StillSmart

Yesterday i put Alcohol into 2 Demijohns,In one i added some "Essencia Wood Blocks",these come with advice of how long to leave them,But in the second Demijohn i Put some Heavily Toasted Wood Chips,The pieces are much smaller,The thing is that i cannot find any advice on how long to leave these much smaller,heavily Smoked Chips in the alcohol,I have read somewhere that leaving wood chip in alcohol for too long can make it too bitter to drink,Well could anyone give me any ideas on how long i should leave them,Many thanks.

I have read somewhere that leaving wood chip in alcohol for too long can make it too bitter to drink

If the makers of Scotch leave there Whisky for 15 years to mature in oak barrels, it would seem your comment wherever it came from must be wrong.

Not at all. Is all about surface area. Wood chip needs to come out much sooner.

Taste it. Think days not weeks and certainly not months

Better to take a bit longer and gentler with medium toast blocks imo.

Always buy oak from a reputable company. Any tit with a chainsaw and an oven could sell you all manner of toxic sh1te on ebay.

Yes thank you Mash,that seems about right,But i should have said that what quantities i'm using,Well it 50gms if Wood Chips,To 2ltrs of Spirit,The Quantities i read were correct but they did'nt say for what Toasting,and what time,Well thank you.

My two pence worth is that too much wood/too long on wood will give it a,.. woody taste, not a bitter one.
This may not be a bad thing.
The spirit will also darken very much more.
This is definitely not a problem.

My advice?
Test it, regularly.

Robert.

Well thank you "EasyDrinker",.I only asked to give myself a mark not to over step on my first try with not using bought Flavourings and just relying on the Toasted Wood to do everything

'tis all a game my friend, with few hard and fast rules, one mans meat and all that follows being anothers poison.
I can only advise that you read a bit, and follow your nose.
There is no one way to flavour a spirit,,,
It is just that some results taste better than others.
And even that is subjective.

Live a little

Robert.

vino-tinto wrote:I have read somewhere that leaving wood chip in alcohol for too long can make it too bitter to drink

If the makers of Scotch leave there Whisky for 15 years to mature in oak barrels, it would seem your comment wherever it came from must be wrong.

15 years sod that I might be dead...hate someone else drinking my finished product.

I guess it comes down to who inherits your cellar?

Robert.

guest5234 wrote:

vino-tinto wrote:I have read somewhere that leaving wood chip in alcohol for too long can make it too bitter to drink

It has done for me. I redistilled it in the end.

Maybe a subjective sense of taste kicks in here?..

Robert.

Easydrinker wrote:I guess it comes down to who inherits your cellar?

Robert.

Anyone I'd wish to drink foul stuff will hopefully be dead before me and anyone I'd wish to drink good stuff will hopefully have drank it with me.

That could be regarded as a philosophy.
Or hate mail.
Chill, mate, you are a short time here, and a long
time gone.
It really doesn't matter what your peers think of you when are gone, but if there are some fond thoughts, and memories of others that you can take with you, then you probably should marshall them.
But I am reknowned for talking bolleux.


I believe in rub-a-long, and if you can meet me there, superb.

Robert

Does the Temperature make any difference to how long you have to leave the Wood Chips in the Spirit ?

YES! it does, check out some previous posts here esp. in the nuking threads.
In an ideal world you would place your jar/demi john on a sunny window cill which gets very warm during the day, and very cool at night.
Above an insulated summer time attic floor is also good.
Heat and cold, heat and cold speed the aging process.

Robert.