SS French oak chips over done in less than 24h??

[_TK_]

Hi All,

I would like to ask you all for some advise.

I have used Still Spirit French Oak Chips medium toasted in my spirit - twice striped 50l wine/wash, with very conservative cuts (at least thats what i think) and after less than 24h it seems something is not right. The colour is like tea cup made out off 5 or more tea bags, smell and taste is overwhelmed by smoke (harsh smoke like the one from chair coil bbq from smoking in bbq) :puke-huge:

Ive taken the chips out, and now Im trying to figure out what can be done with it, wait, trow it with other low vines, bin it? I was very happy with the product before adding chips, it looked very promising:(

I have to admit I've used way too much of this chips: for 3.2l@80abv around 30-40g of chips, really hard to tell as I have 1kg bag and no experience of measuring this stuff out, I may messed it up there but still after not even in one day disaster has happened (chips in in late evening and out next day after getting home from work) ??

Would appreciate any advise

Cheers

[Camikaze]

Throw it in with next low wines mate. Not a drop goes to waste. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Next try aging/oaking on 1/3 of what you used before and keep an eye on it. Add more etc til yr happy with the result. It's all a big experiment til you find what you are happy with.

;-)

[Sam.]

I doubt you have overoaked it in 24 hours mate, especially if it only has a light colour.

Either the chips you got are shit or you need to wait longer. You may be right and have put too much in to start (haven't used chips so don't really know) but seeming you took them out I would be inclined to put a little bit back in and wait for a month or two. Oak takes a while to impart all the flavours the brew shop bullshit of "chuck these in for 5 days and she be sweet mate" is just that bullshit. Theres a reason all good spirits need to be aged for a minimum period by law :handgestures-thumbupleft:

But if you think it's completely fucked do what Cam said and rerun it and start again ;-)

[dogbreath vodka]

+1

I use 2 - 4 chunks in two litre containers for a year.
The results are excellent after 6 months

So something is amiss if you are tasting after 24hrs.... leave it at least a month.
If all else fails.... back through the still.

DBV

[Dominator]

I am currently using still spirits light toasted French oak cubes for my rum @ 65%. The packet said to add 10-20 cubes per L. I started with 15pL and within hours I was getting significant color. I left it for 24hrs then decided it was too much and I was worried about over oaking so I cut it back to 8pL. It has been three weeks now and I am just starting to get a oak taste to my rum.

I see your oaking at 80%. Perhaps this has stripped the colour and flavour from the oak too fast. I think 65% is the benchmark for most people to age their hooch.

What have you distilled? Rum, whisky, neutral? You say you were happy with the product before you oaked it? Did you taste it befor oak or are you just going from smell/looks? As dog breath said it will take time. My rum was pretty manky off the still but 3 weeks on it is getting good, still needs more time though.

[Urrazeb]

What wash was it? 80% is too high abv to age on oak.

Two things left to do imo, Run another spirit run and thin the shit stuff out with raw hearts, water to 65% and add a little oak. Or bang it in with low wines and recharge the boiler.

[Linny]

+1 on recharge , ive over oaked before ,,, was 2L when i started ... by the time i finished it was 9L and could only JUST be drinkable .... take the loss and learn the lesson :handgestures-thumbupleft: (well not really a loss, you just lost time) and re run that with another batch

[_TK_]

I decided to recharge the boiler and start over again, chuck chips into the trash bin and never again buy oak chips from still spirits - it seems their batches differ too much

On the weekend Ive visited my friend who happened to have same brand chips (still spirits medium french oak) but in smaller bag (100g, my was in 1kg) and his are much lighter in colour, bigger chunks, and there is no smokey smell in the bag - smell is rather pleasant .. when I open my bag I feel like I jump into never cleaned old charcoal bbq - disgusting

What dominos/staves/cubes would be good to use on:
- brandy style spirit - will need something good after recharging boiler with stuff above,
- rum - would be trying rum recipe after some confidence gained with neutrals and cuts

[Bogdan]

Sounds like the chips you are using are of poor quality - If you use the sort of chips used in the wine making industry then 10g/L is fairly normal and you would expect the colour to be like tea in a day or so but I suspect that oaking at 80% is your main problem. People usually oak between 40 and 65% and choose the strength to get different results -- different strength extract different proportions of the oak tannins and other compounds. But I guess I would say that if the chips do not smell nice before you use them then can not expect the result to be good.

Also -- never throw away stuff that turns out not to your liking - A quick trip back through the still and its all new again. Very few things will come across with the alcohol, the exception being organic oils like Aniseed and citrus.

[Trustme imdrunk]

Don't drink it straight, Mix with ginger ale and all will be good!! :handgestures-thumbupleft: