spun_cookie Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 I got my 5L barrel today and filled it with 6.5 bottles of WT101.... I figure I will pull a sample every 3 months to see how it is progressing.I expect to have it in there for no less than a yr. It is up in my attic right now where it should see nice temp variations... I will post some pictures later... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmeox Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Is it a first fill barrel? What level of char? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spun_cookie Posted January 7, 2010 Author Share Posted January 7, 2010 Is it a first fill barrel? What level of char?Yes sir and medium char... We will see how it progresses. These little barrels age quickly, but I would guess a yr would be perfect... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callmeox Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 My semi-uneducated guess:Anything over a month (maybe 3 weeks) and it will be over "aged". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spun_cookie Posted January 7, 2010 Author Share Posted January 7, 2010 Really... In that case will pull samples every week to test.... that seems fast. I though at 3 months in the cold I would see a char change, but not a maturity change. After 6 months and moving into heat I thought I would see more wood and at 9 months with the high heat I would see a lot more oak.. next winter I figured the juice would be pushed back into the main bourbon with heavier oak and depth from the natural flavors... I will watch much closer… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Pollito Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 I agree with Scott. Watch that juice closely. Aging your own is a ton of fun. Enjoy.:grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOCOUGS2002 Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 Emerald, I think you will need a second opinion on every tasting, I guess I will be the first to volunteer to help you out...:slappin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spun_cookie Posted January 7, 2010 Author Share Posted January 7, 2010 Emerald, I think you will need a second opinion on every tasting, I guess I will be the first to volunteer to help you out...:slappin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErichPryde Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 hmmmmmmz. I'd like to taste this, too. and of course, finding a control sample of WT101 shouldn't be difficult at your house. However, I'd agree with tasting it more frequently as well. From what I've read I have to agree with these guys- it will age more quickly. Of course, you're talking, what, five liters, vs 50 some odd gallons? so, each "particle" of whiskey is approximately 200 times more likely to see the surface area of the barrel? No, that can't be right. Maybe I should put this weller centennial down for a second- As total surface area (of the inside of the barrel) increases as a square, the total volume (of the whiskey) increases as a cube. So, a 55 gallon barrel (or whatever they're using these days- 53?) will see a lot less whiskey/wood interaction than a 5L barrel. A LOT less. Yeah, throw that chalkboard out the window... um. a lot more barrel interaction is what it boils down to after I (pretend) to do a lot of math. Meh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p_elliott Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 You guys might think this idea is crazy but here it goes anyway: Emerald you live in AZ it's hot in AZ all the time especially in your attic. Your not going to get the bourbon going in and out of of the wood it's going to expand into the wood and sit there. How about every so often take that barrel and place it in the fridge or freezer to draw the bourbon back out of the wood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spun_cookie Posted January 7, 2010 Author Share Posted January 7, 2010 Will do...not hard to talk me into more samples than less Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarV Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 You guys might think this idea is crazy but here it goes anyway: Emerald you live in AZ it's hot in AZ all the time especially in your attic. Your not going to get the bourbon going in and out of of the wood it's going to expand into the wood and sit there. How about every so often take that barrel and place it in the fridge or freezer to draw the bourbon back out of the wood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Lamplighter Posted January 7, 2010 Share Posted January 7, 2010 I got my 5L barrel todayProbably a couple of stupid questions, but, how do you obtain a barrel and where do you find one of that size? I was not aware they were of any size but the standard used by the distilleries....the ones you see in pics and in stores occasionally that have already been used. As I said, dumb questions - but a lot I don't know and just got back into circulation here of late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBQ+Bourbon Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 In the summer, my attic is extremely hot- probably close to 150*. It should be moreso in AZ during the summer. Wouldn't that have an adverse effect on the rebarreling process?Another thing I wonder about Gregs' project; he put it in his shed. My shed is full of mowers, quads, gas cans, trimmers, pesticides, etc. Hopefully he doesn't have those things in his shed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spun_cookie Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 how do you obtain a barrel and where do you find one of that size? http://www.kentuckybarrels.com/hobbybarrels.htmlThey come in 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, and 20 liter sizes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 I got my 5L barrel today and filled it with 6.5 bottles of WT101.... I figure I will pull a sample every 3 months to see how it is progressing.I expect to have it in there for no less than a yr. It is up in my attic right now where it should see nice temp variations... I will post some pictures later...Em, I have some Wasmund's 'rye dog' -- 1.5 liters -- that I put in a new, 'toasted' 2L barrel in mid-September (I bought the components en route to the Fest). My plan is to tap a pair of 50mls -- one for sampling, one to set aside for later comparisons -- each 6-7 months, which ought to give me an eventual 'vertical' up to 5-7 years (depends on the angels' share).My thought is that this would give me a comparison after each cycle/season. We still had plenty of summer-y weather post-Sept. 15, and have been sub-20 degrees for several nights now. I roll the barrel and agitate each time I enter my outside 6X10 storage building (did it today, in fact), in which it is aging. So, when I turn the tap c. April, I expect some noticeable color and charring in the taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spun_cookie Posted January 8, 2010 Author Share Posted January 8, 2010 Em, I have some Wasmund's 'rye dog' -- 1.5 liters -- that I put in a new, 'toasted' 2L barrel in mid-September (I bought the components en route to the Fest). My plan is to tap a pair of 50mls -- one for sampling, one to set aside for later comparisons -- each 6-7 months, which ought to give me an eventual 'vertical' up to 5-7 years (depends on the angels' share).My thought is that this would give me a comparison after each cycle/season. We still had plenty of summer-y weather post-Sept. 15, and have been sub-20 degrees for several nights now. I roll the barrel and agitate each time I enter my outside 6X10 storage building (did it today, in fact), in which it is aging. So, when I turn the tap c. April, I expect some noticeable color and charring in the taste.Tim, sounds like a blast... I am going to pull 100 ml every week... I found a note on aging in small barrels that said 1 month = 1 -1.5 yrs... so, I want watch mine close... I think I will go with white dog next go around... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scratchline Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 Hey, Tim. I bought one of those barrel kits as a Christmas gift and came across this blog:http://spiritedremix.blogspot.com/search/label/caskIf this guy's experience is typical, I don't imagine there'll be much more than dust in there in a couple of years. Now maybe he didn't treat the barrel properly before filling, but you might want to tap it a little early to see how it's going. You don't want the angels getting more than their fair share!Best.-Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted January 8, 2010 Share Posted January 8, 2010 Hey, Tim. I bought one of those barrel kits as a Christmas gift and came across this blog:http://spiritedremix.blogspot.com/search/label/caskIf this guy's experience is typical, I don't imagine there'll be much more than dust in there in a couple of years. Now maybe he didn't treat the barrel properly before filling, but you might want to tap it a little early to see how it's going. You don't want the angels getting more than their fair share!Best.-MikeThanks, Mike, I may do that. I did 'swell' the barrel prior to use, and it has shown no sign of leakage, but no way to know what's inside without peeking. It's definitely not empty, which is about all I can tell from handling it.I kept the two original bottles, so I may just tap the barrel off into those and see what I have, then re-enter it immediately back into the cask if all seems well.(I might even sneak a nip -- you just never know!:shocked:)If it turns out that volume has significantly decreased, I can't help but think a good bit of it is retained in the wood. which suggests future use of the barrel to 'season' something else -- either a wheated bourbon, I think (to 'finish' a 4-grain), or a young rum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Hey, Tim. I bought one of those barrel kits as a Christmas gift and came across this blog:http://spiritedremix.blogspot.com/search/label/caskIf this guy's experience is typical, I don't imagine there'll be much more than dust in there in a couple of years. Now maybe he didn't treat the barrel properly before filling, but you might want to tap it a little early to see how it's going. You don't want the angels getting more than their fair share!Best.-Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spun_cookie Posted January 10, 2010 Author Share Posted January 10, 2010 Tim... very nice...that sounds like very good juice... ... and Tim.. keep this one going... I am all for sharing around here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorvallisCracker Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Yeah, throw that chalkboard out the window... um. a lot more barrel interaction is what it boils down to after I (pretend) to do a lot of math. Meh. I'll pretend up to a point. Calculating the surface area or volume of a barrel means factoring in the curvature of the side, and that requires crossing the line between geometry and calculus. That's a scary line. But I think you can get a sense of the effect of barrel size by comparing the computed surface area of cylinders of certain volumes. A cylinder with a D:H ratio of .65 and a volume of 227,100 cubic centimeters (60 gallons) has a surface area of 21,215 square centimeters, for a V:A ration of about 10.7. A similarly proportioned cylinder of 30 gallons vollume has a V:A ration of 8.6, and one of 15 gallons 6.8. One of only five liter capacity has a ratio of about 3. Which means that a year in Em's little barrel is equivalent to about 3.6 years in the 60 gallon one. There being no such thing as a free lunch, evaporation loss is accelerated by the same ratio (at least), and several people here have already mentioned the high loss rate associated with these little barrels. Back in the late 1990s I bought a 4.5 liter barrel and dumped in six bottles of OGD 114, hoping I'd have, in about a year, a higher proof version of BH. I was generally pleased with the results, but had only 2.7 liters of it. I still have the barrel, but haven't repeated the experiment. Perhaps next time I'll encase it in cling wrap. :grin: Using smaller barrels is the traditional approach to shortening the time required to achive a desired level of barrel effect, Laphroaig "Quarter Cask" being a case in point. An interesting variation on this is the problem being faced by a purely hypothetical local distiller who's planning to produce rye whiskey. This individual is not what you'd call wealthy and has sunk a lot of money into the operation already. He'd like to buy a dozen 15 gallon barrels but can't afford it, instead acquiring three second hand 59 gallon barrels from a local winery (here in Oregon wine country these are cheap, and many end up cut in half and sold as planters by local nurseries). Said barrels previously held Pinot Gris and were only lightly toasted. In a hypothetical conversation earlier this week, we were discussing this. He'd like to age all of it for two or more years, but with the need to recoup some of his investment, he's considering dumping and bottling the contents of one of the barrels after as little as four months. "I don't think you'll be happy with the results," I told him. "Neither will anyone else." "Yes, I know, but I'm not sure what I can do about it...maybe wood chips..." "There's a distillery in Virginia that's using those, but it's a tricky thing. If they're not properly seasoned you'll get a lot of resin in the spirit. Have you considered infusion spirals?" He shook his head. "Never heard of those." I described them. "Wow!" he replied. "That sounds like exactly what I need." "I'll E-Mail you the link." Which I did, along with pointing out that these thingies come in both American and French oak and various toast levels, and mixing them up might add some complexity. Mind you, I'm not entirely comfortable with recommending the use of such devices, but his situation being what it is, well... Plus, of course, this is all entirely hypothetical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spun_cookie Posted January 24, 2010 Author Share Posted January 24, 2010 OK... I took a sample at 1 week and you could tell it had been put back into the char, but nothing to impressive on the flavor.. today is day 18 and the flavor is going in the right direction. It is already as good if not better than the current 8 yr. The youth has begun to die down on the bourbon. I did taste the original next to the sample... I beleive a few months in the barrel and this is going to be great juice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spun_cookie Posted February 4, 2010 Author Share Posted February 4, 2010 Just about a month into this and it is a far better whiskey. It is begining to shed the youth that I get from the bottle and work towards the current 8 yr. I figure another month or two and this will be perfect juice.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 ...Tim.. keep this one going... I am all for sharing around here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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