The Quest for Real Bourbon

[Gaztops]

The information within this thread is exactly what I need. I think the sticks I used was far too big and so the smokey flavour overwhelmed my likker, that's why I took them out.

Maybe i should have left the sticks in the jars and waited to see if the smokeyness mellowed.

Good thread, thanks Guys

[Almanac]

As promised


This jar has had 900ml of spirit at 60%ABV and a single toasted Oak biscuit in for 10 days.

After 8 days I added a few pieces of almost Burgundy coloured Red Onion skin and the colour deepened substantially without affecting the flavour or mouthfeel in any way.

After 48 hours I removed the Onion Skins and they all looked like this..


Honestly, the things we get up to

AM

[Almanac]

OK, I'm big enough to admit when I have a problem and ask for help

3l jars, 3l of neutral with three small toasted Oak biscuits. After 10 days the spirit has a relatively light colour but the spirit is quite sweet, too sweet! even for Bourbon!

If I reduce the amount of wood, starting off, the sweetness will be less but so will the colour which is far too light.

The question is, which is the greatest contributor to spirit colour/appearance, time, oxidation or Oak?

My Oak biscuits are 5mm X 25mm X 75mm

AM

[chill]

In my experience, more oak gives more colour. Reusing oak results in less colour extraction each time. Heavier toast or char gives a darker colour. I don't recall getting a very sweet taste early in aging. Could it be this batch of oak or the level to which you have toasted it? I find that longer aging brings out more tannins and woody tastes, maybe it needs more time?

I do recall one batch of rum that was very caramel in taste after aging on some wood. I took it out and put in charred wood and that greatly improved it.

Chuck

[Almanac]

I'm wary of adding more Oak in an attempt to improve the colour, at this time, because the spirit has already extracted a high level of sweetness from the small amount of wood in the jar. Adding more Oak may just make it sweeter again

I seem to remember reading somewhere that in the natural process of expansion and contraction of the spirit in and out of the Oak in the barrels this also allows for some oxidation of the spirits which contributes greatly to the colour of the final product.

Perhaps the cause of this problem is the fact I am using a glass storage vessel that does not allow air to interact with the spirit in the same way it would in an Oak barrel.

Over the next week I will open one of the jars twice daily and whisk the contents to add some air to the spirit and see if that induces a notable colour change compared to the other jars.

I'll post the outcome whatever it is

AM

[Stillonfire]

Oaking has been on my mind a lot. I use wine barrel staves, about 1" of stave per liter. This results in a fairly dark spirit. I have toasted these on my BBQ, with much the same result as you showed earlier Aidenmac, just darker. Some was toasty, some was burnt to a crisp. Now I just char a fresh stave with my MAPP torch. This is more repeatable, and quicker. I also sometimes use StillDragon(AUS) oak dominoes charred, one domino per three liters whiskey.

In my experience, you cannot measure the effect of oak in only weeks. For the first two months on oak my spirit goes through a phase I call "angry oak". If I drink it during this time it tastes prickly, with odd flavors, makes me feel a little sick sometimes. After 2-3 months it has settled down and starts mellowing out.

A shortcut through the angry oak phase is distress aging. I boil it on a hotplate in a 5L SS pot with glass lid. I bring it just to a boil, then set it on a shelf to cool, then bring it to a boil again. I get two cycles per day on weekends, or one cycle on workdays. After a fortnight, the spirit is well oaked and colored, and no longer angry.

Even if you shortcut the oak process, I find that it still needs time for the rum or whiskey character to really come alive. I have a UJ that I distress aged that was still rough as guts after the DA process. After another six weeks of settling time, it has turned into a nice sipping whiskey. I imagine it would be even better given six months to a year, but I dont see it lasting that long.

[Almanac]

Thanks for reviving this thread, I'd forgotten all about it.

You're right, there's no substitute for time and I think that's why I haven't posted anything on this subject for a while.

What I consider my first real Bourbon is waiting to be bottled and will slip into pride of place in my drinks collection for the Christmas table, although I suspect I may well enjoy a glass or two on Christmas Eve.

The degree of toasting of the oak directly affects the colour and sweetness of the Whisky and I've found that, for me, toasting thin Oak biscuits too darkly will produce too much caramelised wood sugars leading to the sweetness in the spirit that I've experienced.

I believe I now have that sorted and I'm quite happy with the oaking procedure that I follow. I just need to be watchful about toasting my Oak just to the degree I want. I also char only very lightly with a MAPP torch and douse the char in boiling water at just the right point. After that, my Whiskies will age for a minimum of 9 months and I'm planning to put down my first batch for ageing to 5years in February next after I've changed over completely to all grain ferments.

AM