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Aged Egg Nog


GaryT
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Coincidence - my wife just asked me last night "Hey - this egg not from 2015, is it still good?"  I put it on my weekend to-do list to find out (I'm fairly sure it is, as I had some from my first batch that was older).  If it weren't such a pain in the ass to make very small portions of this stuff, I'd love to make a batch a month for 4 months, and on the 5th or 6th month try them blind just to see how much of a difference there is.  It probably tastes "good enough" after 1 or 2 months, which would save on some fridge space :)

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  • 5 months later...

So, I became fascinated with aged eggnog last year, and made a batch.  After about 6 weeks I tried it and was really happy with the results.  I had quite a bit from that batch and used most of it over the year to make french toast (highly recommended). 

 

Anyway, this year, I went all in on eggnog experimentation.  Right around Halloween, I made 3 different batches of eggnog to age until Christmas.  I made a batch of Alton Browns recipe, George Washington's recipe (google it) and the same recipe I made last year.  http://www.timesrecordnews.com/lifestyle/food/crave/aged-eggnog-a-return-to-the-drinks-roots_87782335

 

As part of my experimentation, I still had a little left over from last year's batch, and I wanted to see how a 13 month eggnog compared to a 1 month eggnog, using the same recipe. 

 

On top of that, while making each of the 3 recipes this year, I always had a little left over when filling up my mason jars.  I took the extra from each of the 3 recipes and combined into one jar. 

 

When the recipes called for bourbon, i used HH6BIB and when they called for rye (George's recipe), I used Jim Beam.  I can't remember the type of rum, brandy or sherry I used. 

 

I had a number of house guests during Christmas, so to help pass the time, I set up a tasting.  It wasn't blinded.  Here are my observations.

 

Alton Brown's - The sweetest of the bunch, and the recipe explains it.  His called for nutmeg but I omitted it, not wanting to stray to far from the other recipes.  Overall the taste was the classic store bought non alcoholic eggnog flavor, but not as thick.  The alcohol flavor was was there but could have been stronger.  The flavors merged well.  If it wasn't as sweet, it probably would have been my favorite. 

 

George Washington's - I believe this one had the most alcohol in it, but it didn't taste strong at all.  It might have needed more time aging, because I felt like I could pick out the different contributions of each of the 4 alcohols.  It wasn't as sweet, which I appreciated, and seemed a little thin.

 

Timesrecordnews version (approx 11.5 months old)- This was by far my favorite.  I believe this was the only recipe that called for the cream to be beaten prior to mixing.  That cream held together well, and provided a nice thick cap to the thinner nog.  Sweetness was balanced, as was the alcohol flavor. 

 

Timesrecordnews (approx 13 months old) - We tried this one right after its younger brother.  You could tell they came from the same recipe, but I don't think the extra time added much.  It would have been fine trying it alone, but trying it right after the younger version, the older version seemed "stale," while the younger version seemed "fresher."  I realize those are strange words to use when describing milk products that are 1 month or more than a year old, but I can't think of any other way to describe it.  

 

3 Part Combo - I had high hopes for this.  The weren't blended in equal proportions, and I didn't keep track of which ones contributed the most when blending.  My hope was that this version would be the Goldilocks version.  But it was far from it.  It was the worst of all 5 we tasted.  It was the only one everyone agreed on.  The taste wasn't bad, but the mouthfeel was chalky.  Someone described it as Maalox. 

 

I've shared my opinions.  My house guests opinions varied quite a bit.  I think everyone had their favorite. 

 

Not sure what I'll do next year.  Some thoughts would be to save a little of my 13 month to taste after 2 years, and compare it to this year's version with an extra year, and make a fresh batch next year, so I can taste a 6 week, 13, month and 25 month.  The other idea I had was to take a little of the 13 month, add a little of the 6 week, and continually refresh it with some of the newest batch.  Kind of like the Solera process for eggnog!  I might also have to add some store bought versions into the rotation and compare.

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I made Alton Brown's recipe a few weeks before Christmas. Put it into two glass jars and took one to family Christmas. It turned out VERY good. Other than my wife and I no one would try it. They were "afraid". It definitely had enough booze in it to kill any bugs. Instead of 1C each of bourbon, rum, and brandy I used 1.5C each of bourbon and rum.  I don't know about keeping the rest till next Christmas. THAT makes me a bit nervous. Will probably break it out in the next week or so once I'm over my cold.

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Thanks for the detailed run-down/comparison!  I love the Solera idea too - I may try that!

 

Do you have the recipe by chance from the Wichita Falls web-site?  When I clicked the link, it gave me an error (and a search for egg nog recipe turned up 0 results).  

 

I've still got enough for two glasses of my 2015 left, and am going to do a blind sbs with the 2016 I made (unfortunately I can't recall when I made it, but it was a few months ago).  Unfortunately while I used the same recipe, I don't recall if I used the same booze - so not a great scientific experiment.  The rest I'll mingle with whatever jar I pour the 2016 from (and set that jar aside for when I make some later this year).  

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On 1/4/2017 at 8:34 PM, GaryT said:

Do you have the recipe by chance from the Wichita Falls web-site?  When I clicked the link, it gave me an error (and a search for egg nog recipe turned up 0 results). 

 

Uh-oh... I don't think I have a printed version of it.  I always just went to the link, figuring it would always be around.  This is a problem.  This is my favorite recipe and the one I have 2 different ages of.  I don't want to start over!

 

I wonder someone else might have copied it down on this page. 

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On 1/4/2017 at 8:34 PM, GaryT said:

Do you have the recipe by chance from the Wichita Falls web-site?  When I clicked the link, it gave me an error (and a search for egg nog recipe turned up 0 results). 

 

 

I did a little looking around their website, and found this in the archives.  It cut off part of the directions, and you need to pay to get the full article.  But it lists the ingredients. 

After beating the egg whites (soft peaks I think), you separately beat the cream into whipped cream, but not too stiff either.  Then fold the alcohol/egg mixture, the egg whites, and whipped cream together. 

 

Aged eggnog

 

Makes 6 servings

 

Ingredients

 

6 pasteurized eggs

 

1/4 cup sugar

 

16 ounces whole milk

 

16 ounces heavy or whipping cream

 

5 ounces bourbon

 

2 ounces rum

 

2 ounces brandy or cognac

 

DIRECTIONS

 

1 Separate egg yolks from the whites, keeping the whites in a separate bowl.

 

2 Beat the yolks for about a minute. Add sugar and beat for another minute.

 

3 Pour in the alcohol and milk.

 

4 Beat the egg whites in an...

 

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17 hours ago, Lepisto said:

 

I did a little looking around their website, and found this in the archives.  It cut off part of the directions, and you need to pay to get the full article.  But it lists the ingredients. 

After beating the egg whites (soft peaks I think), you separately beat the cream into whipped cream, but not too stiff either.  Then fold the alcohol/egg mixture, the egg whites, and whipped cream together. 

 

Aged eggnog

 

Makes 6 servings

 

Ingredients

 

6 pasteurized eggs

 

1/4 cup sugar

 

16 ounces whole milk

 

16 ounces heavy or whipping cream

 

5 ounces bourbon

 

2 ounces rum

 

2 ounces brandy or cognac

 

DIRECTIONS

 

1 Separate egg yolks from the whites, keeping the whites in a separate bowl.

 

2 Beat the yolks for about a minute. Add sugar and beat for another minute.

 

3 Pour in the alcohol and milk.

 

4 Beat the egg whites in an...

 

 

Great - thanks!!  I always wondered why the Alton Brown recipe didn't use the egg whites (in cocktails, they tend to give a richer texture as well as some foam), so interested to try this.  Appreciate it!

 

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  • 1 year later...

Quick safety report, in shuffling some stuff around in the fridge I discovered a small jar of aged egg nog from 2016 (I think made in September, but honestly not sure).  Had done a good hike earlier today, so had the balance in my caloric bank account.  Stuff was delicious (although not sure it was "better" than a few weeks or months after).

 

Although if I pass on in my sleep, I'd recommend against letting the egg nog go that long ;) 

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9 minutes ago, GaryT said:

Quick safety report, in shuffling some stuff around in the fridge I discovered a small jar of aged egg nog from 2016 (I think made in September, but honestly not sure).  Had done a good hike earlier today, so had the balance in my caloric bank account.  Stuff was delicious (although not sure it was "better" than a few weeks or months after).

 

Although if I pass on in my sleep, I'd recommend against letting the egg nog go that long ;) 

Heehee!  

