MAKING YOUR OWN WHISKEY FROM 1000 OAKS BARREL CO.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I think the toasting generally comes first - and you're right - there is a good reason - it helps to open up the wood. Where did you get the barrels - I'm pretty sure mine were toasted - judging from the smell and colour of the water coming out after the initial seasoning.

Yes interesting to know ... must read up on the whole toasting thing a bit more closely one of these days.

Got the barrel off some German Ebay seller... looks good so far seems to be a good seal on it as it is. My only worry was that it is very clean new wood so might have to leave the sherry in for a good few months. Have it filled with water now for 4 or 5 hours and not one drop appears to be seeping out of it

[IainB]

My experience with the 4 barrells I've seasoned so far is that only about half of them (that's 2 then - I'm an accountant - I know these things) let any water out.

Not to alarm you or anything but did these barrells specifically say they were for aging spirits, as opposed to just storing. The reason I ask is that if they were just for storing they may be sealed, in which case no wood contact would occur.

Anyway, you should be able to tell from the water when you empty it.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

My experience with the 4 barrells I've seasoned so far is that only about half of them (that's 2 then - I'm an accountant - I know these things) let any water out.

Not to alarm you or anything but did these barrells specifically say they were for aging spirits, as opposed to just storing. The reason I ask is that if they were just for storing they may be sealed, in which case no wood contact would occur.

Anyway, you should be able to tell from the water when you empty it.

Yes I knew that before I bought it and all literature that came with it refer to it's use as for aging

I have rinsed with boiling water all ready and believe it or not there was a colour on the water even from that short contact

[IainB]

Probably ok then. Good luck with the project. I've put my first contingent of "malt" into a barrell that previously had rum. I'll update you in about a year's time. And as I said it's certainly had a positive effect on some bargain basement bourbon I put into a larger barrel.

[LeoDLion]

Right now the only complain I have is evaporation. It seems that for this small 1-liter barrel, the angel wants more share than the usual 3%. After 7 months, I can feel that the contents has decrease by more than 50%. I will weigh sometime to make sure.

How can one prevent that much evaporation? I recall one forum member put a rum on this same size barrel and after some time, the contents disappear! Maybe the wood in the barrel are not packed tight. I did not notice any leakage at all so it must be evaporation.

How about if you wrap it in plastic? I dont particularly like how it will look but maybe that will help decrease evaporation? Any suggestions?

[IainB]

The disappearing rum was me! Certainly the 1L barrels I have seem to lose liquid at a faster pace than the 5l barrels. I'd suggest just keeping an eye on the thing every 2 weeks or so.

[LeoDLion]

I slightly shake both my 1-liter barrel with 7-month whisky inside and I can feel it sloshing around. It definitely lost a lot, how much I dont know. I need to weigh the thing but I figure its more than 50%.

I turn the barrel a quarter turn every week as recommended. Maybe the evaporation is due to that part of the barrel that is not wetted by the whisky which makes the oak wood dry and subject to leakage. But how do they prevent such evaporation from the big barrels?

I am ordering three 2-liter barrels from a supplier here in Texas to increase my inventory. I will experiment with different brands of cheap single malts. I am buying the barrel from a place called Mardel Souza Barrels. They come slightly charred and its a bit cheaper than 1000 Barrels.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

It seems to be something of a problem in general ... the smaller the barrell the greater the evpouration.... even the distillery blood tubs have the same problem

I presume you gave it a good soak when you got it first.

Do you keep it in a cool area ... I don't think it is re4comended to keep it in a house with central heating.

[LeoDLion]

We do have central heat but we do not have basement here in Texas so the barrel is kept in the bar adjacent to the kitchen.

[Newbie]

How much did that cost C57? Why would they sell a barrel with some 37 year old Port Ellen?

Would be abit of a waste to experiment on a Port Ellen!

[IainB]

While it's true that the higher temerature will increase evaporation, I believe it also speeds up maturation, hence Bourbon tends to mature quicker than Scotch in their respective locations. I've also read that variations in temperatre, which cause the liquid to expand and contract, can also help by causing the liquid to leech in and out of the wood. I've put mine in the attic - cold in winter, warm in summar.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I'm waiting for mine from the German (comes with 34 yo Port Ellen!)

