StillSmart

I resisted.

Robert.

Easydrinker wrote:Yup,
IMHO, the vacuumn effect is a red herring. Soaking is just as efficient.
I re-use the same oak sticks time after time, adding a couple more new ones with each new sample.
One day the jar will be full, and I will have to re-think strategy.
I simply heat to the point that bubbles are seen forming, and then let cool to room temps, X3.
I lose a little volume - some higher alcohols, a drop from maybe 60% to 48 - 50%.
After pouring the liquer off, I screw the cap on, until the next time, and keep the wood wet.
Hardly pioneering, but it seems to work pretty well.


Robert.

Shamelessly giving this post a bump, as it works for me, and I am about to endorse it in another thread

Robert.

Great advice here. I've just received my first oak staves, bandsawed them to pieces and whacked a few into a jar of 63%
Nuked it till boiling and then lidded and bunged in the fridge. Planning on two more cycles then a quick filter, dilute to 40 and drink ........
Yours faithfully
Mr Impatient

Boiling!!

Was that meant to be 'Boiling??', Mash?

Or should we to get the full affect. I use 2" 30 @ 800w (2mins 30 secs at 800 watts)
per 1 ltr, that must be nearly there? (nearly boiling for 1 litre)
The old JD Chips is still best trick in my book.

Mash wrote:Boiling!!

Boiling works for me.
Is only around 79°C, no big deal.


Robert.

H12rpo wrote:Great advice here. I've just received my first oak staves, bandsawed them to pieces and whacked a few into a jar of 63%
Nuked it till boiling and then lidded and bunged in the fridge. Planning on two more cycles then a quick filter, dilute to 40 and drink ........
Yours faithfully
Mr Impatient

Make that a coffee filter or kitchen roll filtering.
Or lose the effort expended.
Going carbon after Oaking puts you into white rum territory.
OK, if you started with a rum wash....

Robert.

Right ....nuked through 3 cycles but not yet diluted and stood next to a Glen Moray Speyside malt for comparison of colour.
Now to filter and dilute

Well, well, well Im surprised and well chuffed . In a taste test I prefer the nuked Oak, then comes the classic whisky essence with a spot of sweet vanillin, then the real Glen Moray.
In short I'm astonished and feeling quite nice after an hour of diluting (tasting) filtering (and tasting) bottling (and tasting) and taste testing and finding there was a bit left over in my me measuring beakers hic!

H12rpo wrote:Well, well, well Im surprised and well chuffed . In a taste test I prefer the nuked Oak, then comes the classic whisky essence with a spot of sweet vanillin, then the real Glen Moray.
In short I'm astonished and feeling quite nice after an hour of diluting (tasting) filtering (and tasting) bottling (and tasting) and taste testing and finding there was a bit left over in my me measuring beakers hic!

I forget what you were neuking,I suspect neutral.
I remember doing the same and preferring it to several commercial whiskies.
Now, should you try making Whisky/Whiskey and neuk that you will move on in leaps and bounds.
I'm not wishing to diss your commendable efforts, but have been attempting a single malt for several years.
It is not bad, but it is not good, it lacks that signature that single malts possess.
Then last week I was given a bottle of a new Scottish single malt, "Scapa".
That also lacks anything special, and is certainly no better than my product.
In a longwinded way I am trying to say well done for getting this far, how much further are you going?

Robert.

Boiling?

I thought the recipe for nuking was 50-60c.

Perhaps just being pedantic but sure it makes a difference.

@mash........I only boiled (briefly) on the first cycle.....and then not intentionally. Ethanol boiling at only 66 degrees kind of snuck up on me. I'm not sure that it would make much of a taste difference though?

@easydrinker my journey is mostly about making a very good single malt though unlike you (I think) I'm not a fan of peated scotch. It sure is my intention to ferment barley malt but it will have to wait a while until I finish my vino tinto style pot head to fit the T500 - I've made a start though. In the meantime I've only done one neutral run and learnt such a lot.
I'll certainly be asking for some single malt specific advice from you Robert as things progress, but for now my efforts have been surprisingly rewarding

Onwards!

@ mash, for me a neuked boil at 66°C ish is normal.

@ H12rpo, glad that you are having some fun, and had some good result.

Robert.

I may have done this a few times.... there are a few here that think they know it all when using a microwave on distillate...

There is a substantial difference in nuked product versus product that has been boiled with added wood or chips...

Nuking does work very well, I suggest that you not boil the microwaved product just bring it up to the temps suggested in the original post.. 150f max.

Every microwave is different so you have to do a trial and error process to find out about how many seconds it takes in your machine.

The vacuum part does make a difference in moving product in and out of the chips or dominoes. So every vacuum cycle will pull product out of the wood... release the vacuum and product is sucked back into the wood structure... if you don't believe that just observe the wood or chips on the second nuke and vacuum cycle.



Have fun and keep on nuking,

FS

Works very well with assorted fruits as well...

if you got a question send me a PM I check in quite often and would be more than happy to help one on one

I can also be found on most days at Emptyglass's Aussie Forum found here:

http://coppercustomstillcomponents.com.au/wordpress/ check out the chat room and forums a great place for added information that might not be available here.