Aging your own bourbon?

[bourboNcigars]

I plan on buying 2 kits one for bourbon the other for rye, I'm going to look around for white whisky like the try box series or white whiskey from few spirits they are local to me on evanston, question is and my noob flag will show here since the hotter the climate the better the bourbon will age? In the warmer summer months would I do well to leaving the small 2.5g barrel outside in the sun then the winter months inside in the warmer parts of the house? Also what can I do to try and get the most from this endeavor? I also want to do this for around 6 to 12 years before piping it open and bottling for my personal use..

[HighInTheMtns]

I plan on buying 2 kits one for bourbon the other for rye, I'm going to look around for white whisky like the try box series or white whiskey from few spirits they are local to me on evanston, question is and my noob flag will show here since the hotter the climate the better the bourbon will age? In the warmer summer months would I do well to leaving the small 2.5g barrel outside in the sun then the winter months inside in the warmer parts of the house? Also what can I do to try and get the most from this endeavor? I also want to do this for around 6 to 12 years before piping it open and bottling for my personal use..

[bourboNcigars]

I see, I did read it's supposed to only take a few weeks or a month what would take years in a full size barrel..what would be the one should push it too?

[GaryT]

My recommendation - check it every month at least (honestly if it were me, I'd sample every two weeks). You don't need large samples - a half oz does the trick. I would have outside, but not in direct sunlight. I know the Tornado Surviving was exposed to sunlight, but as Jim pointed out - small barrels are different animals. I would keep outside so you get the temp variation, but avoid direct sunlight as well as being rained upon.

Unfortunately white dog is more expensive than freaking aged bourbon, so I would probably take you cost effective bourbon (maybe WSR?) and use that.

[tanstaafl2]

Maybe put it in a garage (if you have one) where the extremes of temperature would be greater than in your house but it isn't outdoors. I would even avoid direct sunlight through a window if I could. And definitely taste often as Gary says! A year might turn out to be the absolute most you could go.

[HighInTheMtns]

I see, I did read it's supposed to only take a few weeks or a month what would take years in a full size barrel..what would be the one should push it too?

It will never make bourbon the same as a full size barrel. They're just different.

FWIW, if I ever try this, my scheme will be to fill it with cheap bourbon, and keep it topped off for a while (months?), just pour that bourbon out, and then fill with some decent bourbon to try to extra age.

[wadewood]

Small barrels make lousy whiskey - For just $0.99 you can buy the book - http://www.amazon.com/Small-Barrels-Produce-Lousy-Whiskey-ebook/dp/B006X9UD2W

I say go big; refill a 53 gallon barrel.

[sutton]

I say go big; refill a 53 gallon barrel.

I echo this sentiment. Or at least as big a barrel as you can afford to fill if your intent is additional aging rather than additional barrel character.

For my winemaking, I have a neutral 50L (13.2 gal) French oak barrel, and a 1-yr old 50L Hungarian oak barrel. I have equal amounts of wine outside of the barrel in glass; the next 18 months are about rotating/racking the wines between these vessels to keep from getting over-oaked but trying to get the best of the micro-oxygenation that the barrel gives you.

When I first bought these barrels, they were oaky as hell - blending the oaked wine with wine that did not see the oak was the only way to keep it in balance.

I think there is a reason that no matter what the alcoholic beverage is, most oak containers are 53 gallons and up. Even in winemaking, that size barrel (barrique) is considered "small" and controversial in some traditional regions, considered to over-oak wine with notes of grilled bread and vanilla, rather than the varietal character.

If you want to use a barrel that small, then consider soaking it a few rounds with water or with Barolkleen to leach out some of the tannin. Even then I think you'll more likely increase the oak character in the spirit, not "aging" it in the sense of rounding off the grainer/spirit notes if you are trying to turn new make into 7 or 8 year old whiskey.

[bourboNcigars]

I was going to go with a 20L, but not sure I want to invest much money first time out, barrel was $200 and it would cost another $275 to $350 to fill it..that's why I want to try it on a smaller scale first..

[bourboNcigars]

Also yes I do have a garage I can put it in there away from sun light..gets super hot in summer time and humid too with our Illinois summers last few years

[HighInTheMtns]

Humidity will presumably reduce the amount of water that evaporates and keep the proof down compared to a less humid garage.

[VAGentleman]

I've done this with some "homemade" stuff in a 2L barrel. One to two months is OK with some burnt marshmallow flavors. After three months the oak is too strong, and I like Oak. Overall its OK definitely not great.