oak chips or barrel

[popcorn sutton]

guys i need some advice i use ss essences for my whiskys what is better for me to age the whisky in a barrel or use the chips .also in a few months i want to make my own whisky from scratch
can i mix the whiskys as one month scotch and later bourbon without affecting the taste

[Almanac]

If you're using an essence then don't put the end product anywhere near Oak. The essence is supposed to simulate what the Oak would do to the base spirit. Can't imaging what it would taste like if you did both but I didn't think it would be nice

Whisky gets both it's colour and flavour from the Oak whether you use chips or a barrel is usually down to the volume you have. The chips are great if you're producing small quantities. Personally I'm not keen on using small barrels because I feel they may be more decorative than anything else but it depends on what you're making.

Not sure I understood your question about mixing. I have whiskies at various stages of maturation and I do blend different batches to achieve a consistent product but I only produce Bourbon which is made with new Oak every time while Scotch whiskies are matured in barrels that have been used for other products such as wines, brandies and even Bourbon whisky

AidanMac

[Almanac]

Generally agree with SP but you have to remember that to feed a larger column you need much bigger ferments. I went from 2X 25lt ferments per month to feed my Airstill, in the early days, to 450lt every month to feed my 4" bubble plates on a 50lt boiler.

You have to be careful where you get your dominoes in Europe if you decide to use them. I've tried a few and I'm convinced they were pressure treated with some kind of essence to enhance their performance. I toast my own Oak from scratch and mine comes nowhere need the speed at which the dominoes flavoured and coloured my raw whisky - in two days That said, there have to be good as well as bad it's just a matter of finding e right ones for you.

AidanMac

[Easydrinker]

Coming back to the original question.
Unless you have apparatus like Steampunk,IMHO it has to be chips or dominoes or staves,
or my current fave - splinters.
Most of us cannot produce spirit fast enough to consider barrel aging.
I am currently playing with axing staves of oak as small as I can.
Hey.it keeps me of the streets!

Robert.

[chill]

And with an axe in your hand, that is a very good thing!

[Frank]

@Popcorns:
mate, your q is multifaceted IMHO....
firstly, the best method of oaking, per se, is in with largest oaksoak you can acquire and with the longest time accordingly.....and lessens with size, pretty much accordingly...(i.e barrel best, then stave, then stick , then chip, then splinter, then sawdust, then faux-oak essence)....the simple difference with regards to your spirit is wash recipe/quantity of ferment/time.
Secondly, an on topic if using most whisky essences...these will (attempt to) provide an oaking-like result, regardless of additional influence (and Aidan has stated such may become a prob)...so take care, else you'll likely end up with alcoholic wood drink.

Alternatively, there are better ways to make Scotch mate (I know, I've tried many) and, it depends on the 'level' where you are happy/able to produce. As stated above, all I can say is a decent AG wash and a decent stilling (I use a potstill, twice) will ALWAYS provide potential for a more satisfactory outcome.

Oh....and regardless of any tosh above in my post, please consider this:
DON'T MIX essence base with AG, DONT mix Scotch with Bourbon....or, ay least keep decent quantities separate for control/taste tests later

[Mash]

...IMHO it has to be chips or dominoes or staves...

+10000000000
Definitely Domino's [with provenance] and here is why..
Glass / stainless steel vessel - you wash it and it is 100% good to go.
An oak barrel is not - they need to be managed With the lot of experience and knowledge. This is why old barrels come onto the market because they are past their useful life from a flavouring perspective and just become inert storage vessels. A brand-new barrel is not necessarily answer either because that will be to strong to start with, and probably not the be correct barrel for what you're trying to achieve.

You put a lot of work into making enough to fill it, and then whack it into a unknown perhaps contaminated barrel. Makes no sense to me.

Chips work but are not the best solution. They are harder to recover and release their taste very quickly. You can put oak 'in' but if you overcook it it is very difficult to get oak 'out' MOST IMPORTANTLY these are also very easily faked by any nerk on eBay with a chainsaw and an oven. They may not even be oak !! and some woods are carcinogenic.

Staves or Domino's from a known source are the way to go. You can have a selection and work out what is best to you. You can manage how long they are in. You can effect consistency which you will never do with a single barrel.

So now I have lit the blue touch paper, I need to say I am not anti barrels. far from it - I have some myself (empty). But I do think unless you can afford four or five and the correct place with the correct humidity and the time to manage them - and expect to replace them regularly.

There are better ways to go, which open up a whole avenue of choice flavours and variety with very little risk to the product or indeed your wallet.

I have been making a variety of oaked stuff for a while and you definitely don't need a barrel to do it ... but they do look really nice. I have certainly considered some of the lined ones for dispense.

[Easydrinker]

Thanks Mashy,you have put a bad idea into my head.
...also very easily faked by any nerk on eBay with a chainsaw and an oven.
I have a couple of Leylandi to fell,You may have given me a way to maximise profit on the job.
Only joking,but the man makes a valid point.

Robert.

[Mash]

Just one !!!!

☺

[popcorn sutton]

thanks guys for the advice dam the mrs was going to spend some money on me

[Admiral Toad]

Barrels have worked for me

But dominos possibly in combination might give best of both worlds

Hence my next experiments