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1 hour ago, GaryT said:

Quick safety report, in shuffling some stuff around in the fridge I discovered a small jar of aged egg nog from 2016 (I think made in September, but honestly not sure).  Had done a good hike earlier today, so had the balance in my caloric bank account.  Stuff was delicious (although not sure it was "better" than a few weeks or months after).

 

Although if I pass on in my sleep, I'd recommend against letting the egg nog go that long ;) 

You are a true gambler my boy!     I woudna had the balls.

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8 hours ago, Richnimrod said:

You are a true gambler my boy!     I woudna had the balls.

 

Good news, 9 hours later and I'm still going strong (although note to self, the proportion of sugar in egg nog is such that consuming right before bed might be stupid for other reasons - regardless of age).  

 

I still have some from January 2017 that I'll enjoy over the holiday season.

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19 hours ago, Clueby said:

I have one in the back of the fridge from about Nov 16. Not sure if I'm brave enough.

Mine didn't smell/taste any different from what I recall it tasted like after a couple of months. I'd say go for it - unless it smells off :) 

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  • 2 months later...

I’m a little late to the party, making my first batch tonight. I’ll still squeeze in 3 weeks in the fridge before Xmas.

There’s a long-running eggnog thread on another forum I follow, and I’ve seen several links there that I haven’t here.

The first is this study at Rockefeller University. They found that the alcohol in aged eggnog sterilized it. They tried it with a megadose of salmonella, too, but it was inconclusive, at least with a 24-hour aging period. Cook’s Illustrated incorrectly says that they did find it sterilized the salmonella-dosed batch, but maybe that refers to a later study. Either way, I’m comfortable with the margin of safety.

https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/2008-rockefeller-microbiologist-tests-safety-of-spiked-eggnog

The other link is the recipe I’m going to use. It’s been well-reviewed on the other forum, and seems to be the leader.

http://ruhlman.com/2013/11/friday-cocktail-hour-aged-eggnog/

Now I just need to decide what bourbon to use.

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On 12/3/2018 at 10:59 AM, evasive said:

I’m a little late to the party, making my first batch tonight. I’ll still squeeze in 3 weeks in the fridge before Xmas.

There’s a long-running eggnog thread on another forum I follow, and I’ve seen several links there that I haven’t here.

The first is this study at Rockefeller University. They found that the alcohol in aged eggnog sterilized it. They tried it with a megadose of salmonella, too, but it was inconclusive, at least with a 24-hour aging period. Cook’s Illustrated incorrectly says that they did find it sterilized the salmonella-dosed batch, but maybe that refers to a later study. Either way, I’m comfortable with the margin of safety.

https://www.rockefeller.edu/news/2008-rockefeller-microbiologist-tests-safety-of-spiked-eggnog

The other link is the recipe I’m going to use. It’s been well-reviewed on the other forum, and seems to be the leader.

http://ruhlman.com/2013/11/friday-cocktail-hour-aged-eggnog/

Now I just need to decide what bourbon to use.

Wow - I was just eyeballing this compared to the Alton Brown recipe, and some things are the same (both use 12 egg yolks), but others quite different (1 cup bourbon vs 1 liter bourbon).  Have you used this recipe before?  Ironically I skipped making any last year at the holidays (still have some from Jan 2017 though), so was going to work on a batch this weekend.  Debating if I stick with what I've done before or give this one (or some version of it) a shot.

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Wow - I was just eyeballing this compared to the Alton Brown recipe, and some things are the same (both use 12 egg yolks), but others quite different (1 cup bourbon vs 1 liter bourbon).  Have you used this recipe before?  Ironically I skipped making any last year at the holidays (still have some from Jan 2017 though), so was going to work on a batch this weekend.  Debating if I stick with what I've done before or give this one (or some version of it) a shot.


No, it’s my first time trying any aged eggnog recipe. It is a LOT of bourbon, but then it’s a sizable batch. I filled nearly 4 750 mL bottles. That’s probably the booziest recipe I’ve come across, but the one NPR shared (from one of the Rockefeller professors) calls for a pint of bourbon and a quart of rum.

I didn’t taste it, but the color, consistency, and scent all seemed right. I poured some store-bought eggnog tonight- with WT101 for me, and with local spiced rum for my GF. I’m looking forward to comparing that to the homemade stuff.

If I like it, next year I’ll make a batch in September or October.
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On 12/4/2018 at 5:14 PM, GaryT said:

Wow - I was just eyeballing this compared to the Alton Brown recipe, and some things are the same (both use 12 egg yolks), but others quite different (1 cup bourbon vs 1 liter bourbon).  Have you used this recipe before?  Ironically I skipped making any last year at the holidays (still have some from Jan 2017 though), so was going to work on a batch this weekend.  Debating if I stick with what I've done before or give this one (or some version of it) a shot.

Rumor has it your dad wants some made with Michters :) 

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11 minutes ago, Vosgar said:

Rumor has it your dad wants some made with Michters :) 

Hell - when I'm visiting THEM, I'll make a batch with whatever WLW or GTS he has laying around :lol:   We'll just have to wait until next year to try it as 'aged'.

 

Although the bigger challenge is my mother having that take up space in her fridge until next holidays.  Hmm . . . might have to buy him a mini-fridge for Christmas while we're at it.

 

Now if I made a whole batch with my own stuff . . . I'd have to lean towards either HH6yrBIB or JB Distiller's Cut.  Years ago it would have been a no-brainer for OGD 114, but not at current prices.

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  • 9 months later...
6 hours ago, evasive said:

Made a double batch of Ruhlman’s today. WT101 is the main ingredient.

68DFC5DE-2EA1-43BB-A826-3FAF21FC7816.jpg

So how did the two recipes compare last time?  I have two batches in the fridge (half or 1/3 batches of two different recipes) that I made last year - but can't find the @#$% notes on which was which.  Looking forward to a blind sbs this fall to see which I like best (although not remembering which is which, the blind may be unnecessary as the labels 'A' and 'B' aren't tipping me off!)

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1 hour ago, GaryT said:

So how did the two recipes compare last time?  I have two batches in the fridge (half or 1/3 batches of two different recipes) that I made last year - but can't find the @#$% notes on which was which.  Looking forward to a blind sbs this fall to see which I like best (although not remembering which is which, the blind may be unnecessary as the labels 'A' and 'B' aren't tipping me off!)

Here's a tip: ?

The one with the slanted sides and somewhat pointy top is the "A"; and the one that's flat on the left side, with two bumps on the right side is the "B".  ? 

That help ya' any? ?

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So how did the two recipes compare last time?  I have two batches in the fridge (half or 1/3 batches of two different recipes) that I made last year - but can't find the @#$% notes on which was which.  Looking forward to a blind sbs this fall to see which I like best (although not remembering which is which, the blind may be unnecessary as the labels 'A' and 'B' aren't tipping me off!)


I only made a single batch of the Ruhlman recipe last year, so I don’t have anything to compare. I still have a 750 of it in the fridge, so I’ll be curious to see how a year mellows it (or if it does). I was talking to a friend a couple weeks ago who said he’s tried all the major recipes and prefers Ruhlman’s. But I am planning to try the Cooks Illustrated recipe this year, too. That one calls for aging the eggs, sugar, and liquor for 3 weeks, straining to remove egg solids, and then adding dairy when it’s time to serve. I’ll make that in another month or so.
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21 hours ago, Richnimrod said:

Here's a tip: ?

The one with the slanted sides and somewhat pointy top is the "A"; and the one that's flat on the left side, with two bumps on the right side is the "B".  ? 

That help ya' any? ?

Amazingly enough - NOT ?

 

9 hours ago, evasive said:

 


I only made a single batch of the Ruhlman recipe last year, so I don’t have anything to compare. I still have a 750 of it in the fridge, so I’ll be curious to see how a year mellows it (or if it does). I was talking to a friend a couple weeks ago who said he’s tried all the major recipes and prefers Ruhlman’s. But I am planning to try the Cooks Illustrated recipe this year, too. That one calls for aging the eggs, sugar, and liquor for 3 weeks, straining to remove egg solids, and then adding dairy when it’s time to serve. I’ll make that in another month or so.

 

I need to make a mini-batch of that one - @#$% the blind tasting - and write 'Ruhlman' on the jars.

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  • 3 months later...
3 hours ago, evasive said:

It tuned out nicely. I filled a bunch of 12oz amber bottles for gifting.

F65069C7-8AAD-4DED-9E4B-1D3042B28674.jpg

Gotta LOVE that eggnog cup!   Bullwinkle rides again!   Hell, even if the aged 'nog is ordinary; the presentation is FABULOUS!

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