Flavourings and Oak Barrels

[SBB]

After a bit of trial and error Ive found a flavouring that I like, my son likes it and Mrs says it ok too. The flavoring in question is Bodines Sour Mash Bourbon. I don't usually like Bourbon :lol:
The question is this....I have a small American oak barrel...if I mix the flavoring with neutral then put it in the barrel to age a bit is it likely to improve or am I wasting my time???. The other thing is that this barrel has a brass tap...is this going to cause problems???
SBB

[reknaw]

If I was you I would put a couple of oak sticks in it (in a bottle) and see what it turns out like, I'ld say it will definetly improve it. As for the brass there is a lot of to and throwing. Brass has lead (from fuck all to a fair bit, California has just made it illegal to have lead in Brass )in it but can be treated by pickling it, if it came with the keg it'll be fine. I would go for stainless if I had the choice though as a first option.

If it definetly improves it after oaking in a bottle you could then use your barrel. I have a lot of oak and a barrel would be a treat for me :)

[MacStill]

I dont know if I would want to risk ruining my barrel, I'm guessing the cordial could impregnate the barrel and maybe spoil it :?

I "think" the brass tap is fine, as it's not coming in contact with hot alcohol vapor, brass in your still is a whole different ball game though.

Cheers.

[SBB]

Thanks for the reply ....Im not to worried about the barrel as I picked it up for $20 at a garage sale ages ago.....Its already had port and a few other things in it over the years. I saw another Nice little barrel today at a local market....looked brand new and had copper rings around it and a wooden tap. Probably held about 10 liters. The asking price was $70 probably could have got it for $60 if I had tried. Also saw a stainless milk churn which made me think of stills.....lol...but they wanted $120 for it.
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[Frank]

Hey folks, I haven't got an oak barrel (yet :oops: ) but I do have some whiskey oak barrel chips AND some JD barrel chunks/chips. As I am intending to add flavour sachets/bottles to the soaked spirit as well at some stage, what do you reckon is the recommended grams per litre and minimum/ideal soaking time for these (packets same 10 grams per litre for minimum 10 days... at 40%ABV)

[MacStill]

Hi Frank,

I've found that when using the store bought oak chips it's best to stick with the directions, I've aged rum on them for various lengths of time and never noticed much difference.

Have you tried the essencia bourbon chunks? they seemed to be the best I could find for a good bourbon knock off when I was going down that path, and you can re use them a few times too so it worked out a bit cheaper than the other HBS oak chips.

Pretty sure spud has a shit load of oak that he sells too, if you want to try the DIY approach to toasted, untoasted, and various amounts of charred, I've been sampling some whiskey I had on charred spud sticks that's going down a treat :)

Cheers.

[SBB]

The owner of the local homebrew shop here had some sort of blue with the essencia rep and refuses to stock any of their Products :cry: ......busting to get hold of some of those chunks to test them

[maheel]

The owner of the local homebrew shop here had some sort of blue with the essencia rep and refuses to stock any of their Products :cry: ......busting to get hold of some of those chunks to test them

maybe the owner tasted some ? and thought i'm not selling this puss to my customers.....

[MacStill]

The owner of the local homebrew shop here had some sort of blue with the essencia rep and refuses to stock any of their Products :cry: ......busting to get hold of some of those chunks to test them

maybe the owner tasted some ? and thought i'm not selling this puss to my customers.....

LOL

[audistiller]

what do you reckon is the recommended grams per litre and minimum/ideal soaking time for these (packets same 10 grams per litre for minimum 10 days... at 40%ABV)

I did my first run on the 18th April (2012), and added 15g of the Spirits Unlimited Jacks chips to my first ever 1125ml bottle of 40%. As you know it says on the packet to leave for at least 10 days, so far its been 14 days and it definitely smells better now than it did only 5 days ago, and the colour is slightly darker than it was a week ago. I put the same amount of chips (15g) in another 1125ml bottle the same night, but with this one I added half a bottle of the Bodines Sour Mash essence. I tried some straight away after bottling, and I kind of liked it, but by the time I finished a small sample, I decided I don't really like the Bodines and probably wont buy it again.

Last week I bought the Still Spirits Classic Tennessee Bourbon, and over the next few days I am going to add a sachet to the bottle with the chips that's been soaking for 2 weeks, hopefully it will bring out something in between.

I have read a few comments from people on various sites saying don't bother with the chips, and to use the chunks instead, they provide a much more desirable flavour than the chips do.


