Silly aging question

[Sparrow]

Gday all,

My plans for a still are coming along, catching up with my best mate tonight and going over a design. We've decided to do it together.

Any who, reading about aging and getting depth of flavour had been fascinating and it's also got mwater wondering.

For an average Joe like myself, affording oak barrels to age liquor might be a bit on the pricey side. As I understand putting it in jars with a stave will colour and impart flavour but won't "age" it properly as it needs to breathe.

It's got me to wondering could you for example have your whiskey in a jar with staves and then cover with a cloth rather than a lid to enable it to breathe?

I imagine you'd lose a bit to evaporation but is this potentially a way to replicate some of the processes of an oak barrel without actually having one? Or are there things I haven't considered that make it a poor idea?

Cheers,

Sparrow

[EziTasting]

G'Day Sparrow,

acing and flavouring is related and is done with relative ease, even without a barrel. Having said that, my partner in crime received a 3L barrel for Christmas and he put WBAB in there for 7.5 weeks and ^:)^ it is sooooooo good! I think it trumps the dominies!

But while on a budget, or starting out 5SD sell French and US dominos that can be used in jars (as long as there is NO seal in/on the lid) and you can then manage the time it stays like that until it reaches your taste profile...

Its so affordable, its not funny!

[hillzabilly]

:text-+1: With using dominoes from 5Star ,I use demijohns with silicone bungs with the standard fermenter air lock to allow breathing and ta keep dust bugs and shit out,has worked very well for me with a very slight loss over 3-6months from 5lt ta 25lt demi's.cheers hillzabilly :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Zak Griffin]

IMG_0402.JPG

2L jar from woollies. Remove the seal, add spirit and dominoes, clamp a piece of paper towel in the lid.

[prawnz]

I'm doing the same as Zak (on his recomendation) .

I found I had to use a few more layers of p towel tho coz I was losing to much to the angels . Level dropped about 3mm in 6 days . Would have been to much sacrifice at that rate . Now with about 6 layers of towel its still breathing but not losing at the same rate .

Zak in that jar you have there is there like 1 dominoe in there ?

[Sparrow]

Thanks lads,

Reckon I'll try zaks method thanks for that mate!

[Kenster]

Prawnz,... funny thing that... 3mm in 6 days.. what real volume are we talkin... SFA...is jt really significant... (half a nip? ) we make it DIRT cheap and bust our balls about the Angels... really??? it is fuck all over the scheme of things..we have this fear of the ANGELS ... they take SFA,, so LET THE ANGELAS do their shit... idont cap my cuts at all, i just leave them breathe... WTF.. if i lose 500ml???? No crime.
PS... this is not directed at any individual, however the vol we "WORRY" about is less than the shit we use for cleaner... PERSPECTIVE?

[coffe addict]

I use a range of different vessels and varying levels of seals. If I'm low on drinking stock I'm very tight on cuts and use a storage vessel that doesn't seal well. If I have heaps aging then I'll use more heads more tails and make sure the vessel has the top off once a month for a cpl days. The later takes a lot longer but produces a better drink.
Nothing beats barrels and as such I'm building up to a six month supply in jars waiting to go into the appropriate barrel.

[TasSpirits]

I use Barrels and Glass bottles, with the glass bottles I use natural cork and find that they breathe quite well, losses are minimal. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[prawnz]

Prawnz,... funny thing that... 3mm in 6 days.. what real volume are we talkin... SFA...is jt really significant... (half a nip? ) we make it DIRT cheap and bust our balls about the Angels... really??? it is fuck all over the scheme of things..we have this fear of the ANGELS ... they take SFA,, so LET THE ANGELAS do their shit... idont cap my cuts at all, i just leave them breathe... WTF.. if i lose 500ml???? No crime.
PS... this is not directed at any individual, however the vol we "WORRY" about is less than the shit we use for cleaner... PERSPECTIVE?

Yeh fair enough . Agree , lose track sometimes , then someone makes a post like this and it all falls back into place :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Quality over quantity :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Zak Griffin]

I usually run one domino split in half :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Plumby]

Do you rechar with a blow torch zac or do you leave it as is?
I have been using one new domino and one used one for a week then after a week remove the used domino and leave the fresh one in there until its ready.

[Zak Griffin]

These are uncharred, I might chuck a charred domino in one jar though now that you mention it.