly enough, I didn't drink as much of it as I thought, I would have usually wiped out most of a commercial bottle but I still have a good amount left. I've started making wine and cider to help with the shortfall as well.

[nerdybrewer]

If P < C where P = Production and C = Consumption then P+n until P > C.
Fairly simple math here...

You must be one of the younger ones; that < mathematical symbol wasn't taught in school when I was there!

Geoff

You must be truly ancient Geoff!

"The widely adopted form of two equal-length strokes connecting in an acute angle at the right, >, (and at the left, <,) has been found in documents dated as far back as the 1560s"
"Less/Greater Than or Equal To. The symbols for less/greater than or equal to (< and >) with one line of an equal sign below them, were first used in 1734 by French mathematician, Pierre Bouguer."

I'm nearly 60 and they were part of math when/where I went to school.

[Twisted Brick]

If it's already off the wood and bottled, there won't be much 'aging' happening...

My experience has been that my whiskey will change quite a bit in the bottle, off oak, over time.

... my homemade whiskey definitely changes over time when I bottle at the one year mark or less.

I've had a similar experience. My AG bourbon picked up a ton of oak influence in just several months, and worried that I had over-oaked it, removed and bottled up a fifth with a little head space and no oak just as insurance. The four handles with different levels of char in them are progressing gradually, but the fifth bottle has 'aged' noticeably, with a layer of flavors and complexity that presumably are present because they are not being overpowered by the oak.

From this article, it appears aging off of wood is a common practice for some spirits. Its nice to know that this resting process applies to whiskey, and that oxidation plays a part. I believe that aging and flavor from oak infusion are independent to a certain degree and until I learn how my oak behaves, embrace off- oak resting as another level of control. It will be interesting to see what resting whiskey in stainless prior to oaking, and in glass (or stainless) afterwards does for the final product.

[kimbodious]

I make big batches and try to get the next batch going well before the last batch is depleted. I give a bottle of each batch to my wife to hide away.

[Chauncey]

drink it all now.
get start making big batches in april, make one to be drank white and one to be oaked.
distilling more than you drink can be a challenge, you just have to distill more or drink less:)

i like the way you think. myself, my lady, my best friend and my roommate are all whiskey drinking new orleans bartenders(we drink ALOT down here) so its going to be a challenge but i think it will help with the fact i cant ever age anything for a month much less a year. :/ most of it gets consumed white or quick aged.

[BamaBill]

I feel your pain and offer a solution: make more.
Last winter, I let myself run out of likker and swore I'd never do that again. Presently, I have about 15 gallons ready to drink and I have more mash ready to run.
Just brought home a 55gal drum heater and 100# of sugar. In the next week I'll set off two more 55gal drums of mash.

[The Baker]

If P < C where P = Production and C = Consumption then P+n until P > C.
Fairly simple math here...

You must be one of the younger ones; that < mathematical symbol wasn't taught in school when I was there!

Geoff

You must be truly ancient Geoff! Only seventy-seven.

"The widely adopted form of two equal-length strokes connecting in an acute angle at the right, >, (and at the left, <,) has been found in documents dated as far back as the 1560s"
"Less/Greater Than or Equal To. The symbols for less/greater than or equal to (< and >) with one line of an equal sign below them, were first used in 1734 by French mathematician, Pierre Bouguer."

I'm nearly 60 and they were part of math when/where I went to school.

Well I left at the start of third year high school (ninth year of education), age fourteen and I'm afraid that I didn't do any advanced math. So just plus, minus, multiply and divide symbols.
We had just been introduced to algebra and geometry as separate subjects.
Though I later did a lot of professional study in insurance (three separate associateship qualifications) and later still a Bachelor of Arts.
Qualified DipAII, AAII (Life, Accident, Fire), B.A.

Most people left school at fourteen then and went to work (almost any work) to support the family.

Geoff

[nerdybrewer]

If P < C where P = Production and C = Consumption then P+n until P > C.
Fairly simple math here...

You must be one of the younger ones; that < mathematical symbol wasn't taught in school when I was there!

Geoff

You must be truly ancient Geoff! Only seventy-seven.

"The widely adopted form of two equal-length strokes connecting in an acute angle at the right, >, (and at the left, <,) has been found in documents dated as far back as the 1560s"
"Less/Greater Than or Equal To. The symbols for less/greater than or equal to (< and >) with one line of an equal sign below them, were first used in 1734 by French mathematician, Pierre Bouguer."

I'm nearly 60 and they were part of math when/where I went to school.

Well I left at the start of third year high school (ninth year of education), age fourteen and I'm afraid that I didn't do any advanced math. So just plus, minus, multiply and divide symbols.
We had just been introduced to algebra and geometry as separate subjects.
Though I later did a lot of professional study in insurance (three separate associateship qualifications) and later still a Bachelor of Arts.
Qualified DipAII, AAII (Life, Accident, Fire), B.A.

Most people left school at fourteen then and went to work (almost any work) to support the family.

Geoff

You have my respect, I went the route of learning to write software (self taught) so the use of all sorts of math symbols became useful.
I've been working in the world of databases since around 1996 so that's also lots of math and logic.
Lots of talented people here, it's a great place to hang out and read just to keep the brain active.

[The Baker]

Also a tradesman baker, we had a bakery for thirty years and our son for ten.

Geoff

[CoogeeBoy]

If P < C where P = Production and C = Consumption then P+n until P > C.
Fairly simple math here...

You must be one of the younger ones; that < mathematical symbol wasn't taught in school when I was there!

Geoff

No, it was too hard to chisel into stone!

[tombombadil]

Make it faster than you can drink it.

[Desvio]

Personally my all grains/oaked spirits get aged, some barrels others oak sticks from my own trees. If i need something fast for whatever reason I go to my book of sugar heads (or corn flakes, brown bread, Cheerios, etc) and my goto white is cinnamon raisin bagel, goes well straight or in coffee. Or you could, you know, cut back a little maybe...

[n_plains_drifter]

Mostly it's willpower. And I have other bevies to fill in. New to distilling, but decades of beer and close to 10 of winemaking. Also, supplement with store bought.

[NZChris]

I'm getting better at reprocessing feints into usable products using techniques that have come up on this forum, so a lot of what I drink to keep my hands off my good aging stash is made out of my rubbish, but I do like my young, narrow cut, white dog too.

My stocks of white dog UJSSM and neutral for gin are getting depleted, so I just bought enough sugar and grain to make enough of both to last a couple of years. Big ferments, long hours in the shed, get the hard work done then experiment with the feints in my leisure time.