I do actually almost the same process by using a sous vide stick. Putting some bottles with oak chips in a water container and keeping the temp at 60°C with my sous vide stick for about 3 hours. I loosen the caps of the bottles just a little bit to avoid pressure building up in the bottles. But I’m not sure if that’s even necessary. Thank you so much for your work and your channel George, you are a giant !
Nice George .You can do it different though. Use the au-bain-marie method.Get yourselfe a big cooking pot wich can hold 3 or 4 bottles,put something on the bottom so the bottle are not touching the direct heat from the pot.Fill it with water and put you bottles in with a lose cap(very important!!!).Put it on a heating device with some kind of temperature controller. Usually I do this 24 hours straight on exactly 50 degrees celsius.The harshness is less and I repeat this method 3 times during 3 months of riping.Tip ad 1 shotglass of white port to every liter,this gives it a full note of texture. Leaving the bottle caps lose will improve the taste and the bad " fumes" can escape giving you a smoother drink.Note: the temperature may NEVER exceed the 50 degrees celcius!!!! After cooling the bottles down to roomtemperature I freeze them for 24 hours {lose caps} .And I wait 4 weeks repeating the same process....Thanks George for all the effort and expertise you give us ....
Consider putting the jar with chips and liquor inside in the microwave for a few minutes, maybe up to 140-160F. What happens is the warmth expedites the flavoring process but also what happens is the 2.4Ghz is the resonant frequency of H2O molecules. This causes the water inside the wood chips/sticks to steam. This vapor will steam out (you can see the bubbles on the wood if you look) into the liquor and greatly enhances the taste and thereby expediting the "aging" process. Your heating process is good, but it's WAY better to heat in a microwave to get the doubled affect described above. Potatoes actually steam in the microwave this way instead of cooking in the traditional sense. George, thank you! I envy your work shop and truly appreciate you don't drink, beyond tastings, during your videos as well as not swearing like too many of the brewers and distillers do. Keep up the good work sir.
George: There's a distillery / bar in Seattle where they roll / rock the oak barrels on display at the main entrance and it ages the product 10 years in 3 months.... I shared this with my stilling mates back here in Oz and they shared that in the 17/1800's, when the British were sailing to the colonies the rum / spirits sitting in barrels would be far better tasing by the time it got to the location because of the rocking of the boat back and forth.... It aged many years in a matter of months while on the move! Quick ageing....
Temperature and cask volume played a big part as well. Casks were smaller meaning more spirit in contact with wood, as well the temperatures during ship travel went much higher in the store rooms, meaning faster "maturation".
George, I love your videos. To quick age my spirits I put whatever wood I want to use along with spirits in a 2 quart glass jar and run it in my ultrasonic unit for 5 to 7 hours. From there I put it in my mirror lined box with UVC light, shaking the jar every 12 hours for 2 weeks. Turns out fantastic.
Hey George I Have A Question I have Come up on a barrel that was shipped from Kentucky for making whiskey but after It Was used for aging Beer or something or something Like That is it Still usable after that for making a Quality whiskey like my Question Is like does the Beer room The Barrel or is it Still good for making a good to Scotch Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon
I've done the chips sticks and tricks and IMHO none of it compared to time well spent in an oak barrel . I don't know who ever came up with that idea but it's a magical moment walking into a room filled with full barrels.
Thanks George for proving my theory of oaking with heat. I think the slight loss of distillate you had was soaked up by the oak left in the vessel. Who knew you could do it in your still! Another great video from the Happy Distilling Guru.
I was watching a video the other day from a commercial distillery that developed a process for fast aging that's taking off in the industry. They started by tested the recipe/process they found works best is using 8 grams of heavy toasted oak chips to 360ml and used mild heat (43.5°C) with 1.3 Bar of pressure in a converted espresso machine where they reduced the heating coil efficiency to achieve the 110°F temperature (mostly for safety and to reduce loss from evap.) and forcing the distillate through the finely pulverized oak chips. I'd be really interested to see what you think of this idea. Personally I plan to try this using a manual non-electric espresso maker and a coffee grinder to finely chop up the chips and see what I get.
@@shanonallen5395 it did fast age it, produced some great color instantly but the was a little stronger and harsher than I cared for, the slow oaked same batch I split was more to my taste in the end but if you're just looking for commercial grade results (not what was promised in the presentation) it works well enough.
Thanks for the video, I am not a fan of the chips but I do use them. I typically place them in a jar and a bath of water from a croc pot and let sit over night then in the freezer and repeat for 6 days. works but not my favorite method. best flavors i have gotten are from 5gal oak barrels and time. (duh) but i do appreciate the quicker method for extracting flavors. and as you and others probably are aware extracting oak flavors and aging are two different things. The smoothness comes from the time and the flavor comes from the oak. I like to think of it as infusing using oak.