Regards

[QLD.Andy]

I found a 5lt demi full of SS Classic American Bourbon with a pack of Still Spirits Classic Tennessee Bourbon Chips sitting in the bottom of it thats been there for just over 12 months.
A taste test of about 200ml :D has won me over.
Beats the hell out of my Roll Out The Barrel, barrel (worst $300+ I ever spent)
I know what Im doing for "personal" stock from now on.

[audistiller]

But you haven't had your barrel very long Andy, load it up and leave it somewhere for 12 months.

[R-sole]

I found a 5lt demi full of SS Classic American Bourbon with a pack of Still Spirits Classic Tennessee Bourbon Chips sitting in the bottom of it thats been there for just over 12 months.
A taste test of about 200ml :D has won me over.
Beats the hell out of my Roll Out The Barrel, barrel (worst $300+ I ever spent)
I know what Im doing for "personal" stock from now on.

Is the barrel a 50l or bigger?

if so do you want to sell it?

Or better still swap it for 5l demis?


I'llThrowInSomeChipsPunkin

[Goldie]

I found a 5lt demi full of SS Classic American Bourbon with a pack of Still Spirits Classic Tennessee Bourbon Chips sitting in the bottom of it thats been there for just over 12 months.

I'm with Andy here, I have 20lts oaking on 4 packets of SS bourbon chips its been 4 months so far and had my first taste and it's pretty good. I had tasted it after 2 months and it didn't have much bourbon flavor, the extra 2 months have really improved the taste. It's still good, on par with Wild Turkey, but not impressive so hence me starting to use Mcstill's knock off recipe now. I have also got 5lts on Essencia chunks so will see how they compare soon.
As others have said oak needs a minimum 3 months. I was thinking the other day that if you wanted to quicken up the oaking using the chips maybe you would rechip them. By that I mean blending / grinding them up so they are smaller then they already are to get some flavor quicker. Would make them harder to filter but might yield quicker results if you don't want to wait.
I know from tasting the 4 month oaked batch I will just be waiting and letting things take their time because it's worth the wait.... 8-)

[Frank]

I found a 5lt demi full of SS Classic American Bourbon with a pack of Still Spirits Classic Tennessee Bourbon Chips sitting in the bottom of it thats been there for just over 12 months.
A taste test of about 200ml :D has won me over.
Beats the hell out of my Roll Out The Barrel, barrel (worst $300+ I ever spent)
I know what Im doing for "personal" stock from now on.

Well then Andy...pm me with details re when I can come over and take the 'no good/waste of money' barrel out of your life, forever. :handgestures-thumbupleft:
No charge for me to do this for you BTW, just what any mate should do. ;-)

[crow]

I first saw insertion bags with wood chips 30 yrs ago helping deliver grapes . Wineries use this method to fast wood age there shitty cask plonk , whack it in box and flog it for $9 retail , I reckon if this provided the best result why are they all spending many many hundreds of thousands on storing their better gear in barrels . Must be something in it because when it comes to finished quality and money most joints don't give 2 fs for tradition , just my observation .EDIT : Nar ya probably right give ya 50 bucks for that piece a crap barrel , make good fire wood :teasing-tease: 2nd EDIT Really its about surface area time heat , how porous the wood is and quality of the wood . your chips have a lot of cut grain and are enormously porous , have a massive surface area for the amount of oak . For that reason they will leach in to the spirit many many times faster , so why isn't all wine and spirit aged like this . Ok its the composition and ratio's leaching in , you would be getting many many times the tannin's to other more subtle favors contained in the wood . over the very short period this will not be so obvious (the lack of vanilian's ect) but over time those fast to get tannin's will over power every thing and you will miss out on all those other subtle flavors that make oaked spirit so worth drinking PS if I've missed anything or am inaccurate in anyway ppl let me know as this was explained to me a great many yrs ago

[R-sole]

Yes, the thing you missed was that i was in first for the secondhand worthless barrell to generously go out of my way and take off his hands so it's not bothering him and replace with demis that are much more valuable and worth every effort and even throw in wood chips, sticks, and cash.



IWasInFirstPunkin

[Frank]

Yes, the thing you missed was that i was in first for the secondhand worthless barrell to generously go out of my way and take off his hands so it's not bothering him and replace with demis that are much more valuable and worth every effort and even throw in wood chips, sticks, and cash.

IWasInFirstPunkin

:laughing-rolling: what about the frozen chook and a set of steak knives???...but only if Andy calls in the next ten minutes...... 8-} :teasing-neener:

[R-sole]

Done.

[crow]

:laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: