Oak barrel

White American oak is the most commonly used Oak for barrels, though French and Hungarian oak are both high quality and can be used with excellent results.

A 7 gallon oak barrel

There are three processes that occur when oak barrels are used to age spirits:

• Evaporation of spirit through dry section of barrel
• Leaching of oak chemicals into spirit
• Diffusion of spirits through barrel

Although some barrels are new oak, many have been modified somehow:

• Charring
• Storing of similiar spirits
• Storing of dis-similiar spirits or wine

If you can not store your spirit for years in a 55 gallon oak barrel, there are some alternatives which provide a reasonable approximation of barrel aging:

• Put oak chips in your spirit bottle
• Put charred oak chips in your bottles to simulate bourbon
• Stopper your bottles with a dry cork to promote evaporation
• Add sherry to you spirit

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During the maturation process in oak barrels, some of the following chemical changes occur in the spirit:

• The aldehyde level changes
• The color changes
• The concentration of esters changes
• The acidity changes
• The concentration of furfural changes
• The concentration of fusel oils change
• The pH changes
• The amount of solids change
• The proof changes
• The concentration of tannins change
• The total acidity changes