Don't try this at home
by Mark Tumarkin

<editor's note>
The following content is taken from the Distilled Beverage Digest….
</editor's note>

Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 20:34:52 +1000
From: "Graham L Sanders" 
Subject: Oak chips

G'day all

Young Jeff has prompted me to make comments on this thread.

I actually find it strange you all find it all so new. We down in the 
upside down bit of the world have been doing this since Adam 
was a boy. I am planning to run my stills soon when the weather cools 
a little bit more. Planning a distilled sake, some more rum, a 
bourbon and an Australian whiskey. And when I make it its not 
sugar and water with flavouring, its the proper stuff, grains that are 
mashed, or molases (hey I do live in sugar cane country). 

Now my still holds a good 80 litres, so when I do a wash I dont 
have enough kegs to store my spirits, so they are aged in bottles, 
pottery, all sorts of things. And I can tell people that spirits aged in 
bottles, if treated correctly, will taste every bit the same as those 
aged in the barrel. I age all my spirits a minimum of three years, 
and can speak from experience

A quick little note on oak chips for aging spirits. Yes its an
acceptable practice and gives results the equal of a barrel. 
Our own wine industry does it now, as well as some spirits 
makers. I have a couple of small oak barrel I use for my own 
Irish type whiskey, but my rums, bourbons and brandy I use oak 
(and other wood) shavings. 

I age a lot of my spirits in 5 litre demijons. Charcoaled oak 
(put in a smoker til its burnt) works very well. The question of 
kegs breathing is significant. That breathing does get rid of 
unpleasant volitiles. I have done heaps of experiments on this, 
and when fresh spirts are sealed airtight, they remain raw and 
green, even years afterwards and on the oak. I found corking 
the demonjons was good, or you wipe the inside top of the bottle.

What I found with overproof raw spirit in the bottles is that you got
condensation on the surface in the airspace. 
(you dont get this with mature spirits). I guessed that this was 
unwanted volites trying to escape, so every week I would wipe 
these off the inside of the bottle. Within a couple of months these 
were so much less I would do it every month, then 3 months. 

But the spirits would definitely improve as well. After 3 years 
plus, these spirits are the match of any you can buy, and i mean 
top shelf stuff. Oxidisation too, seems to mellow out some of the 
harser notes too. No idea what chemical reactions are going on, 
(unlike beer), but it makes a difference.

Final note, oak is not the only wood that can be used. I make 
an incredible bourbon with a local rainforrest tree. This tree 
gives a strong vanilla flavour and sweetness to the Bourbon. 
And you yanks recon you have good sipping whiskey. I can 
tell you people who drink mine recon its the best bourbon 
about. 

There you go, just an opinion 

Shout
Graham Sanders

* * * * * * * * * *

Date: Sat, 6 Apr 2002 14:32:39 -0500
From: "Steve Alexander" 
Subject: Oak & such

Graham L Sanders notes ...

>And when I make it its not
> sugar and water with flavouring, its the proper stuff, grains that are
> mashed, or molases (hey I do live in sugar cane country).

Excellent choices Graham !

I'm stunned when I surf the web and find that in the few places where home
distillation isn't prohibited that locals seem obsessed with distilling
sugar water and flavoring it to make high proof plonk - an unforgivably
misspent opportunity.  The bit of lunacy is that they try to make 10+% ABV
sugar-wine which virtually insures high levels of fusels oils which will in
part carry through the distillation.  Nice to know there are exceptions.

> Now my still holds a good 80 litres, so when I do a wash I dont
> have enough kegs to store my spirits,

That nets you ~8L at cask strength - right ?

>That breathing does get rid of  unpleasant volitiles.

As expected, but it's terrific to hear the practical details.

> Final note, oak is not the only wood that can be used. I make
> an incredible bourbon with a local rainforrest tree. This tree
> gives a strong vanilla flavour and sweetness to the Bourbon.

What tree is that Graham ?  Just curious.

White oak is used in the wine&whiskey business because it is a wood that
makes good cooperage(barrels) - plentiful, strong and non-porous.  Red oak
is said to release too much tannin and additionally is far too porous to
hold liquids.   Maple has been used but imparts little (almost no) flavor.
I would expect the related sycamores wouldn't add interest either.

If we are just looking for flavor and remove the barrel-maker's strong &
non-porous requirements then the window opens up on a lot of choices.

