Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

I probably would have toasted a bit longer if I were going to toast at all. 2-3 hours at 200+ seems to work for me, you want the toast to cook right through, that won't happen in 30 min :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I was using this little chart thing to try obtain the vanilla notes



I was of the understanding that you toast at a particular temp for 30mins.

When you char like you said, what is the difference? Is it to pull out the nasties, or add flavour, or both?

Thanks :handgestures-thumbupleft:

brad81 wrote:I was using this little chart thing to try obtain the vanilla notes

30mins at temp.gif

I was of the understanding that you toast at a particular temp for 30mins.

When you char like you said, what is the difference? Is it to pull out the nasties, or add flavour, or both?

Thanks :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I was wondering the same thing! How long is the recommended heating times to get them flavors?

My opinion is that that chart is complete BS.

You cannot single out a particular flavour or note from something as complex as american oak merely by toasting at a certain temp for a certain amount of time. I'm not saying that toasting does nothing, or that it is not needed I just don't believe it's that easy.

Sure over toast it and you'll have a pretty rank flavour profile but I have never over toasted and get good gear from 2 hours at +200C, I have tried 3-4 hours at 250 (as high as my shitty oven goes) and aside from staining the front of the oven with tannins (which is still there today :angry-banghead:)
there was no huge difference.

As I said before 30 minutes is just enough to brown a chicken parmigiana, not penetrate enough heat through chunks of wood to get the toast to the centre.

Charring does two things, the charcoal removes impurities and the micro cracks that are formed when the wood expands from the extreme heat also allows more spirit to be in contact with the toasted oak, increasing the available surface area.

IMO charred oak is no good for Rum, I have come to appreciate raw or med/light toasted oak for Rum, give it a hit of this and at least a year and it'll reward you greatly.

Had an interesting experience the other night.
Had always thought that French oak dominoes were the to go as they were less "in your face" than the American oak. That was from after tasting the rum after 3 months. Found in the back of the cupboard a 10 month old bottle that was on American oak. Wow! The obtrusive nature of American oak seen at 3 months was gone. Smooth but with just a little bite, beautiful vanilla tones and a light touch of tannins. You couldn't buy a rum this good. A mate who likes rum and always goes for the expensive stuff said it was the best he'd ever tasted. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

RefluxEd wrote:Had an interesting experience the other night.
Had always thought that French oak dominoes were the to go as they were less "in your face" than the American oak. That was from after tasting the rum after 3 months. Found in the back of the cupboard a 10 month old bottle that was on American oak. Wow! The obtrusive nature of American oak seen at 3 months was gone. Smooth but with just a little bite, beautiful vanilla tones and a light touch of tannins. You couldn't buy a rum this good. A mate who likes rum and always goes for the expensive stuff said it was the best he'd ever tasted. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

This gives me hope. My oldest rum of 3 months is just starting to get a few complex flavours coming through. The oak is still a little strong for my liking and was hoping this would mellow with time as i have stuck to the 10g / L so was confident i didn't over oak. looking forward to the next 6 to 12 months of sampling. so far I have 30l @65% ageing and would like to get enough stock to be drinking 2 year old rum. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

You wait until you guys taste it at 12 months, or (if you can) hold off until at least the 18 month mark. Now that's a RUM!! :D :obscene-drinkingdrunk:

So I got 1KG of French oak dominoes and American oak dominoes at medium toast on the way.

So after reading the above. French is better for the short-med 1-6 month term aging, and the American better for the long game 6 - 18 month when it comes to rum.

Urrazeb wrote:You wait until you guys taste it at 12 months, or (if you can) hold off until at least the 18 month mark. Now that's a RUM!! :D :obscene-drinkingdrunk:

Im getting excited. do you remove the oak after a certain time or if it is 10g/l leave it in for the entire 12 months?

For long term stuff i remove most of the oak around the 4 month mark. After initial colouring and oaking, i find that a small amount goes a hell of a long way. :-B

And I leave it all in, really depends on your taste, sample it along the way and remove if you feel necessary.

I am yet to over oak :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Too right mate, can pretty well do what we like with it. As long as we are happy with the product, thats what its all about. 8-)

Hey all another rum lover and thinking of buying a 10-15l oak barrel.
Wondering does it end up over oaked if left in the barrel? Also does the barrel only add flavor for a while then a new barrel is needed?
I was thinking I could get the barrel full and get some surplus made then once the flavour is right start drinking it and replace it as some is removed? Or is aging in a 5L glass bottle the way to go.
I'm the only one drinking it here and I don't drink much 2-3l bundy a year. So could prob keep barrel going on one wash a year. Thoughts appreciated. Very new to this hobby first mollases wash nearly finished and it will be my very first run. cheers.

The smaller the barrel the faster it ages which can be a good/bad thing, have a look through the oaking section and there should be a few threads on it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So got a stupid question....

Just plain white rum that isn't oaked at all just left to age? without anything added?

thedarkmesh wrote:So got a stupid question....

Just plain white rum that isn't oaked at all just left to age? without anything added?

My thoughts would be that if you just put it in a sealed bottle without oak and without any angel's share then no matter how many months you leave it it will taste the same.
Commercial white rum is aged in barrels then carbon filtered to remove colour (i'm fairly sure).

5 o'clock wrote:

thedarkmesh wrote:So got a stupid question....

Just plain white rum that isn't oaked at all just left to age? without anything added?

My thoughts would be that if you just put it in a sealed bottle without oak and without any angel's share then no matter how many months you leave it it will taste the same.
Commercial white rum is aged in barrels then carbon filtered to remove colour (i'm fairly sure).

Commercial white rum is made using either jaggery (rapadura etc) which is unrefined evaporated cane juice or the fresh juice of sugarcane, not black strap mollasses.

Have a think about it for a second... (and I proceed with caution here...) rum is mostly made in 3rd world countries with a tropical climate, sugarcane grows like a weed in the hot and wet conditions, once it is cut it grows right back, why would people who are already monetary challenged buy (or spend precious time) making oak barrels, (most of which would have to be imported or at least the timber would) and then go through the further cost and effort of setting up a carbon filtering system?

From what I have read, they don't. They ferment the cane juice and distill it - simple as that.

I don't doubt that there may be a few silver rum producers out there ageing and filtering their product but this is certainly not the majority of producers and I believe this is a myth that has been spread for one reason or another.

Yes, if you ferment a blackstrap rum and seal it up unaged it will still be the raw spirit it was after coming off the still, provided it has no access to oxygen and is stored in a cool dark place of course.

EDIT: SP

:text-imwithstupid:

Great post Zeb.

Wondering how do We know when the rum is "ready"? What flavors are present when its time to remove the oak. Or is it just a matter of taste it along the way and when happy with the taste then its ready? :-B

bluc wrote:Wondering how do We know when the rum is "ready"? What flavors are present when its time to remove the oak. Or is it just a matter of taste it along the way and when happy with the taste then its ready? :-B

The basic rule would be that it is ready when you run out of previous batches and need to start drinking this one. That is why it is good to have a few batches of different ages in the ageing cupboard.

Seriously though, aim for at least 6 months but 12 plus is great. It depends on how much oak you have in the bottle per litre, it doesn't hurt to reduce the oak as time goes on to avoid over oaking.