I was thinking of taking out the bottom shelf of my red wine cooler (ok I lose the ability to store 4 open bottles of red ) and putting it in there for the constant 18 deg temperature?

I presume I got mine from the same guy ... along with a 29yo Bunnahabhain and quite tasty. As you say very good value if you ask me .... the first taste of the bunny was a bit weird not but once I let it breath it was great. I put this down to the rubber stopper he uses to ship the whisky with but he also provides a plain cork stopper for sealing once it is opened.

No way am I going to put that in my mini cask though ....

Probably just a sales gimmick but well worth it. I suppose if you were going to drink it fairly

Cask filled with water 48hrs at this stage so will wait another 24.

In relation to storage conditions.... here is my take on it. I would reckon a shed is the best place as it is relatively cool but as Iain says you do need fluctuations in your temp to help in the aging process, I personally think that the attic(or loft) would be too hot in summer, unless you had some insulation against it. Thick cardboard box might do the trick . I think in Kentucky and places like that they have very high evaporation rates due to the hot summers (especially on the higher floors of their maturing sheds) and after 10years can lose over 50% of contents. In a very small cask that is too much to lose and it would probably happen in one summer ....

Remember in a warehouse or dunnage even though they talk about temp variations these are still very cool places in summer and we are talking about a change of a few degrees from winter to summer not 20.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Thanks for those thoughts Adrian.
I think my shed suffers rather high temperatures sometimes but the consensus seems to be that is a good thing, so I shall go along with it.

Mine still hasn't arrived yet

Mine took over 3 weeks

[LeoDLion]

So far, here are the various young whiskies and flavoring forum members used in their own small oak barrel:

Whisky use:
Balvinie 10, Speyburn 8, Bowmore Legacy
Barely legal bargain basement bourbon
McClellan
Cooley Irish whiskey


Flavor:
Amontillado Sherry (Palomino & Pedro Ximenez)
Sherry
Young whiskies from Lidl or Aldi

I have three 2-liter barrels on the way and I am now thinking which whisky and which flavoring I would do. There are a couple of young (cheap) sm I can buy like Glen Parker, Lismore, McClelland Highland, McClelland Lowland, Speyburn all comes in 1.75 liter bottle. I wonder if you can age gin?

For flavoring, I may use sherry but I have a bottle of Southern Comfort which is a sweet brandy that I like to use.

Down the line, I am now thinking of getting some 5-liter and even 10-liter barrels to age some of the successful concoction from the 1-liter bottle. I am also toying with the idea of bottling some of the aged sm, getting some label printed, a bottle sealer...Its going to be a fun project.

[IainB]

So far, here are the various young whiskies and flavoring forum members used in their own small oak barrel:

Whisky use:
Balvinie 10, Speyburn 8, Bowmore Legacy
Barely legal bargain basement bourbon
McClellan
Cooley Irish whiskey
.

One other - a not quite legal shed made spirit.

[Newbie]

While your at it Leo, you may as well grow your own malt and distill your own spirit

I am kidding Leo, good luck with your projects let us know how it turns out.

Hmm an interesting experiment would be to 'do a George T Stagg'. The whisky after maturation comes out of the cask with a higher ABV then when it was filled! The heat of Kentucky drives out the water faster than the alcohol. But it sounds like heat would just evapourate everything in these small cask though.

[IainB]

After all the topic is called "making your own whiskey" not "ageing your own whiskey".

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Dooohhh I can't believe I posted in the wrong topic

Anyway here again

Okay back to subject.....

.... I have now cured the cask with clear water and have casked some sherry to create my sherry cask....


here are a few pics

With Flash



Without Flash




So the interesting bit from left to right

1. Water 2. Coloured Water from 3 days in cask 3. Sherry 4. Cooley 5yo Bourbon Cask Whiskey (for further maturing)




Filling Cask with Sherry

[Deactivated Member]

I'd probably drink the coloured water by mistake.

Good stuff, thanks for the pics. Looking forward to more.

[IainB]

IWC - I'd noticed that but didn't like to say.