I spoke with a Croatian fellow several years ago who was vintner for one of
the N.Californa wineries and he was experimenting with using chestnut for
aging red wines.   I do know American chestnut (almost extinct) is a
somewhat tannic open grained wood similar to red oak - tho' I have no idea
how it or the more common Chinese chestnut would do at whiskey flavoring.

The vanilla flavor you mention is from vanillic acid and a few related
compounds that form the simpler part of the phenolic/tannic compounds formed
by some trees.   Tree biochemistry is intimately tied to the production of
phenolics - the woody tissue is primarily phenolic.  Still there is huge
variation in which compounds appear freely in wood of different species.
Some trees that aren't commercially important (hornbeams I think) contain as
much or more vanillic than oaks.

Fascinating details Graham - hats off to you - and a few questions too.

What is your still like ?  Particularly the column.details.

Do you single or double distill ?  Have you found a difference in results ?
How much do you concentrate the distillate in a pass ?

How do you judge the "cut points" for foreshots and feints ?

> There you go, just an opinion


More, please.

I'd love to distill my own whiskey someday, but given US laws and the
general tyrrany of the do-gooder majority here, I'm afraid I'll have to live
vicariously through your posts.

====

I assume Graham knows this, but many woods contain  toxic substances.  It's
very common among tropical hardwoods, but some cold weather trees as well.
Even more woods contain allergens that would make their use in whiskey
questionable.   Don't try woods at random !

- -Steve

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2002 03:48:58 +1000
From: "Graham L Sanders" 
Subject: Oak & such Part 1

G'Day All

Steve writes
>>>>>>> I'm stunned when I surf the web and find that in the few places
where home distillation isn't prohibited that locals seem obsessed with
distilling sugar water and flavoring it to make high proof plonk - an
unforgivably misspent opportunity>>>>>>>>>

I should say that over here under the earth, distilliing spirits is still
illegial, but the sale of 5 litre stills is very much legal. Sort of you can
have it, but not use it. But because sooo many stills have been sold in
 Aus, the government is forced to turn a blind eye to what is going on.
So its still illegial, but no-one will chase you down if its for home
comsumption.

Now I can understand most people using sugar and water. These
super alcohol kits will make a sugar wash go to 20% volume of
alcohol. So if you have a baby still, 5 litres, well, it makes a bit of
sense to have the highest alcohol wash you can get, to save time.
The other factor is time. These spirit kits are designed to be drunk
straight away. So its put the spirits on charcoal to clean it, add heaps
of falvouring to hide the off tastes, and drink straight away.

If you have your coke with a bit of spirits, well they do the job.
Drink it neat, or with a little ice or sugar water, and they taste like
the rubbish they are. Proper spirits takes years to age, and most
people aren't prepared to organise themselves to have a constant
supply, so the majority of people will drift to sugar and water washed.

>>> > > Now my still holds a good 80 litres, so when I do a wash
I dont have enough kegs to store my spirits,
>
>>>>> That nets you ~8L at cask strength - right ?<<<<<<<<

Sorry there is no easy answer here on that one. You can guess it
depends basically the strength of the wash, and how full the still is.
When I make a rum (50% molases, 50% water, super alcohol yeast)
well I can only fill the still to about 50 litres. The molases has a nasty
habit of foaming up and out. But I can get about 10 litres at 80%
alcohol.

I do the occasional sugar wash. It can be nice to have neat ethanol
for all sorts of things. I fill the keg to about 70 litres. I run off about
11 litres at about 90% plus. And grain washes, well they are a bit of
a hit and miss, depending on how much sugar conversion I get. But 7
to 8 litres at about 70% (cask strength) would be a excellent effort.
Generally I'm happy with 5 to 6 litres as I am going for quality not
quantity, and would prefer not trying to squeeze the last drop out
of my washes.
>
> >>>>>That breathing does get rid of  unpleasant volitiles.<<<<<
>> As expected, but it's terrific to hear the practical details.<<<<<

You ever watch those movies and they are at the still, and taste it
straight off the still, and make all those funny faces. Well it surprised
me how awful it actually tastes when I started doing it. A proper
sourmash smells and tastes disgusting after it is run off the still.
It stinks!! So yes they do exist and yes they need to evaporate
out of the spirit. My distilled sake is a clasic example, it comes
off the still almost undrinkable, but after two years in a corked
bottle its now one of my favourite spirits.

>>>>This tree gives a strong vanilla flavour and sweetness
to the Bourbon.
>
> What tree is that Graham ?  Just curious.<<<<<<<<<<

Jeff knows this one well. Its funny when europeans came here they
named all the trees after the ones back home, even thou they are
no relation. So it is with this one. Silky Oak Tree. It aint no oak tree.