Love your videos. My two cents here is I take a aluminum pan like you'd use for a turkey in the oven and place my jars with chips or wood and set it in the sun for a few hours then put them in the frig for a few hours until I get what I like. Works for me and Thanks for all the good information.
George, just finished a corn mash run using a 23 l pot still, with a 8oz gin basket full of toasted oak on the arm. Got similar results and smoothness that you mentioned. I'd say that this would shave a month off of my usual aging process.
I go from freezer to sunny window seal for a week when aging. That seems to speed up the process. I wonder if you kept the temp like 160 in a open pot if it would still do the same or put some jars with whiskey and oak in a canner lots of ways to test out. Thanks for the video George awesome info as always
Great vid as always, You have just illustrated why Balcones Distillery (just down the road from you) is able to age their spirits in a relatively short timespan. Gotta love that Texas weather!
Thank You! Your video inspired me. I have been playing with an ultrasonic cleaner and cognac barrel chips to see if I can smooth out my inexpensive scotch (Clan McGregor, $25 for 1.75 L) I had my Mason jar in the ultrasonic cleaner at room temperature and was not sure it made a difference compared to just soaking the scotch in the cognac chips for an equivalent amount of time. I had not turned on the heater on the ultrasonic cleaner. There is one question that comes to mind: (I am at 1,400 foot altitude, so the boiling point of ethanol will be around 77 C) Why not set my temperature to 72 C and seal the lid on my mason jar once it gets up near the desired heat instead of using the water column to catch the vapors? I don't think the pressure would be enough to burst the Mason jar. (I'm using the inexpensive $49 digital ultrasonic by Vevor that I got on Amazon.) Thanks again for your video.
Very interesting, I have some that have been aging in oak chips since this past June so I'm curious to see how smooth it is. Thanks for the video and experiment.
i tested this way 15 different times, just to make sure i did it correctly .... woke up 2 days later, and checked my notes, as far as i could read them, after the first test, i came to the same conclusion as you, but the more often you test, the closer the tastes get. After 15 times, all taste the same 🤪
I can't tell you how much I have learned from George and how many videos of his I've watch. Hours and Hours worth. I hope your doing well George, thanks for all the knowledge you have given me and we hope someday you come back to UA-cam.
Thank you George, keep experimenting! We need a comparison of all the different rapid aging options. Do some field trips to distilleries that are pushing the limits. P.S. I think the water feeds of the condenser should be reversed as the vapor flow is reversed compared to normal still?
I use a 275 gal tote full of water (cost $40 used) then recycle the water back into the tote. works great and you don't waste water. No ice needed. be sure to wrap your tote with moving blankets to keep them from getting hot from sun etc. a cool shaded corner of the house works good to keep the water cool. You can also use a harbor freight 5 gal pressure tank pump (120v us) to pump the water but also be sure to use an RV pressure regulator ($5) to keep the pressure down below or youll blow your lines. :) there is also the glycol chillers for beer/wine if you want to spend $500 they work good as well but chill water first with chiller then pump water to condenser... hope this helps.
If alcohol is the solvent why not go see what a higher ABV will do. For safety you don't want to distill high abv. So the question is if you stick with a high abv you pulled off the still put the woodchips in and used a sous vid to heat then cool. Will you pull more of the wood flavors out. The next thin is oxidation as that will really mellow out the flavors. Beard and Board used and ozone bubbler but just an aquarium bubbler can introduce enough oxygen to speed up the oxidation process. I suspect there is a process or recipe to do the force aging that will get you very close to something that has had alot of barrel time. It wont be exactly the same but it might be close enough or just different in a good way to be something really good.
You basically got the fast colouring with that heating process. Now, get some hydrogen peroxide in the mix to get the oxidation part of the equation. You will be surprised with the results. The danger with heating the wood is that you can free the otherwise non active residual tannines (the ones left behind after the preparation of the oak chips), and they can give that "plank of wood" taste in the drink.