[LeoDLion]

I am thinking something like this: A 12 yr 750 ml Macallan cost about $42 a bottle. I put 1 liter in a 1-liter oak barrel and let it age for 12 months. Assuming we now have a 21-year old Macallan. How much money did we save if instead we bought a 21 yr Macallan? How much value did we add to the original? Assuming I need two 1-liter barrel to make 1 750 ml due to evaporation which is on the conservative side.

So I crank out the numbers and here is what I came up with:

Initial cost 2 liter 12 yr Macallan $112, 1L barrel cost $30 for a total of $142

A 750 ml 21yr Macallan cost $194 at the store.

You save $52! but waited 1 year.

And the more you make, the more you will save!!!

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Interesting take on it LDL and well worth consideration

[IainB]

So am I in the right place for Irish whiskey rants????

[irishwhiskeychaser]

So am I in the right place for Irish whiskey rants????

Now who's dossing

[IainB]

Hey, as soon as I stop farting about on these forums I'm off on holidays. I'll be up in Galway in a couple of weeks - must check and see if Neachtains really had the whiskey selection I remember!

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Hey, as soon as I stop farting about on these forums I'm off on holidays. I'll be up in Galway in a couple of weeks - must check and see if Neachtains really had the whiskey selection I remember!

If your in a position to meet up let us know and we'll share a few yarns over more than a few black & golden ones

[IainB]

Hey, as soon as I stop farting about on these forums I'm off on holidays. I'll be up in Galway in a couple of weeks - must check and see if Neachtains really had the whiskey selection I remember!

If your in a position to meet up let us know and we'll share a few yarns over more than a few black & golden ones

Love to. I'm at a conference - need to keep up continuing education - but tend to escape early when I can as, lets face it, accountancy's not that exciting!

[Maakun]

But it sounds like heat would just evapourate everything in these small cask though.

Wouldn't the alcohol go first?

[irishwhiskeychaser]

But it sounds like heat would just evapourate everything in these small cask though.

Wouldn't the alcohol go first?

That's what I thought when I read that....

I think because that these barrels are so small it would all just evaporate together at a fairly constant rate, eventually leaving you with nothing. Which is what seems to have happened to Iain and his Rum in a very short period

When I put my sherry in Yesterday after only a couple of hours the sherry was seeping through the wood in the rim of the barrel. You could clearly seed beads of it exuding from the wood and now appear as slight stains. Luckily after I dried it off it does not seem to have continued and all is fine today so far

See here......

..... areas to look at are 10 O'Clock between 1 & 2 O'Clock and between 3 & 5 O'Clock.

[Newbie]

But it sounds like heat would just evapourate everything in these small cask though.

Wouldn't the alcohol go first?

You would think so, but from other people's reports it seems to evapourate much more than just the alcohol.

[mikeymad]

There are no hard and fast rules about the evaporation. Both the Water and Alcohol evaporate, and they do so at different rates based on many factors (temp, ABV%, dryness of the wood, temp variations, cask seal, etc...)

When I get around to trying this out (which I will). I think that I would for the first time I would dump in the beverage, and then after a couple of weeks top it off like a wine barrel. I know that is not allowed in the whisky industry. But it is mine...

Cheers,

[OKDiver1]

When I get around to trying this out (which I will). I think that I would for the first time I would dump in the beverage, and then after a couple of weeks top it off like a wine barrel. I know that is not allowed in the whisky industry. But it is mine...
Cheers,

In this situation, it would make sense to me. Kind of a simplified solera method, especially if you use the same scotch you started the cask with. "Recasking" in your home would technically no longer make it a single malt anyway, would it? The purpose of this is fun and experimentation, not authenticity, at least for me. I know I will do the same when my cask gets here.
OKDiver1

[Deactivated Member]

Mine just arrived!!!

Time to pick up a cheap bottle of sherry and a Glen Moray or something cheap from the supermarket...

[woodhill]

Mark,

We will want to see pictures or perhaps a video of each stage in this experiment.



Maybe distill your own.

[LeoDLion]

Yesterday, I combined the contents of both 1-liter barrel into one. The combined barrel is almost filled but did not overflow so I can say that I lost 50% of the contents in 7 months period.

I am going to start another batch on the now empty 1-liter barrel. And I will topped it off whenever there is evaporation to maintain the barrel to full level. I will then keep count of how much additional liquid I put in. I want to find out if keeping the level full will lessen the rate of evaporation.