storage of Bourbon

We just recently bought a bottle of Maker's Mark and we have been storing the almost full bottle in the freezer. Is this bad or does it matter?

It is generally best to store whisky upright in a cool place out of direct sunlight. I would take it out of the freezer ASAP.

Jimmy Russell at Wild Turkey says he keeps his Rare Breed in the freezer.

I used to be a pretty good chemical engineering student. I can't think of a thing storing bourbon in a freezer would hurt.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by ratcheer on Sun Jan 27 17:19:12 2002 (server time).</FONT></P>

I was under impression the only whiskeys that would NOT freeze would be those containing a minimum 50 percent alcohol (100 proof) or more, such as Rare Breed. Now I'm curious -- how do lower proof whiskeys like Makers fare?

Thanks,
Omar

Storing bourbon in the freezer is unnecessary but harmless.

I'm not sure at what proof/temperature combination spirits will start to freeze, but I know that an 80 proof spirit (the lowest level available for whiskey, vodka, etc.) will not freeze in a typical home refrigerator freezer compartment. Lots of people keep vodka, dutch gin and Jagermeister in the freezer (I'm one of them) because they like to drink them chilled, but not diluted with ice. I tried that with bourbon once and didn't care for the result, but in theory at least it should work.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://cowdery.home.netcom.com>--Chuck Cowdery</A>

I have stored many bottles of 80 proof vodka and gin in the freezer and never had one freeze, yet.

All bourbon is "chilled" before it is bottled. If ya don't chill it and it goes to a cold climate it will flock. Flock in bourbon looks cloudy and a little bit stringy. Get the picture, sounds pretty nasty looks nasty too. We chill to about 17 degrees. So go ahead and chill your bourbon it won't hurt a thing.

boone

>All bourbon is "chilled" before it is bottled.

Luckily, not all bourbon is chill filtered! Booker's is probably the most popular
non-chill-filtered bourbon, but I seem to recall that there are others.

Personally, I'm very much in the "purist" camp that is absolutely against
chill filtering, especially for high end spirits. Chill filtering removes some
of the flavor!

Does anyone know when bottlers started the unholy practice of chill filtering?

(Dr. Crow would be ashamed... it's a reduction in quality in order to appease
the ignorant masses who are afraid of a little cloudiness. We need Bourbon
Education, not chill filtering!)

When I post a message it ususally pertains to Heaven Hill. Not Beams or any other distillery. For those of you that do not know what chill filtering is; Chill the bourbon until it turns cloudy then it is filtered to remove the cloudy residue so that when you chill it again it will not turn and leave a sediment in your glass. I would not drink cloudy bourbon and the vast majority bourbon will not either cause it looks nasty. If you pour your Bookers into a glass (cold or on the rocks) and it turns cloudy and leaves a residue in the bottom after setting for awhile nothing has been done to it and for your purist attitude this is your drink. But, if it does not turn cloudy your good old "add the carbon" to it is in there. Other distilleries add carbon to their bourbon to prevent flocking. I have been told that Brown Foreman uses carbon. So take your pick carbon or chill filtered. One major factor in quality control is the appearance. Put two bottles of bourbon in front of the consumer. One flocked and one filtered and just see which one the consumer will buy!

boone

Is that what happens to Pernod and Ouzo? I think you can just pour water in them and they turn milky. I KNOW it happens if you put ice in them.

But, that seems to be the way the Europeans want it. I agree with you, it is quite unappealing.

Tim