Raising my Spirits...
Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 11:27PM As mentioned in an earlier post, I treated myself to a small oak barrel for aging experiments. My real target was simulating beers aged in oak bourbon barrels. Most distilleries around the world use these casks as well, placing their newly distilled, neutral spirits into the casks for years to extract their color, flavor and aroma from the wood. My virgin barrel from eBay was simply lacking experience.
My wheels began to turn...How could I give my new barrel that old bourbon barrel character without aging whiskey in it? Why not just age whiskey in it? Why not experiment with the aging process for spirits, then use it for beer later?
Distilling spirits is illegal in the US, so building a still and extracting ethanol from homebrew just doesn't seem wise. However, I may have discovered a way to experiment with the key processes of aging whiskey while staying within the letter (and spirit) of the law. Why not just start with an off the shelf neutral spirit like vodka?
To keep the experiment manageable I purchased a second, smaller 1L oak barrel on eBay. I found a 1.75L bottle of Svedka Swedish vodka at Costco for $17.
Svedka is rated nearly as high as Grey Goose and probably better than anything I could produce as an amateur distiller anyway.
To prep the barrel I soaked it in water to allow the wood to swell and seal itself properly. Then I rinsed it out, refilled it and let it sit for two days with a couple of Camden tablets to sanitize it. After that rinsed it out three times and filled it with Vodka to begin the experiment. Aging, by definition, takes time : ) so my patience will be tested here for sure. The good news is that the larger surface to volume ratio of small barrels will allow spirits to age the equivalent of a month in a full size cask for every week in my miniature barrel.
I am not the most patient guy and want more insight into what might be happening in the barrel without opening it for at least a few months. To provide more instant gratification, I placed the remaining vodka in an empty whiskey bottle with toasted oak chips (the kind used for throwing into your beer or wine fermentor to simulate oak aging). This will give me a handy visual clue to what may be taking place in the cask. I can also easily open the bottle and sneak a whiff or even a nip from time to time.
The progress to date is amazing. After only 5 days, the bottle already looks and smells like decent whiskey! I'll be sure to keep you posted on its progress from time to time.
Cheers,
-D
Reader Comments (6)
excellent! I love your dance around the law. I hope this turns out tasty for you. So, if you can age 4x's faster in your mini-keg, there is potential to have an equivalent of a 12 year whiskey in about three years? That would be really nice. Why didn't you use a dirt cheap vodka? I can't imagine the quality of the vodka would play a large role in an aging process ........just curious.
Good luck,
MikeofALe
Your right, the goal is that vodka starts out very neutral. It is a big bottle (1.75L) which is the equivalent of 2.33 "fifths" @ about $7.30 a bottle. That's still pretty cheap in my book. Most cheaper vodkas are packaged in plastic. In general, I think consuming volatile fluids from plastic vessels is a bad idea.
The quality and source of the mash can have a big impact (ie scotch, bourbon, Tennessee and Canadian whiskeys). I think Svedka is wheat based and off the top of my head I can't think of any wheat based whiskeys (Canadian Whiskey is made from Rye). I will eventually want to find something a little closer to proper whiskey to age...
Any updates? I have been thinking about trying something similar, so it is great to read about your experience with this.
Can you explain why you sanitized the barrel before filling it with vodka? I was thinking that the vodka is so high in alcohol that it would provide its own sanitation. I'm a homebrewer and always sanitize anything that comes into contact with my beer, so I was hoping I could save a step if I used a spirit.
The way I was thinking about using a small barrel was to fill it with a cheap whiskey and keep it topped off for a year or so. Then I'd rack off the whiskey and put a big beer in it for a few months. When the beer was done aging, then I'd rack the whiskey back into the barrel. That way I could keep reusing the whiskey and it would hopefully "recharge" the whiskey characteristics of the barrel.
Cheers!
I plan to post an update when I get back to the states next week. Overall, I wish I had used a better quality vodka.
Everything I've read about aging in barrels recommends sanitizing, so thats why I did. I'm sure its more important to do so before aging beer or wine, but 40 proof vodka may not be a high enough percentage of alcohol to kill off the bugs, where full strength distilled spirits would be. Most distilleries cut their product with water after aging. Casks strength single malts are a notable exception.
Your whiskey idea is a good one. I plan to do the same when I am done with the vodka experiment.
Thanks for visiting, Paul!
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