Risky? Whisky - Anyone Try This Yet?

[darylld911]

I can't say this sort of thing holds any interest for me whatsoever. Throwing LDI white dog and wood chips into a mason jar is not 'barreling your own bourbon,' it's marketing spin, and I find it somewhat demeaning. Is it even bourbon if the only contact with oak chips is in a glass container? Maybe I'm just being grumpy, but all I can say about it is baaahhhhhhh humbug!

I made that argument to the cashier as well (it has to be aged in new, charred oak containers - not aged in a container which has chips of new, charred oak). Trust me - I have no delusions of this coming out anything like bourbon, but hoping it comes out as a drinkable whiskey.

[darylld911]

My wife got me one of these for Xmas. I tasted it periodically over 6-7 weeks and determined the flavor wasn't changing after 3-4 weeks. Ended up tasting like a smoked corn whiskey, which isn't bad but it's not bourbon. The white dog is LDI, BTW. After dumping the jar, I used the chips to add some flavor to a bottle of Early Times that I use for cooking. It was fun as a gift, but I don't think I would have bought the kit on my own.

Thanks for the heads up on the white dog origin - as well as the plateau after 3-4 weeks. That will save me a few worthless weeks of waiting for improvement

[soonami]

This is interesting. As a homebrewer of beer, I have bought and experimented with a variety of oak chips and cubes, they can be purchased relatively cheaply at homebrewing websites. Usually you soak the chips first to remove some of the very woody astringency, pour off the liquid and throw in the wet chips into the beer. Some of the chips (medium toast American oak especially) smell just like bourbon when wet and boiled for a minute. It was really shocking how much vanilla, caramel and woody aroma I got from an ounce of wood chips. Different combinations yielded different profiles.

Also, what shouldn't be forgotten is that white dog is not a neutral spirit, it's 160 proof at most so there's 20+% of liquid in there that isn't alcohol, so there's a lot of flavor that is contributed by the grains and yeast from the mash. And most "barrel proof" bourbons are usually 55-60% ABV after the angel's share, so there's some contribution from the evaporation process and the change in ABV during aging.

It's still a neat experiment and I would really like to try this too.

This reminds me of the "beechwood aging" marketing that Budweiser used to do. I was told they would just put beech wood planks into their stainless storage tanks. The product still sucked IMO.

Budweiser does beechwood age their beer. But the wood is boiled or steamed to be completely sterile and then they add the beech chips to the bright tanks of budweiser to help provide surface area for the yeast to cling to as they clarify the beer. The beech adds absolutely no flavor (nowadays at least) and is used only as a way to pull yeast out of the beer to make later filtration and pasteurization easier.

[cowdery]

I think it's a cute idea, a good way to get some sense of the interaction between wood and spirit, and chips in a Mason jar is a pretty authentic moonshiner technique. Best part, at the end of the day you've only got to worry about choking down 375 ml of the stuff and, for that matter, it's little enough that you won't feel too bad about throwing it away. You're certainly not going to make a great whiskey, but it could be fun. There's also the Woodinville product if you want to do the small barrel thing, so this is another alternative.

I would probably dilute the spirt to maybe 110 proof to start. You might even want to blow into it with a straw from time to time, to get a little more oxidation. That's what I mean. It's something to play around with.

This isn't a 'instant whiskey' scam, but it makes me think about those. Two things amaze me (1) people can still be convinced such things work, and (2) some people believe that not only do they work, they are being used by manufacturers and sold as straight whiskey.

[Rutherford]

My wife got me one of these for Xmas. I tasted it periodically over 6-7 weeks and determined the flavor wasn't changing after 3-4 weeks. Ended up tasting like a smoked corn whiskey, which isn't bad but it's not bourbon. The white dog is LDI, BTW. After dumping the jar, I used the chips to add some flavor to a bottle of Early Times that I use for cooking. It was fun as a gift, but I don't think I would have bought the kit on my own.

Finally, something to do with my Early Times and the extra oak chips I have laying around from homebrewing. This almost seems like a better experience, since Early Times is cheap, barrel-aged long enough to interact with the air, and has a really boring flavor profile that could use some new oak.

[cowdery]

The main thing you'll learn is the limitation of this method. The whiskey might soak into the wood but how do you get it back out? Some compounds will dissolve into solution, but part of the action in the barrel is the expansion-contraction that isn't occurring in the jar. Think infusion, although you have to be careful with heat because you don't want the alcohol to evaporate. The more you get into it, the more you understand why wood chips are not a good substitute for a barrel.

[LongBeachScott]

I haven't tried such a kit, but I am tempted to buy a bottle of BT White Dog or Georgia Moon and embrace my inner alchemist.

[darylld911]

The main thing you'll learn is the limitation of this method. The whiskey might soak into the wood but how do you get it back out? Some compounds will dissolve into solution, but part of the action in the barrel is the expansion-contraction that isn't occurring in the jar. Think infusion, although you have to be careful with heat because you don't want the alcohol to evaporate. The more you get into it, the more you understand why wood chips are not a good substitute for a barrel.

I think this is probably a bigger factor than the air. To your point - even when I place the jar in my attic, the wood chips within aren't really expanding like a barrel would (or wood - I can't resist that pun!) The expansion of the barrel really draws the whiskey in, while contraction pushes it out - and in this experiment, that action isn't going to take place (at least not the same).

I have pondered trying to replicate something ala "Devil's Cut" to extract some of the whiskey from the wood. After dumping the jar, I'm thinking of adding a few ounces of purified water to shake that around for a while (and maybe even let that sit in the sun?) to try to draw more flavor from the wood chips. My guess is that this will make it just a bit more "woody". I don't expect this experiment to produce the trademark bourbon vanilla/caramel tones - but as someone else described it as a smokey corn whiskey.

[PaulO]

I think the result of the old moonshiner trick was basically to color the white dog, to make it look like bourbon. Everything I've read so far leads me to believe there is no real substitute for 4+ years in a new charred white oak 53 gallon barrel. I've never read a good review of anything that came from the smaller barrels. I suppose if some one didn't mind spending multiple thousands of dollars, and waiting several years to age, they could buy a new 53 gallon barrel, and fill it with a quality white dog, maybe dilluted down to 107 proof.

[SixDegrees]

I've tried this numerous times and have had success. It was interesting that I blind taste tested this with a group of my bourbon drinking budies and the Home made Bourbon tied for first with of all things, Old Forrester. Third was Knob Creek, 4th was Makers 46 and last was Devils Cut. I've heated and cooled it to simulate the temperature changes and as someone mentioned, just let it get some air occasionally. I also used the used chips to age some white rum and I'll tell you what, the rum is FANTASTIC! It was a great gift and I bought more to have fun with. Not for the serious drinker though as they want to drink it NOW!