I know I’m a little behind but I just watched the video there’s no surprise that heating it up works this is my assumption to begin with and I’ve already done this but I did mine just like if I was making a tincture I did not realize I could do it in my lab glass I already have a heating mantle 1000ml boiling flask and the align condenser The first one that he used is called a graham condenser In case anyone is interested in knowing the proper names You can acquire everything that he used if you buy an essential oil distillation apparatus minus the heating metal you’ll have to buy that separate, If you want to do it the easy way like I did my first one all you need is a double boiler and a mason jar Just simply get the double heart stick your mason jar with your liquor and out chips in the water in the double boiler and let it run for a few hours or so keep the temperature low as to not break the glass and you will get the same results I really enjoyed the video can’t wait to try doing this his way next time for someone with like me with the equipment already it seems to be a better way to do it won’t know for sure until I try
With short aging you’re basically making oak tea (or gin if you prefer), rather than truly aging. For more of an aging affect it would be better to replicate a second-fill cask and slow down the oak infusing by presoaking the oak in whisky or sherry for a prolonged time and then use those chips again in your clear spirit over a longer time frame. I’m still experimenting, but I think ideally you want oak that can take 6-12 months of contact without imparting too much unwanted oakiness (heat, dryness).
George, if I’m not mistaken, this may be your first, or one of the very few “tasting” videos you have done. Great job! A bit more description of what you’re tasting would be great. Just a thought. Thanks!
@George. Cool video. Try putting it in the freezer as well and repeat the freeze / heat a few times. The oak will absorb / expel flavour and colour each time.
Hey George, just curious... what if I heated up water and wood chips in a large quantity for a longer period of time. Then I could add some high proof stripped alcohol above 180 proof to cut it down to 40% and. Would it not do virtually the same thing. Then you wouldn't even need a reflux still or Chem set, because you wouldn't be worried about losing volume of alcohol. Great video, thnx.
Do you have a video or have you commented at all about oxidation of spirits over time? Been watching some whiskey reviewers and sometimes they mention that. I do notice a spirit left out over night is often cloudy the next day and not at all like it was when poured.
hi I like very match your videos George ! i wand to ask you if you can try aging spirit with light ? some UV light out of the glass jar to speed the photocatalytic oxidation processes like the sun to the wood surface thanks in advance Chris
When you think about all the consumption that takes place, I wonder if every bottle of whiskey sold in stores is truly aged, or if the barrels are for show (while still filled) and the bulk of spirits consumed are rapid-aged as you demonstrate. Great lesson on aging without barrels:-)
Love the videos, I am guessing you are a chemistry professor? I age my in a similar fashion by using a crock pot on medium for 12 hours, then cool to room temp and then into the freezer for 12 hours. I will repeat this cycle for 5 days. By doing this, I am going through winter, spring, summer and fall in 5 days
Can you use a T500 Turbo with the water blasting full flow to keep it from condensing out the business end but also keeping the temp below say 60~65C to get the heat effect desired and not lose any volume?
Great idea and process! I wonder if the rapid aged distillate would be closer to the Saddleman's Cut if you added the same amount of Glycerine to it that you do the SC whiskey? It would certainly make it a little smoother. #HappyDistilling
Hey George what if you took some wood chips soaked them in hot jar of shine to get all you can out of the wood in a concentrate then add it to the shine ? To see what happens!!
Hello. How would one go about getting home distillation laws changed in a State that it is illegal in? I see there are currently 29 States that it is legal in. It is just a Liberty thing.
I recently started reading the laws on distilling, and it’s illegal in my state... and from the info I’m finding it’s against federal law to distill spirits without a permit, even for personal use. The good Ol’ U S of A, Land of the Free... As long as we do as we’re told.
Gotta love the facial expressions as the shots are downed - Personal experience - distilled a heap of old wine into Brandy let it sit in Dark toasted oak chips for five years - smooth as, full of caramel / toffee smells and flavours. The second experiment has been soaking raw oak chips in Muscatel Wine for four weeks, draining liquid then refilling with a basic bottle of Scotch the plan is to leave it soak for 12 months against the garage wall where the afternoon summer heat is most felt, then the winter months doing the opposite effect - results will be available January 2022.
HI Sir, I did a raisin brandy and I was scared of loosing flavor and just cut it back to 46%. It's now 2 weeks in on my 3 month wood "soaking". I test it once a week, but the alcohol taste is till high. I do not know if this is the correct way to say it, but the brandy taste much stronger than what it is. Will the "alcohol" taste subside with time? If not, what should i do to prevent it or what can i do to soften it? Enjoy your video immensely. Keep save. Regards, from South Africa Jaco
Would have liked to see what happens if you put 172 for 20 minutes with the wood chips in then after that put it in a ice bath for 40 minutes and and do the process five times to see what the profile would be love your videos appreciate you taking the time out of the day to make these videos and explaining the process greatly appreciated
the wood will soak up some, and residue inside the flask will account for your loss so in reality you prob didn't lose any to evaporation or at least it was a very very small amount
Hello sir, I'm wondering.... Does the aging continue for the one you "force aged" via heating? IOW, when you put it on the shelf without the presence of oak chips does it still lose the harshness? Aka mellow I suppose?
