MAKING YOUR OWN WHISKEY FROM 1000 OAKS BARREL CO.

[Deactivated Member]

I topped mine up with some more Glen Grant 5yo at the weekend as I think the port might have overpowered the whisky. They're mixing together much better than at the start now, though.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

Had a drop of poitín in the cask for 3 months now. My original whiskey project (Coolbeg) had to be bottled at 2 months due to too much cask influence however the higher abv of the poitín is obviously handling the cask much better.

It went in as a clear harsh vodka-ish taste spirit. Now it is golden straw and has taken on a fairly decent flvour and fairly smooth. It seems to me a better spirit than coolbeg project. I reckon I can leave it longer in the cask too but evpouration it taking it's toll. About 20-30% at the moment.

[LagaDrinker]

I am now embarking on this project as I got a two litre barrel for Christmas.

I have filled the barrel with boiling water (on Christmas day), tomorrow I will take the water out and I am putting in a blend or Old Oloroso sherry and Pedro Ximenez sherry. I am planning to leave that it for three months to season the Cask. Does that sound about right or would anyone suggest shortening or lengthening that time frame?

[LeoDLion]

I am now embarking on this project as I got a two litre barrel for Christmas.

I have filled the barrel with boiling water (on Christmas day), tomorrow I will take the water out and I am putting in a blend or Old Oloroso sherry and Pedro Ximenez sherry. I am planning to leave that it for three months to season the Cask. Does that sound about right or would anyone suggest shortening or lengthening that time frame?

Three months is just about right which is what I did with a 5-liter oak barrel.

[mikeymad]

Glad to see that the projects are continuing... and thanks for keeping us updated....

The more you guys keep posting the more I get interested in giving it a try with a couple of barrels.

Cheers,

[LeoDLion]

I got eight 5-liter barrels and two 1-liter ones. Four of the 5-liter barrels are leaking. They've been behaving very well throughout summer. Now when the temperature went down I noticed a distinct whisky smell. They were covered with plastic garbage bags. Three of the bags have leak liquid which became black because of corrosion from the barrel metal straps. I removed all of the plastic bags. I believe I will stop wrapping them with it only because I can not see if they start to leak again.

Perhaps the cold temperature made the wood shrink so they leak?

[UUNetBill]

Maybe since it's winter, your furnace is on more, drawing humidity out of the air? It might be worth your while to go to the local cigar shop and buy a hygrometer to keep an eye on the RH in your house. . .just a thought.

[LagaDrinker]

I removed the water yesterday and filled the sherry. The water had really picked up an amazing amount of wood colour and flavour in four days. I will try to post pics later.

[LeoDLion]

Maybe since it's winter, your furnace is on more, drawing humidity out of the air? It might be worth your while to go to the local cigar shop and buy a hygrometer to keep an eye on the RH in your house. . .just a thought.

The air is definitely dryer now because I can feel my skin itches. I reinstall a humidifier down under the bar shelf where I put the barrels.

Last night another one was leaking. I examined the barrels. Some of the staves have developed cracks and some are even bulging. I dont know if this is pressure inside or the staves getting drier and bending. I hope the humidifier does its job.

Perhaps its the type of oak used I am not sure. So far this morning the leaking stopped.

[LagaDrinker]

I had a small amount of leakage when I first put the sherry in. It has now stiopped and all is well so far.

[LagaDrinker]

1 Week in not muck leakage from the barrel at all. I have rotated the barrel a 1/4 turn.

I am going to leave the sherry in for two months.

[LeoDLion]

I bottled one of the leaking oak barrels. It had McCormack blended whisky in it for 8 months. The barrel is flavored with bourbon. I got four 750-ml bottles out of it.

The whisky turned into almost a dark reddish hue. This is the darkest so far. Very strong oaky taste. I think bourbon lovers will like this one. The problem is I dont know what the virgin McCormack taste like. And I like it. There is that smoothness akin to Speyside whiskies. I can taste the wood too.

I will retire the barrel. Perhaps dismantle it and see what is inside. I can also use the staves for spare parts in case I combine two barrels to make one.

[LeoDLion]

Another thing that came to mind about this leaking problem. The barrel must be wet all the time. In other words, when the liquid level goes down due to evaporation, the barrel must be filled up again with fresh whisky to maintain the barrel at full condition. Otherwise that part that is not wet will dry up and possibly leak.

[LagaDrinker]

If you rotated it more regularly then maybe it would stay wet even with evaporation?

