Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi all

Hoping someone can give me a clear run at this .

Ive been making neutral from TPW and aging with chips at %40 for roughly a week or so . its going ok and the boss is quite happy with her medicine but im reading conflicting views on oaking percentages . Some say only do it at %60 or %65 others say %40 no problem .
This makes me think Im missing out on something ?
So is there a hard and fast rule , or a rule of thumb ?
Or is it as with so many other finer points , just a personal taste thing ?
Cheers Al

I think if your letting it sit for a week you could call it oaking :D
Different strengths will extract different flavors, and at different speeds. For whisky and the like I start at 63% and often adjust it down as time goes by. No hard and fast rules.
You could try a range of strengths and see which one tastes the best for you.
Good luck mate. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

What are you hoping to achieve by oaking neutral?

Rule of thumb is 65%
10g per litre for long term ageing (6 months or more)
15g per litre for shorter term ageing

Crow is a good source of info on why this is, perhaps he could chime in or you could do a search of this and answer your own question for all of us :handgestures-thumbupleft:

maddogpearse wrote:What are you hoping to achieve by oaking neutral?

Hoping ? its a bit more than hope , I get a very nice drop from it . Just wondering about the best ABV for it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Doubleuj wrote: or you could do a search of this and answer your own question for all of us :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Yeh did plenty of searches and there are plenty of returns . The problem I find is for every post I find with an answer in one direction there is another saying the opposite . Thats all fine , I realise its in the eye of the beholder {mouth of the taster) .

All good .

Cheers Al

I oak my neutral, adds a good more full bodied flavour before adding essence. For now this is all I have until I finish this bubbler. :angry-banghead:
I recall Crow explaining the reasoning/ science behind oaking techniques, but, I don't want to recall and regurgitate info if I'm not sure.
think it was in the thread regarding heat stressing on oak. :think:

prawnz wrote:

maddogpearse wrote:What are you hoping to achieve by oaking neutral?

Hoping ? its a bit more than hope , I get a very nice drop from it . Just wondering about the best ABV for it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Rule of thumb as double uj says 65%15g/l short term 15g/l longer term over a year.. has to do with unwanted tannins and astrigency as to why the came up with 65% being best, but of course "best" is subjective..

Get nice caramel honey vanilla butterscotch flavours from oak i think for sure neutral wood benifit.. start at 65% and work your way out in both directions with everything clearly labled and see what you prefer :handgestures-thumbupleft:

prawnz wrote:

maddogpearse wrote:What are you hoping to achieve by oaking neutral?

Hoping ? its a bit more than hope , I get a very nice drop from it . Just wondering about the best ABV for it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

If you're getting a very nice drop now then why are you asking the question? Left me rephrase. What flavour compounds do you wish to encorporate into your unflavoured spirit friend?

for chips i wouldnt think ABV would matter too much as tannin's will leach very quickly. Go the chunks and age longer for a more mellowed spirit. I like how oak smooths out the tails of a whisky to make a nice drink, wouldnt think it would work much on neutral tails. I age at around 68% or slightly higher and let it evaporate about 5% ABV away over its age time.

WTDist wrote:for chips i wouldnt think ABV would matter too much as tannin's will leach very quickly..

Which is probably why they say on the packs "10 days and your good to go " I spose.

by WTDist » Sat Jul 30, 2016 9:22 pm

Go the chunks and age longer for a more mellowed spirit. I like how oak smooths out the tails of a whisky to make a nice drink, wouldnt think it would work much on neutral tails. I age at around 68% or slightly higher and let it evaporate about 5% ABV away over its age time.

Good info , thanks . Ive got a 100lt wash just about ready . Might be time to experiment with a couple of lt at %65 for 6 months and see what i get .

by maddogpearse » Sat Jul 30, 2016 9:13 pm





If you're getting a very nice drop now then why are you asking the question? Left me rephrase. What flavour compounds do you wish to encorporate into your unflavoured spirit friend?

Just curious , I'm very new to this bussiness with only an very ordinary still and Im just trying to get the most out of my limited resources . Due to financial constraints this is a cross I must bear for now and for this reason I have asked this question in the hope that folk with vastly more experience than me can help me thru the mire . Fortunately for me and others in my position this forum is filled with helpful forthcoming non judgmental people that are only to happy to help and there are very few trolls (due in no small part to Sams vigilance I'm sure :handgestures-thumbupleft: )