It will a bit. Just aging it will allow it to oxidize, just sitting on the shelf that is a slow process but a tiny amount of oxidation will mellow out a lot of flavor. If you wanted to speed up that process you could bubble just a little bit of air through the spirit, something like an aquarium bubbler would work. If you want to strip everything asap an ozone bubbler will do that even faster.
Hey George, just an idea I was thinking about, have you ever considered adding small amount essential oils or extracts to the wood? I'm not sure what but maybe some flavour profile you like in a wiskey.
1 of the very few times we've seen George consume his own product on camera! I see someone already mentioned ultrasonic jewelry cleaners as a rapid aging shortcut. I think that Cleveland Whiskey uses a similar technique. Too bad it's difficult to find outside of Ohio!
George hi man been with you for years ..i have some youtuber's for you to look at ..good things !!the list will be add in over time ..thank you for all your videos !!
What would be the result or can I do . Put some oak chips in my mason jar thumper infuser , colour may not transfer over ,but would the taste profile ressemble as it would when you put the oak chips directly in the moonshine ?? Thank you George for your helpful videos .
Ok ,when you started talking about heat to release the taste in the oak chips ,got me thinking of my thumper infuser ,which I use sometimes to infuse taste. I think ill give it a try in my next corn whisky run ,in two weeks . I’ll let you know how it goes .
I am the 6th generation on making corn whiskey, just add some 3 or 4 day old horse manure. Blue grass is best, so my ancestors say so. Only add the inside to your mash, meaning get rid of the dry outer part. Makes the liquor taste smother and gives it a higher alcohol content. This is how I was told and showed how to make it from my dad. Many more steps on making great corn whiskey why I love this channel. I did take second place in the state fair on corn whiskey, I was only in the 5th grade thou. I hope George lives a longtime, he reminds me of my dad. And I'm getting old myself.
My friend and I have been using a souve to heat the distillate it to 140 Fahrenheit with toasted wood chip in it and than put it in freezer to chill it down. We repeat again and again to rapid age the spirit.
Would it work the same if I just put it in tight mason jar and dump it in sous vide bath at 60C than just flash chilled? In theory i think it will,any thoughts?
George, can you please share with us what brand or store you buy your oak chips in? I tried several eBay variants - it all tasted like old wooden chair...
Hello George I this just a note 40 min is at all is nothing at least 2.5 or 3 hours then the product is much better I am a Chemist and have been working in the laboratory for years in Amsterdam
George, the patron saint of moonshiners and home distillers🙏🏽
I do actually almost the same process by using a sous vide stick. Putting some bottles with oak chips in a water container and keeping the temp at 60°C with my sous vide stick for about 3 hours. I loosen the caps of the bottles just a little bit to avoid pressure building up in the bottles. But I’m not sure if that’s even necessary.
Thank you so much for your work and your channel George, you are a giant !
I do 45 minute cycles SV (sealed pint or qt jars) and cold water (ice baths). 4-5 cycles works very well.
Great idea! Let's do it!
Nice George .You can do it different though. Use the au-bain-marie method.Get yourselfe a big cooking pot wich can hold 3 or 4 bottles,put something on the bottom so the bottle are not touching the direct heat from the pot.Fill it with water and put you bottles in with a lose cap(very important!!!).Put it on a heating device with some kind of temperature controller. Usually I do this 24 hours straight on exactly 50 degrees celsius.The harshness is less and I repeat this method 3 times during 3 months of riping.Tip ad 1 shotglass of white port to every liter,this gives it a full note of texture. Leaving the bottle caps lose will improve the taste and the bad " fumes" can escape giving you a smoother drink.Note: the temperature may NEVER exceed the 50 degrees celcius!!!! After cooling the bottles down to roomtemperature I freeze them for 24 hours {lose caps} .And I wait 4 weeks repeating the same process....Thanks George for all the effort and expertise you give us ....
Consider putting the jar with chips and liquor inside in the microwave for a few minutes, maybe up to 140-160F. What happens is the warmth expedites the flavoring process but also what happens is the 2.4Ghz is the resonant frequency of H2O molecules. This causes the water inside the wood chips/sticks to steam. This vapor will steam out (you can see the bubbles on the wood if you look) into the liquor and greatly enhances the taste and thereby expediting the "aging" process. Your heating process is good, but it's WAY better to heat in a microwave to get the doubled affect described above. Potatoes actually steam in the microwave this way instead of cooking in the traditional sense. George, thank you! I envy your work shop and truly appreciate you don't drink, beyond tastings, during your videos as well as not swearing like too many of the brewers and distillers do. Keep up the good work sir.
