Many of us have oak dominoes on the way - can we talk usage?

by **BackyardBrewer** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:03 am

So with the group buy oak goodies in transit (round of applause for Baldoss!!!) can some folk who use these regularly suggest some tips based on their experience on amount of dominoes to spirit, strength of spirit and length of ageing time?

by **Bushy** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:19 am

I go two dominos per gallon demi. Colours up and tastes alright after a couple o months. Have charred em and that seems to smooth it out.

by **BackyardBrewer** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:22 am

Bushy wrote:I go two dominos per gallon demi. Colours up and tastes alright after a couple o months. Have charred em and that seems to smooth it out.

Cheers...and what's this "gallon" you speak of??
:)

1963 called and told me that it's 3.785 litres

by **Bushy** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 9:56 am

You can't take the old measures too well i see.
Get use to it mate. Pint is a pint. Inch is an inch. And a gallon is four and a half liters in new money.

by **Distillnation** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:00 am

US gallon is 3.785
UK gallon is 4.5

by **BackyardBrewer** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:03 am

Distillnation wrote:US gallon is 3.785
UK gallon is 4.5

Which is why I like metric:)

The "new money" came in around 1968...

Although I do like an imperial pint (of stout!)

Anyway, didn't mean to wander off topic...back to oak ratios. Are people aging at 65% or aging at 40%?

by **Distillnation** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:11 am

I think that 65% is the required strength for ageing (for the pros). Would probably be more beneficial for stripping the flavours and colours out.

Great idea for a thread though. Will definitely need it.

by **bluess57** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:29 am

I start with 4 dominoes in 3 litres @65%.
Takes about 1 month to take on good colour and about 3-4 months for flavour to develop.
After a month remove 2.

Also like the flavour that charred dominoes develop. Get the gas torch out and charcoal the dominoe completely.

by **crow** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 2:16 pm

BackyardBrewer wrote:
Distillnation wrote:US gallon is 3.785
UK gallon is 4.5

Which is why I like metric:)
The "new money" came in around 1968...
Although I do like an imperial pint (of stout!)
Anyway, didn't mean to wander off topic...back to oak ratios. Are people aging at 65% or aging at 40%?

1966 I think Nu zulund was 68 ;-) :laughing-rolling:

by **baldoss** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:17 pm

5kg of these dominoes is (at a complete guess) around 150~ individual dominoes so I think we'll all be set up for quite a while to come yet :laughing-rolling:

Good idea for a thread though!

by **Potmash Boka** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 8:05 am

As I have never used domino's I can't comment on them but when ageing I start at 85-94%, for 3-4 months then bring it down to 60% for another 12-14 months. For me this seems to get great colour and very good oak flavour. Occasionally I will age it for a further 6-12 months in food/alcohol safe plastic drums with my own toasted oak pieces,opening it and stirring every month.

by **MacStill** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:18 am

Potmash Boka wrote: Occasionally I will age it for a further 6-12 months in food/alcohol safe plastic drums with my own toasted oak pieces,opening it and stirring every month.

:puke-huge: :puke-huge: :puke-huge: plastic :puke-huge: :puke-huge: :puke-huge:

Dont think many would recomend you do this, but I guess that's your choice.

by **BackyardBrewer** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:35 am

Food safe and alcohol safe are not always the same thing. Other than fermenting a 10-11% wash, plastic has no place in distilling. Especially not at the strength we're talking about here.

Again, your choice but our policy is no plastic and high alcohol.

by **blond.chap** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:37 am

My standard is to age at 65% (oldest stuff is now a bit over 6 months).
This is a great thread with an experiment to see the difference of aging at different strenghts for whisky:

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11326,
The conclusion after about 2 months was:

Char, 50% - highly smoky, almost tar-like on the nose. Harsh overtones. very rough on the tongue, especially on the back of the palate.

Char, 55% - Noticeably smoother and lighter in flavour, and a bit more texture (tannin) to it. more approachable. a little less smoke on the nose and not tar-like, but smoke is still the overriding characteristic.

Char, 60% - smooth smoke on the nose followed by sweet fruitiness, much more complex, full. Stone fruits on the palate, with the smokiness becoming more of a background taste. lots of frontal palate stuff, noticeably sweeter.

Char, 65% - Much lighter nose. Extremely approachable. Much less smoke. still full and fruity on the palate though, if a little lighter. vanilla background.

Char, 70% - Rougher nose. lack of fruit. lots of vanilla and not much else. spirit is noticeably less smooth in the mouth with more burn, but taste is VERY light, not much flavour. just vanilla. no fruits.

Toast, 50% - Extremely dry. a touch of grass / hay on the nose, and a touch of fruitiness on the palate. No vanilla.

Toast, 55% - Extremely harsh. Almost undrinkable. Possibly we thought something has gone wrong with this sample. checked the oak and it was indistinguishable from the other toasted samples, so we think that maybe this is a genuine result. VERY woody, lack of vanilla, an almost saltly mid-palate taste through the burn. seriously nasty.

Toast, 60% - Completely different from the 55%. A light nose with no smoke to speak of, and VERY fruity, stone fruits with hints of berry. faint vanilla coming through on the nose. a very bold taste, excellent character. We were spitting the samples back out but I couldn't resist this one... just slips down. Very smooth.

Toast, 65% - Reminds us of the 55% a bit... getting rough again. Less fruit, a lot mor tannins with a bit more vanilla.

Toast, 70% - VERY vanilla nose, but quite harsh and burning. A HUGE tannin hit, heaps of texture right to the back of the throat. sort of like chewing on sawdust. Nasty.

by **JayD** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 9:44 am

Potmash Boka wrote: Occasionally I will age it for a further 6-12 months in food/alcohol safe plastic drums with my own toasted oak pieces,opening it and stirring every month.

k...why would you finnish off your product in plastic drum? I'm assuming you have seen or read where the large distilleries are doing this?...if you have read this, I would like to put this to you, did they bother to remove the hangover from their product? The bigger distilleries are profit driven compared to us at a hobby level we want to only drink the best so we don't wake up the next morning with a head that feels like a dropped pie. I respect your right to age as you see fit however consider the long term implications of doing this. I Would not recommend storing and ageing your product in plastic.
J

by **Camikaze** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 10:44 am

Yep, too right Jay.

:handgestures-thumbupleft:

by **SBB** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 11:24 am

Same from me, Plastic for storing anything over a wash abv is :handgestures-thumbdown: :handgestures-thumbdown: :handgestures-thumbdown: :handgestures-thumbdown:

by **JayD** » Tue Apr 30, 2013 12:56 pm

OK, we have quickly discussed the negatives for ageing your hooch in plastic...in the sprit of using your newly aquired Oak Dominoes properly and keeping this thread on topic... :law-policered: lets get back to talking Oak and the amounts to use. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

:law-policered:
J

by **Linno** » Sat May 11, 2013 10:20 pm

thanks to Baldoss i have a couple kilos of the nadale toasted American oak dominoes at my disposal... just thought i would share that i placed 3 staves split in half (to fit in the demi) in 3.4ltr BWKO at 65% to age.... after one week great colour great smell but was already starting to taste a tad woody - for my liking. its now got 1 stave split in half. Think i will go half that for the next batch.

by **Potmash Boka** » Sun May 19, 2013 10:05 pm

Just to clarify, the drums are food and alcohol safe, they cost a shitload ( compared to just food safe)but last bloody ages and don't retain any flavours in them. Not a rookie but haven't found 25 L glass jugs anywhere that fit into my storage areas, and have no more room for 50L and 25l barrels. :handgestures-thumbupleft: