Whiskey Aging Experiment - With Added Science!!!

[clearmoon247]

Just over 2 weeks ago, I set up a new experiment that I haven't seen done thus far.

 

Using 8 qty bottles of Buffalo Trace white dog, I filled a 1L traditional barrel from Oak Barrels, Ltd, a Ten30 Char #3 Micro-barrel, and a mason jar with a 1-inch charred oak cube, made from the same oak as the Ten30 barrel, PFTE tape around the threading, and an HDPE lid.

 

All three containers are being kept next to each other and the barrels are kept in doors and at a relatively constant environmental temperature.

 

Filling was 1140ml in the traditional barrel, 860ml in the Ten30 barrel, and the remaining 1L in the mason jar.

 

Initial weigh in filled were as followed:

Traditional: 1607g

Ten30: 1214g

Mason Jar: 1668g

 

After 2 weeks:

Traditional: 1512g

Ten30: 1213g

Mason Jar: 1668g

 

I'll update with each weigh in to showcase the angels share across the board. 

[Harry in WashDC]

THX for this.  I picked up a 375 of BT Mash #1 a few weeks ago but haven't opened it, yet.  I have a friend who cannot handle "brown" spirit but can drink white dog all day IF he has enough orange soda to add to it.  I decided to keep this one for me when I stumbled on some Mellow Corn in another store.  I gifted that to him, instead.

 

I'm interested in how your experiment goes as I've always wondered how aging one's own REALLY tastes.  Some local bars have tried this with Manhattans, and some of them turned out pretty good.  AND, some SBers have posted their own attempts over the last few years,  Hence, drive on and report!

[PaulO]

Interesting experiment there.

I've wondered myself about the piece of barrel stave in a Mason jar trick.  I heard that is an old mooonshiner's thing.

The one time I bought a 375ml bottle of BT white dog, I ended up finding the most satisfactory use was to mix with lemonade.  

[clearmoon247]

15 hours ago, PaulO said:

Interesting experiment there.

I've wondered myself about the piece of barrel stave in a Mason jar trick.  I heard that is an old mooonshiner's thing.

The one time I bought a 375ml bottle of BT white dog, I ended up finding the most satisfactory use was to mix with lemonade.  

I've been playing around with mason jar aging and the trick is to have a decent amount of headspace, minimal oak, and leave it alone for years. After 4 years, it has a surprisingly good flavor if you had a good quality oak to start with.

[Skinsfan1311]

On 7/11/2023 at 12:13 AM, PaulO said:

Interesting experiment there.

I've wondered myself about the piece of barrel stave in a Mason jar trick.  I heard that is an old mooonshiner's thing.

The one time I bought a 375ml bottle of BT white dog, I ended up finding the most satisfactory use was to mix with lemonade.  

 Pre-pandemic, we took the Hard Hat tour at BT and the guide poured a glass of the white dog, straight from a buffalo head tap, and passed it around to taste.   I actually liked it enough to buy a bottle.   On rare occasions, I'll have a neat pour.   I guess that it's not that rare of an occasion, given that I'm on my 2nd bottle

For whatever reason, that hot, sweet, buttery corn profile scratches an itch.  It also brings back fond memories of our first trip to Kentucky.     

 

[jvd99]

That's a great experiment. Good luck

 

I picked up a Badmotivator 1.7 gallon barrel and bought a case and half of BT Wheated white dog but haven't filled it yet. It's just sitting head side down with 375 ml of white dog in it to keep it wet and prevent bacteria. The Badmotivatior barrel is similar to the Ten 30, except it has a spigot and a bung in the wood head. It's also bigger.  I think I'll be putting 17 bottles of the White Dog in. Badmotivator says the math works out to a wood to liquid ratio very similar to a 53 gallon barrel, so the small barrel can actuallyy age for years. Shooting for my own Weller product. Seems like that's how the Ten 30 barrel should work also - you may have to wait quite some time to get a good result.

 

I'll be posting a detailed thread on my endeavor soon.

 

 

[clearmoon247]

On 7/12/2023 at 9:08 PM, jvd99 said:

That's a great experiment. Good luck

 

I picked up a Badmotivator 1.7 gallon barrel and bought a case and half of BT Wheated white dog but haven't filled it yet. It's just sitting head side down with 375 ml of white dog in it to keep it wet and prevent bacteria. The Badmotivatior barrel is similar to the Ten 30, except it has a spigot and a bung in the wood head. It's also bigger.  I think I'll be putting 17 bottles of the White Dog in. Badmotivator says the math works out to a wood to liquid ratio very similar to a 53 gallon barrel, so the small barrel can actuallyy age for years. Shooting for my own Weller product. Seems like that's how the Ten 30 barrel should work also - you may have to wait quite some time to get a good result.

 

I'll be posting a detailed thread on my endeavor soon.

 

 

You are correct! The Ten30 and Badmotivator barrels work on the same principle and surprisingly, have a similar surface area to volume ratio. 

 

Ben (the inventor of BadMo barrels) actually passed away about a week ago and will be severely missed by those of us in the barrel aging community. He was a genuinely nice person who has done nothing but good for us all.

[clearmoon247]

Weekly weigh in updates.

 

Traditional barrel: 1467g (-45g)

Ten30 barrel: 1213g (-0g)

Mason Jar: 1668g (-0g)

 

So far, we are at a 13.46% loss on the traditional barrel. 

[jvd99]

7 minutes ago, clearmoon247 said:

You are correct! The Ten30 and Badmotivator barrels work on the same principle and surprisingly, have a similar surface area to volume ratio. 

 

Ben (the inventor of BadMo barrels) actually passed away about a week ago and will be severely missed by those of us in the barrel aging community. He was a genuinely nice person who has done nothing but good for us all.

I saw that Ben passed away. My barrel was one of his last, it shipped 6/29 and he passed on 7/1. Very sad...I'll try and do his barrel right

[Harry in WashDC]

On 7/12/2023 at 9:08 PM, jvd99 said:

That's a great experiment. Good luck

 

I picked up a Badmotivator 1.7 gallon barrel and bought a case and half of BT Wheated white dog but haven't filled it yet. It's just sitting head side down with 375 ml of white dog in it to keep it wet and prevent bacteria. The Badmotivatior barrel is similar to the Ten 30, except it has a spigot and a bung in the wood head. It's also bigger.  I think I'll be putting 17 bottles of the White Dog in. Badmotivator says the math works out to a wood to liquid ratio very similar to a 53 gallon barrel, so the small barrel can actuallyy age for years. Shooting for my own Weller product. Seems like that's how the Ten 30 barrel should work also - you may have to wait quite some time to get a good result.

 

I'll be posting a detailed thread on my endeavor soon.

 

 

SOON?????  Like 2029?????  I'll be back to see how it all turned out.

[jvd99]

On 7/16/2023 at 6:21 PM, Harry in WashDC said:

SOON?????  Like 2029?????  I'll be back to see how it all turned out.

I'll document the process, most of which is up front. I'm waiting for a scale to be delivered that can weigh the filled barrel. Should be a few more days, so hold your horses, It'll be posted SOON!!!

 

 

[clearmoon247]

Weekly weigh in updates:

 

Traditional Barrel: 1424g (-43g)

Ten30 Barrel: 1213g (-0g)

Mason Jar: 1668g (-0g)

 

Total angels share so far for the traditional barrel is currently at 17.60% over the span of 1 month.

[fishnbowljoe]

I still have a whiskey making kit I received as a Xmas present in 2021 that I have yet to delve into. I also have a 375 of BT White Dog. One of these days.  

 

[clearmoon247]

On 7/21/2023 at 4:16 PM, fishnbowljoe said:

I still have a whiskey making kit I received as a Xmas present in 2021 that I have yet to delve into. I also have a 375 of BT White Dog. One of these days.  

 

That's really cool! Just remember that less is more with fine chips.

[fishnbowljoe]

2 minutes ago, clearmoon247 said:

That's really cool! Just remember that less is more with fine chips.

I appreciate the heads up @clearmoon247.

 

At one time I was contemplating using Mellow Corn. Also BT Rye Mash White dog. The one I have is BT Wheated Mash. Decisions, decisions.

[jvd99]

Filled my Bad Motivator barrel up with 16 bottles of BT Wheated white dog. I've decided not to post a thread about it, as there's really not much to do between now and 4+ years when I'll consider drinking it.  Figure its better to keep a data log and post it all at once down the line, but here its is (also posted in the What Bottle Did You Open Today)

 

 

 

 

[clearmoon247]

We are a few days shy of 2 months of barrel aging.

 

The results are as follows:

Traditional Barrel: 1253g (34.04% total loss)

Ten30 Barrel: 1213g (0.13% total loss)

Mason Jar: 1668g (0% total loss)

 

At this stage, we have passed the point in which the traditional barrel has less whiskey than the Ten30 barrel.

 

Throughout the experiment, all three options have been maintained at room temperature in our living room, all physically next to each other on a tray.

 

Additionally, neither of the barrels nor the mason jar have been opened since the start.

 

 

[jvd99]

How long do you plan to go on that Ten30 barrel?

[clearmoon247]

On 8/20/2023 at 11:13 AM, jvd99 said:

How long do you plan to go on that Ten30 barrel?

Probably a couple of years.

 

To give everyone a useful update, we are just over 3 months into the project.

 

Current total measurements are as follows:

Traditional Barrel: 1065g (52.12% total loss)

Ten30 Barrel: 1212g (0.25% total loss)

Mason Jar: 1668g (0% total loss)

[clearmoon247]

We just hit the 6-Month mark in the experiment. With that, I dumped both barrels after a final weigh in to see how things were going.

 

Final measurements are as follows:

Traditional Barrel: 730g (98.76% total loss)

Ten30 Barrel: 1211g (0.42% total loss)

Mason Jar: 1668g (0% total loss)

 

After emptying the barrels, we had the following volumes:

Traditional Barrel: 25ml

Ten30 Barrel: 820ml

 

Ive since added the whiskey back into the Ten30 barrel to continue aging for the next several years.

[jvd99]

The traditional barrel seems pretty pointless. Couple questions -- What did the instructions say about how long you could age it? Were you brave enough to drink the 25ml?

[GaryT]

Wow - I'd done some low-fill bottle blends in a small barrel like that, but luckily didn't have that much loss.  Before filling it, was there any prep it required (e.g. filling with hot water to let sit for some period of time, etc)?  That's shite luck on losing that much in that amount of time.  Also curious about what jvd99 asked regarding the 25 mL  

[clearmoon247]

On 12/27/2023 at 12:26 AM, jvd99 said:

The traditional barrel seems pretty pointless. Couple questions -- What did the instructions say about how long you could age it? Were you brave enough to drink the 25ml?

There weren't any instructions on how long I could age spirits in the barrel.

 

On 12/30/2023 at 6:16 AM, GaryT said:

Wow - I'd done some low-fill bottle blends in a small barrel like that, but luckily didn't have that much loss.  Before filling it, was there any prep it required (e.g. filling with hot water to let sit for some period of time, etc)?  That's shite luck on losing that much in that amount of time.  Also curious about what jvd99 asked regarding the 25 mL  

Yes, the barrel was filled with hot water for 72 hours prior to filling with the spirit.

 

I was brave enough to drink the 25ml. It wasn't bad, but to say wood was the main & secondary flavor is an understatement. 

 

The Ten30 barrel, however, tasted like a youthful whiskey that was starting to develop complexity.