George your the greatest you’re knowledge and dedication to the craft is greatly appreciated . Thank you Sir
You are a blessing, doing the hard work for us!
Thanks for hammering back those shots In the name of science for us George! If you ever need help.....
Great experiment George.
Thanks for always sharing with the community.
Thank you very much for all you do, Mr.
George: There's a distillery / bar in Seattle where they roll / rock the oak barrels on display at the main entrance and it ages the product 10 years in 3 months.... I shared this with my stilling mates back here in Oz and they shared that in the 17/1800's, when the British were sailing to the colonies the rum / spirits sitting in barrels would be far better tasing by the time it got to the location because of the rocking of the boat back and forth.... It aged many years in a matter of months while on the move! Quick ageing....
Temperature and cask volume played a big part as well. Casks were smaller meaning more spirit in contact with wood, as well the temperatures during ship travel went much higher in the store rooms, meaning faster "maturation".
George, I love your videos. To quick age my spirits I put whatever wood I want to use along with spirits in a 2 quart glass jar and run it in my ultrasonic unit for 5 to 7 hours. From there I put it in my mirror lined box with UVC light, shaking the jar every 12 hours for 2 weeks. Turns out fantastic.
wow
Hey George I Have A Question I have Come up on a barrel that was shipped from Kentucky for making whiskey but after It Was used for aging Beer or something or something Like That is it Still usable after that for making a Quality whiskey like my Question Is like does the Beer room The Barrel or is it Still good for making a good to Scotch Thank you and I hope to hear from you soon
I've done the chips sticks and tricks and IMHO none of it compared to time well spent in an oak barrel . I don't know who ever came up with that idea but it's a magical moment walking into a room filled with full barrels.
Thanks George for proving my theory of oaking with heat. I think the slight loss of distillate you had was soaked up by the oak left in the vessel. Who knew you could do it in your still! Another great video from the Happy Distilling Guru.
Absolutely fantastic video very interesting indeed I’d love to know where to get that chemistry kit
Love the channel George, have learned a lot from you! Keep up the great work. Cheers from Ontario
Thank you as always for showing us the science!!
This was good George. Thanks.
Where have you been!!! Your channel got this new guy going. Your knowledge is unmatched!!! Please make more videos Sir!!!!!!
and after 3 shots and a beer in quick succession, George was seen singing as he staggered back to the house..... Seriously though thanks George.
I was watching a video the other day from a commercial distillery that developed a process for fast aging that's taking off in the industry. They started by tested the recipe/process they found works best is using 8 grams of heavy toasted oak chips to 360ml and used mild heat (43.5°C) with 1.3 Bar of pressure in a converted espresso machine where they reduced the heating coil efficiency to achieve the 110°F temperature (mostly for safety and to reduce loss from evap.) and forcing the distillate through the finely pulverized oak chips.
I'd be really interested to see what you think of this idea. Personally I plan to try this using a manual non-electric espresso maker and a coffee grinder to finely chop up the chips and see what I get.
Did it work for you?
@@shanonallen5395 it did fast age it, produced some great color instantly but the was a little stronger and harsher than I cared for, the slow oaked same batch I split was more to my taste in the end but if you're just looking for commercial grade results (not what was promised in the presentation) it works well enough.
15:53 "ahhhh...clean that palette" (rubs hands together) 😄😋😋
Great to see an expert enjoying the "fruits" of his labour 🙌🙏😊
Thanks for your help with everything.
My pleasure!
George thank you so much for exsplaining the deflagmentor. That cleared a lot up for me. Great video about aging
Great experiment, Thank you.
Great Video. I love these experiments
Thanks for the video, I am not a fan of the chips but I do use them. I typically place them in a jar and a bath of water from a croc pot and let sit over night then in the freezer and repeat for 6 days. works but not my favorite method. best flavors i have gotten are from 5gal oak barrels and time. (duh) but i do appreciate the quicker method for extracting flavors. and as you and others probably are aware extracting oak flavors and aging are two different things. The smoothness comes from the time and the flavor comes from the oak. I like to think of it as infusing using oak.
Love your videos. My two cents here is I take a aluminum pan like you'd use for a turkey in the oven and place my jars with chips or wood and set it in the sun for a few hours then put them in the frig for a few hours until I get what I like. Works for me and Thanks for all the good information.
George, just finished a corn mash run using a 23 l pot still, with a 8oz gin basket full of toasted oak on the arm. Got similar results and smoothness that you mentioned.
I'd say that this would shave a month off of my usual aging process.
