Home Distiller

Made Stout Whiskey over the weekend as a project with friends so I don't have much(32oz Hearts @ 139 proof) Definitely going to put some on oak with some of the tails and let it sit for a while as the post from the Chocolate Bourbon post suggested. But what about coffee beans or cacao nibs? Would I risk masking the natural chocolate/coffee flavors it has now or could it bring them out?

I wouldn’t adulterate the spirit with maceration. Just put it on wood and add....time! While you may be tempted to rush your product, it’ll be best appreciated if you simply have the patience.
ss

Be careful adding tails. If it did not make your cut, I’m not sure about adding it back in. If your are newer to distilling, I would advise you go with the sure thing and be happy with it rather than risk the batch.

If you want to test, try a small sample of your main cut then add a proportional amount of tails to that sample. Taste it and see what you get. If it’s acceptable, then go for it. Tails don’t go away easily so if you over do it, you have to live with it.

I can’t tell from here what exactly what you mean by tails, so this is just a general warning. I just had to re distill three barrels of whiskey I made almost two years ago because I included too much tails in.

As far as macerating stuff in it, a agree with SS. Don’t do it. You spent the time to do a batch with speciality grains so enjoy the art of a good spirit and don’t go all froofy with it. Age it as is and see what that does for ya. You could always macerate later if it is not what you like.

Otis

Thanks the tails cut part that I kept has great chocolate flavor but some tailys off flavors coming through. The gross jars got cut out completely. Since this was a group project I try to make very definitive cuts of the hearts so the guys can do a little blending on their own. I will sample on a small scale before I make a full jar that includes any tails but only was considering a couple ounces to a 16 ounce jar.

I will stay away from adding anything other than oak to it. I figured as much but wasn't sure thanks guys

If you include jars that should really have been tossed into the feints collection, don't expect it to be ready with less than a couple of years on oak.

One potential use for your feints: Add those tails jars you saved (not the super stinky ones) to a future batch to add a hint of that flavor/smell. Example. Make a simple ferment from 2-row. Strip it to low wines. Add these feints jars to your low wines from the 2-row batch and do a spirit run. You should be able to detect a hint of the stout/chocolate in your final 2-row product.

Otis