I topped mine up with a tiny bit more sherry today.

[LeoDLion]

If you rotated it more regularly then maybe it would stay wet even with evaporation?

I topped mine up with a tiny bit more sherry today.

Probably because the surface that is not wet only stays that why until its rotated.

[LeoDLion]

On the subject of evaporation I am now wondering why the regular production cask reports an evaporation around 3% but the smaller casks is showing much more? I am seeing evaporation around 5-12% on the 5-liter cask.

My first reaction is that the staves on the production cask are thicker than the smaller ones. I have two 1-liter oak barrel which showed much higher liquid loss than the 5-liter ones. The thicker the wood the more distance the liquid needs to permeat out of the barrel. And perhaps the pressure exerted between the staves is stronger making a better seal.

Next time I have to acquire a 10-liter oak barrel.

[LagaDrinker]

Why not just go the whole hog and get a 'production cask'

[LeoDLion]

Why not just go the whole hog and get a 'production cask'

Hey Laga thats a thought for sure! What whisky do you think I should put in there? I need something very young, perhaps harsh but with great potential when matured. I am not a bourbon fan so thats is out. McCleland Islay comes to mind. I have a 5-liter barrel filled with that. If I live in Scotland...

[UncleDaddy]

Don't know if this has been mentioned, but gibbs brothers is the bees knees for whiskey barrels. They make them in all sizes 1 gallon up. Tight white oak, sap clear and either toasted or charred with a good alligator char.

http://www.gibbsbrothers.com/order_new/index.php

Soak 'em in water for 1 or 2 days (inside and out) till they swole up and get tight. Then put yer likker in it. If you get the charred one, when it's new/dry, put some marbles or ball bearings or such in it and shake it around good to knock off all the loose stuff and shake it out the hole before you waterin' it. Otherwise, first time or 2 you are gonna get lots of char dust/pieces.

Smaller barrel ages faster than bigger ones and and it's easy to overoak stuff if you aren't careful. That's easy nuff to fix if you got some whitedog to pour into it. For vanilla/honey/caramel notes, best proof on the wood is somewhere between 120 and 125 proof. Iffin' you are puttin it on the wood at drinkin' proof (relatively speaking...80-100 proof), you are gonna get different notes out of the wood.

Angels gonna get their share. Ain't no way around it. I wouldn't be puttin no plastic wrap, etc., around a barrel. Barrels got to breathe to pull the likker in and out of the wood. Movin' them around speeds things up too. I heard of an ole boy rigged up some kind of contraption off a tree limb using tackle and rope so that everytime the wind blowed....it rocked his barrel back and forth like a baby cradle.

Watch out for them barrels that ain't sap clear....or have paraffin wax, glue or other such things in them. Those aren't likker barrels.

[LagaDrinker]

Thank you for the advice. Also an interesting use of the English language

[LeoDLion]

Hey Uncle Daddy thanks for the input. What in tarnation is "whitedog"? Is that like moonshine or sumptine?

[LagaDrinker]

Since I tightened my spigot I can report that I have had no leakage at all for the last 6 days

[UncleDaddy]

Whitedog is how all likker come out first. Raw spirit. It don't take no color till you put it on wood. Don't matter what color somethin' is goin' in the still....it comes out the other end clear if you done it right.

I just mean if you overdo the oakin', pour some of what you started with back in to take some of the oakin' out.

[LeoDLion]

The little guys wanted a group picture, so ....

[UUNetBill]

Awww - what a bunch of cuties. I can see the family resemblance!

[LeoDLion]

Awww - what a bunch of cuties. I can see the family resemblance!

Lol, thats funny Bill.

[LagaDrinker]

Rotated my barrel another 1/4 turn yesterday and topped up with more sherry. Only about a 2ml loss in 2 weeks. I'm pleased with that. Its in my kitchen at the moment. I think I wlll keep it in the garage when I fill with whisky as it will be getting warmer then and I don't want to give the angels too much!

[LeoDLion]

I have the suspicion for a while that the alcohol level of my whisky that is maturing from 5-liter oak barrels have gone down. I bought a hydrometer and measured it. I got 50 proof which is 25% abv. The original whisky was at 80 proof or 40% abv. I lost 15% of the alcohol in 5 months!

Perhaps the hot weather is contributing to it. The oak barrels are inside the house underneath the bar. I have about 8 5-liter barrel still maturing. I do not like the abv to go down that much. But what to do? I am thinking of putting a couple in the frige. I have an extra frige so the wife won't mind.