I go from freezer to sunny window seal for a week when aging. That seems to speed up the process.
I wonder if you kept the temp like 160 in a open pot if it would still do the same or put some jars with whiskey and oak in a canner lots of ways to test out. Thanks for the video George awesome info as always
Great vid as always, You have just illustrated why Balcones Distillery (just down the road from you) is able to age their spirits in a relatively short timespan. Gotta love that Texas weather!
Thank you,literally finishing a run atm n you’ve given me food for thought
Thank You! Your video inspired me. I have been playing with an ultrasonic cleaner and cognac barrel chips to see if I can smooth out my inexpensive scotch (Clan McGregor, $25 for 1.75 L) I had my Mason jar in the ultrasonic cleaner at room temperature and was not sure it made a difference compared to just soaking the scotch in the cognac chips for an equivalent amount of time. I had not turned on the heater on the ultrasonic cleaner. There is one question that comes to mind: (I am at 1,400 foot altitude, so the boiling point of ethanol will be around 77 C) Why not set my temperature to 72 C and seal the lid on my mason jar once it gets up near the desired heat instead of using the water column to catch the vapors? I don't think the pressure would be enough to burst the Mason jar. (I'm using the inexpensive $49 digital ultrasonic by Vevor that I got on Amazon.) Thanks again for your video.
brilliant! exactly what I didn't know that I need to know. Will put into action tomorrow. Appreciated!
Love this channel. Keep up the good work my friend! 👍
Very interesting, I have some that have been aging in oak chips since this past June so I'm curious to see how smooth it is. Thanks for the video and experiment.
Nice work. I've got a similar method. No heat is needed above 90° F.
i tested this way 15 different times, just to make sure i did it correctly .... woke up 2 days later, and checked my notes, as far as i could read them, after the first test, i came to the same conclusion as you, but the more often you test, the closer the tastes get. After 15 times, all taste the same 🤪
Keep up the good work George .
I can't tell you how much I have learned from George and how many videos of his I've watch. Hours and Hours worth. I hope your doing well George, thanks for all the knowledge you have given me and we hope someday you come back to UA-cam.
Thank you George, keep experimenting! We need a comparison of all the different rapid aging options. Do some field trips to distilleries that are pushing the limits. P.S. I think the water feeds of the condenser should be reversed as the vapor flow is reversed compared to normal still?
You are correct. I missed that.
Would love to see some different ideas for cooling your condenser efficiently and cheaply
I use a 275 gal tote full of water (cost $40 used) then recycle the water back into the tote. works great and you don't waste water. No ice needed. be sure to wrap your tote with moving blankets to keep them from getting hot from sun etc. a cool shaded corner of the house works good to keep the water cool. You can also use a harbor freight 5 gal pressure tank pump (120v us) to pump the water but also be sure to use an RV pressure regulator ($5) to keep the pressure down below or youll blow your lines. :) there is also the glycol chillers for beer/wine if you want to spend $500 they work good as well but chill water first with chiller then pump water to condenser... hope this helps.
If alcohol is the solvent why not go see what a higher ABV will do. For safety you don't want to distill high abv. So the question is if you stick with a high abv you pulled off the still put the woodchips in and used a sous vid to heat then cool. Will you pull more of the wood flavors out. The next thin is oxidation as that will really mellow out the flavors. Beard and Board used and ozone bubbler but just an aquarium bubbler can introduce enough oxygen to speed up the oxidation process. I suspect there is a process or recipe to do the force aging that will get you very close to something that has had alot of barrel time. It wont be exactly the same but it might be close enough or just different in a good way to be something really good.
Try the freezer thaw method next as it will color like that in 2 days. Love the lessons from Barley and Hops. Inspiring
You basically got the fast colouring with that heating process. Now, get some hydrogen peroxide in the mix to get the oxidation part of the equation. You will be surprised with the results.
The danger with heating the wood is that you can free the otherwise non active residual tannines (the ones left behind after the preparation of the oak chips), and they can give that "plank of wood" taste in the drink.
Great information. Thank you
I know I’m a little behind but I just watched the video there’s no surprise that heating it up works this is my assumption to begin with and I’ve already done this but I did mine just like if I was making a tincture I did not realize I could do it in my lab glass I already have a heating mantle 1000ml boiling flask and the align condenser The first one that he used is called a graham condenser In case anyone is interested in knowing the proper names You can acquire everything that he used if you buy an essential oil distillation apparatus minus the heating metal you’ll have to buy that separate, If you want to do it the easy way like I did my first one all you need is a double boiler and a mason jar Just simply get the double heart stick your mason jar with your liquor and out chips in the water in the double boiler and let it run for a few hours or so keep the temperature low as to not break the glass and you will get the same results I really enjoyed the video can’t wait to try doing this his way next time for someone with like me with the equipment already it seems to be a better way to do it won’t know for sure until I try
With short aging you’re basically making oak tea (or gin if you prefer), rather than truly aging. For more of an aging affect it would be better to replicate a second-fill cask and slow down the oak infusing by presoaking the oak in whisky or sherry for a prolonged time and then use those chips again in your clear spirit over a longer time frame. I’m still experimenting, but I think ideally you want oak that can take 6-12 months of contact without imparting too much unwanted oakiness (heat, dryness).
