I'm new at this and looking for some help. I've started aging with sticks, about 3/8"x3/8"x6", charred with a torch. Last time I used 2 oak sticks in about 1L of 130 proof for about a month. It was rum, made with fancy molasses and it seemed good to me and the friends that I shared it with. I still have a little left (and another wash on ) and it still tastes OK. I now am aging a "cornflake" whiskey (?) with 2 maple sticks and 1 oak stick (reused from my rum) in a litre of 130 proof. So far it's only been a few days and it's coming along. The colour is coming up nicely and it's definitely picking up the wood flavour.
Here's the issue. In my research here I have seen different recommendations on the amount of sticks to use from a couple per quart/litre to a couple per gallon. I know it depends on taste (my own) but am I likely to over-oak with the quantities I am using? What's the general experience say in terms of volume of spirit exposed to area of wood and for how long? I know I'll eventually hit on something that I like through trial and error but I'd appreciate any help that might help me find the mile-markers. Thanks in advance.
Simple potstiller. Slow, single run.
(50 litre, propane heated pot still. Coil in bucket condenser - No thermometer, No carbon) The Reading Lounge AND the Rules We Live By should be compulsory reading
Simple potstiller. Slow, single run.
(50 litre, propane heated pot still. Coil in bucket condenser - No thermometer, No carbon) The Reading Lounge AND the Rules We Live By should be compulsory reading
I use stacks. I age in 4l (gallon ) jars and use sticks rough cut about the size you do. I find that light toasts seem to coulor and flavour quicker than darktoast/charred sticks for some reason?
But i'd use 8 or 10 to a jar at least, plus some chips and chunks and stuff that break off when i'm tommyhawking em.
I use from my jars and continually top em up without letting em get empty with most of my stuff. I find that plain corn ujsm starts getting good around 6 to 8 weeks, anything with barley in it takes longer. Wheat's quick and so is oats, fruit takes a matter of days.
Just keep an eye on it and experiment to your own tatse.
Guess that would be about right. I use 2 sticks in a quart jar. I also prefer a lighter toast. The torch charred sticks taste like a wet campfire to me.
It is the very things that we think we know, that keep us from learning what we should know.
Valved Reflux, 3"x54" Bok 'mini', 2 liebig based pots and the 'Blockhead' 60K btu propane heat
Thanks guys. I pulled one of the maple sticks out today so now I have one maple & one oak per litre to see how that works. The oak is coming across but so far all I'm getting from the maple seems to be some bitterness and some odd pinkish colour so that may turn out to be a mistake I won't repeat; cutting it down to one will hopefully help. I'll leave it longer to see if it improves. Last time the oak seemed to mellow out after a couple of weeks but with my limited experience at this, it's difficult to tell what's not enough, too much, or just right. I can only do a 23L batch at a time and it takes 2 runs to strip and another for spirit so its a slow process for me with limited quantities to experiment on; screwing up to be avoided if possible! And the more I do this, the more I realize just how little I know about it so all the help is appreciated. I know it's improving because I still have a little of the first batch I made (unoaked) and I can't even stand the smell of it, let alone drink it.
Toasting caramelizes the "sugars" in the wood, that gives the flavor, char is supposed to mellow it out ( that why I recommend if you buy a barrel buy toasted) the char is only good once , if you want char add charcoal, Potbelly if you want more wood flavor I suggest leave it in longer not more wood
Dnder, thanks for the advice. I'm going to have to try toasting. I'll see what a few more weeks does with this batch and make a few toasted sticks for when my molasses & brown sugar wash is done. Hopefully I can have something reasonably good to sip for Christmas. By the way, that nugget about the char only being good once, was a brand new one for me. Not a wasted day after all!
the char is supposed to remove unpleasant taste/ odors much like activated charcoal but not as harsh.so if it absorbs taste /odors, how is it good
for another batch? when used with bourbon the barrel is used once for 6-12 years then discarded used for planters etc "toasted" barrel on the
other hand is reused as they do wine barrels. some of the whisky barrels are toasted and used over when "depleted" it mite be used in something
like rum where you do not want "wood". some recycle used barrels by "cutting" away the used part on the inside and retoasted. of course if you buy a barrel you wont want to throw it out, so buy a toasted barrel and if you want "charcoal" add or filter.
) and it still tastes OK. I now am aging a "cornflake" whiskey (?) with 2 maple sticks and 1 oak stick (reused from my rum) in a litre of 130 proof. So far it's only been a few days and it's coming along. The colour is coming up nicely and it's definitely picking up the wood flavour.