> White oak is used in the wine&whiskey business because it is a
wood that makes good cooperage(barrels)>>>>>> If we are just
looking for flavor and remove the barrel-maker's strong &
 non-porous requirements then the window opens up on a lot of
choices.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

This is one of those things that need to be buried well and truely.
Oak is not the only wood out there to use on spirits. The mythology
of oak only comes from the fact that it was plentyful and most suitable
for making barrels. So it makes sense that all the knowledge and
mysteries of storing and aging alcohol with oak would come from
centuries of its use. I would bet if we didn't have barrel and just clay
pots we would have a tottally different culture.

When you realise that all wood behaves like oak, and will impart its
own flavours, WELL the world just opens right up. Just as new hop
varieties expanded the tastes of beers, so much so that Cascade is
accepted now as a stylist beer, so it is and can be with other woods.

For example, bourbon made with silky oak is extremely aromatic.
Its smell is soo strong you can smell the bottle being opened accross
a room. Its not objectionable, actually a very sweet aluring smell. Its
flavours like this that attract people to it, and it lingers on the tongue
soo long that it takes 3 other drinks to remove the taste. People I
know have a drink of it, then 3 cheap bourbons, and when the taste
wears out they have another one of mine again. They make it last
that way.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2002 02:32:27 +1000
From: "Graham L Sanders" 
Subject: Re: Oak & such Part 2

>>>>What is your still like ?  Particularly the column.details.<<<<<

Ok its a gas fired one, all stainless steel. The column is a cracking
tower, two inches in diameter, 3.5 feet tall, filled with very small
rocks (like you use in fish tanks)

>>>>>>Do you single or double distill ?  Have you found a
difference in results ? How much do you concentrate the distillate
in a pass ?<<<<<<<<<

I single distill as I have no need to purify my spirits. The concentration
at the top of the tower can be controlled with how much heat i
apply at the bottom. If I want a pure spirit, I apply a low heat and
can run it off at over 90%. with a bit of a twig I have hit the magical
97.5%. But you get utterly no flavours. I apply more heat, so I get
a run at about 70 to 80% and get the flavours I need. Its true people,
about about 80% you start to lose flavours.

I normally cut my runs when the alcohol drops to about 40%. The
heat put in compared to what I get isn't worth it.

>>>>How do you judge the "cut points" for foreshots and feints ?<<

Ah the terms they use for this "firsts and lasts",
"Heads, Hearts and tails". for those who dont know, The flavour of
any spirit come from a wealth of compounds, alderhydes, amy
alcohols (fusal oils), esters, acids and even methanol. The desirable
ones are commonly called congeners. The art of any distiller is
knowing when to start collecting the heart and stop it again. Start it
too late and stop it too early, and you collect mostly pure ethanol
and no flavours. Start too early and stop too late, well you make
something that will have a lot of flavour, but will give you
ripper hangovers, could even kill you.

The art is to collect enough of the congeners in the last of the head
and  beginning of the tails to get the flavours, but not enough to
make it undrinkable. You do this by watching the thermometer at the
top of the still. When the firsts start, it will sit at 65C-70C. This is
mostly methanol coming off. This you dont want. Then it will suddenly
rise as all the methanol is removed. It will rise to 78-low 80s
(depending on heat and what you want).

This is the heart. Now for a good rum, you want lots of flavour
(and the headache with it) so you start collecting as soon as it starts
to rise. For a whiskey, I tend to collect when the temperature hits
78C. For clean spirits, I wait till the temperature stabilises. The
same occurs at the tails. The temperature suddenly heads for the
90's, and thats agian when you decide to cut it as the higher
alcohol start to evaporate and collect. This I do by the the highly
accurate method of tasting it

>>>I'd love to distill my own whiskey someday<<<<<
Go on Steve, just do it!!!!!!!!!!! Who will know.

I assume Graham knows this, but many woods contain  toxic substances.
Don't try woods at random !<<<<<<

You assume correct. All I can suggest if you venture down this part,
is use the wood for smoking first. I find if its good for smoking, and
gives a nice clean flavour, its good for spirits. Unfortunately there is
no hard and fast rules. Its a bit like mushrooms I guess. A bit of trial
and error will be involved. But dont let this put you off. I have wood
that is utterly useless, and others that give terrible flavours. But I have
found some magical timbers as well.

Shout
Graham Sanders

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