What artist dose your theme song?
I love your chemistry set and it is obvious you enjoy it too!
It’s great that you sampled and provided real comparison results. Happy Distilling!
George, if I’m not mistaken, this may be your first, or one of the very few “tasting” videos you have done. Great job! A bit more description of what you’re tasting would be great. Just a thought. Thanks!
@George. Cool video. Try putting it in the freezer as well and repeat the freeze / heat a few times. The oak will absorb / expel flavour and colour each time.
Hey George, just curious... what if I heated up water and wood chips in a large quantity for a longer period of time. Then I could add some high proof stripped alcohol above 180 proof to cut it down to 40% and. Would it not do virtually the same thing. Then you wouldn't even need a reflux still or Chem set, because you wouldn't be worried about losing volume of alcohol. Great video, thnx.
My thoughts exactly.
Do you have a video or have you commented at all about oxidation of spirits over time? Been watching some whiskey reviewers and sometimes they mention that. I do notice a spirit left out over night is often cloudy the next day and not at all like it was when poured.
Thats a round bottom boiling flask. Walter White taught me this.
I'm sure George's lab students cried when he retired.
Heisnberg!
Well George, I finally did it. Ordered a 50 liters Chinese still today. Thanks to you!!
George that was absolutely brilliant,,, not bad for an old bloke
He is a spring chicken!
hi
I like very match your videos George !
i wand to ask you if you can try aging spirit with light ?
some UV light out of the glass jar to speed the photocatalytic oxidation processes like the sun to the wood surface
thanks in advance
Chris
When you think about all the consumption that takes place, I wonder if every bottle of whiskey sold in stores is truly aged, or if the barrels are for show (while still filled) and the bulk of spirits consumed are rapid-aged as you demonstrate. Great lesson on aging without barrels:-)
Love the videos, I am guessing you are a chemistry professor? I age my in a similar fashion by using a crock pot on medium for 12 hours, then cool to room temp and then into the freezer for 12 hours. I will repeat this cycle for 5 days. By doing this, I am going through winter, spring, summer and fall in 5 days
Can you use a T500 Turbo with the water blasting full flow to keep it from condensing out the business end but also keeping the temp below say 60~65C to get the heat effect desired and not lose any volume?
sous vide at 130F for 3 hours. I have not tried it yet but that seems to be the time and temp to infuse booze.
Great idea and process! I wonder if the rapid aged distillate would be closer to the Saddleman's Cut if you added the same amount of Glycerine to it that you do the SC whiskey? It would certainly make it a little smoother. #HappyDistilling
How long do you normally leave the chips in George? I know there is no set answer but as a rough idea??
This run was 30 minutes
George tasting the craft and "nuclear" aging spirits! Wow! Cheers!
Where do I source that reflux chamber? Will it work well with my milk can pot still?
Hey George what if you took some wood chips soaked them in hot jar of shine to get all you can out of the wood in a concentrate then add it to the shine ? To see what happens!!
Hi balling with George...hope it's early in the morning....🇺🇸💓
Hello. How would one go about getting home distillation laws changed in a State that it is illegal in? I see there are currently 29 States that it is legal in. It is just a Liberty thing.
I recently started reading the laws on distilling, and it’s illegal in my state... and from the info I’m finding it’s against federal law to distill spirits without a permit, even for personal use.
The good Ol’ U S of A, Land of the Free... As long as we do as we’re told.
Gotta love the facial expressions as the shots are downed - Personal experience - distilled a heap of old wine into Brandy let it sit in Dark toasted oak chips for five years - smooth as, full of caramel / toffee smells and flavours. The second experiment has been soaking raw oak chips in Muscatel Wine for four weeks, draining liquid then refilling with a basic bottle of Scotch the plan is to leave it soak for 12 months against the garage wall where the afternoon summer heat is most felt, then the winter months doing the opposite effect - results will be available January 2022.
HI Sir, I did a raisin brandy and I was scared of loosing flavor and just cut it back to 46%. It's now 2 weeks in on my 3 month wood "soaking". I test it once a week, but the alcohol taste is till high. I do not know if this is the correct way to say it, but the brandy taste much stronger than what it is. Will the "alcohol" taste subside with time? If not, what should i do to prevent it or what can i do to soften it? Enjoy your video immensely. Keep save. Regards, from South Africa Jaco
Great idea. But i heard that: wood can produce methanol during distillation. Does this method produce methanol or not?
George, could you share your chip preparation details? Are they toasted only? Thanks in advance.
Would have liked to see what happens if you put 172 for 20 minutes with the wood chips in then after that put it in a ice bath for 40 minutes and and do the process five times to see what the profile would be love your videos appreciate you taking the time out of the day to make these videos and explaining the process greatly appreciated
the wood will soak up some, and residue inside the flask will account for your loss so in reality you prob didn't lose any to evaporation or at least it was a very very small amount
Looks like he had the wood chips in the flask when measuring the loss.
Hello sir, I'm wondering.... Does the aging continue for the one you "force aged" via heating? IOW, when you put it on the shelf without the presence of oak chips does it still lose the harshness? Aka mellow I suppose?
It will a bit. Just aging it will allow it to oxidize, just sitting on the shelf that is a slow process but a tiny amount of oxidation will mellow out a lot of flavor. If you wanted to speed up that process you could bubble just a little bit of air through the spirit, something like an aquarium bubbler would work. If you want to strip everything asap an ozone bubbler will do that even faster.
If you left the chips in the distillate fora while after running the reflux would it continue to improve?
Hey George, just an idea I was thinking about, have you ever considered adding small amount essential oils or extracts to the wood? I'm not sure what but maybe some flavour profile you like in a wiskey.
George
Do you think you could improve this result by subjecting the sample to several heating and cooling cycles?
Cheers
Pete
Hey George, hello from Australia 🇦🇺
1 of the very few times we've seen George consume his own product on camera! I see someone already mentioned ultrasonic jewelry cleaners as a rapid aging shortcut. I think that Cleveland Whiskey uses a similar technique. Too bad it's difficult to find outside of Ohio!
I do not have a still. will you list what you used for this? Thanks
George hi man been with you for years ..i have some youtuber's for you to look at ..good things !!the list will be add in over time ..thank you for all your videos !!
What would be the result or can I do . Put some oak chips in my mason jar thumper infuser , colour may not transfer over ,but would the taste profile ressemble as it would when you put the oak chips directly in the moonshine ?? Thank you George for your helpful videos .
Not sure. I have not done that yet. Maybe someone else in the community has.
Ok ,when you started talking about heat to release the taste in the oak chips ,got me thinking of my thumper infuser ,which I use sometimes to infuse taste. I think ill give it a try in my next corn whisky run ,in two weeks . I’ll let you know how it goes .
Thank'e George!
I always wondered if you could distill a sprit after it aged to to make a clear aged bourbon
Are there any Beni fits to putting charcoal directly in the thumper
I am the 6th generation on making corn whiskey, just add some 3 or 4 day old horse manure. Blue grass is best, so my ancestors say so. Only add the inside to your mash, meaning get rid of the dry outer part. Makes the liquor taste smother and gives it a higher alcohol content. This is how I was told and showed how to make it from my dad.
Many more steps on making great corn whiskey why I love this channel.
I did take second place in the state fair on corn whiskey, I was only in the 5th grade thou.
I hope George lives a longtime, he reminds me of my dad. And I'm getting old myself.
My friend and I have been using a souve to heat the distillate it to 140 Fahrenheit with toasted wood chip in it and than put it in freezer to chill it down. We repeat again and again to rapid age the spirit.
How big of wood chips? How many chips for volume?
@ 6:34 A Bubble Chamber at the top would indicate any vapours...
This dude's a whiskey scientist!!
George, do you need an apprentice or gofer???
Could you put wood chips in the thumper?
George, you should try aging with an ultrasonic cleaner. It apparently has some very possitive effects on the resulting liqour
Would it work the same if I just put it in tight mason jar and dump it in sous vide bath at 60C than just flash chilled? In theory i think it will,any thoughts?
George, can you please share with us what brand or store you buy your oak chips in? I tried several eBay variants - it all tasted like old wooden chair...
George: can you do the same thing by heating the chips in distilled water and then using that water to make your cuts?
Do you think a guy could safely heat some shine up on a gas cook stove to do this?
Hello George I this just a note 40 min is at all is nothing at least 2.5 or 3 hours then the product is much better I am a Chemist and have been working in the laboratory for years in Amsterdam
Hi George, would you add glycerine before heating?