Hey Fritz I'm guessing the only thing you drink is whiskey since you will only use chared chips. I also like whiskey along with brandy, rum, vodka, and tequila. There are different types of toastings used to impart different flavors for various types of alcohol. In fact chared is a style of toasting.

Have fun with your chips.

"True enough, any and I mean ALL the likker you make will be better with time. Thats not counting the one you add stuff to because the additions may make it worse. But white dawg in general will age very well if its not urinal wash or swamp water to start with.
Thats why lots of folks will keep runnin the still long after they have stock built up, so they can age some at different proofs."

Did you let the product aged with toasted oak age the same amount of time as the product with the charred oak? How long did you let it age? Was the product from the same batch, same abv? Did you use the same amount of oak? If not, what were the differences (other than toasted vs. charred) between the products?

Still got a couple of jars from a run, one toasted the other charred. The toasted seems like it's getting more woodsy with age, hate think what it'll taste like a year from now. come the spring I'll probably recycle it along with my other failed experiments. And btw, I think I understand why Bourbon barrels ain't reused, second time around don't work as good. I have a jar that's got twice the charred chips as the other except these have been used. After a month, the color, taste and smell are weak.

Hi Fritz, before you recycle that toasted stash, pull the wood out and let it sit for another 3 to 4 months and try another taste. You could also add some of your chared chips after pulling the toasted ones and see how that turns out. There are a lot of different ways to experiment in this hobby and at worst you just throw it in the next batch to run and start again.

On the barrel use/reuse I believe that is law. But used whiskey barrels are reused to age some varieties of rum, and maybe other spirits.

Hi JB, if the product your trying to make is white when finished it does'nt go on oak. If the product is any color of brown then it goes on oak.

I just started oaking in April of last year and have used medium and dark toastings to good end. The light toast will impart more tannins, wood juice, as they have'nt been burned out as much as in a dark or charred toast. I test my product every week for taste to determine flavor and color profile, that tells me when to pull the sticks. After pulling the sticks I let it age at least another two to three months, more is better.

Would'nt suggest sticking anything over a 120 proof as it can break down the wood. Mine is usually between 100 and 110 proof when I stick it.

Only used a charred toast in one bourbon I made and left the sticks in for 3 months. When I took them out it tasted pretty good and 3 months later it was very smooth and full flavored. Wanted to age it for a year but I let people sample it at Christmas, only have a pint left. I have yet to leave the oak in and leave it for a year or more but plan on doing that in the near future.

I don't know about rice whiskey so I guess I'll have to look into it.

"Fritz,

I'm going to have to tell you once the project is complete.

The plan is to oak it with a light to medium toast. I've been working on this since late summer, lots of mini-mash sessions, experimenting with different techniques for preparation of the rice, different types of rice, mash water treatment, making plenty of mistakes (and trying to correct them), etc. etc. So I've put a lot of time into the project. I've learned an awful lot and I've enjoyed doing it ... so the project has already been well worth the effort. But dropping the ball in the final quarter would be a total bummer. That's why I was concerned about a few of your initial statements.

Honestly, I don't believe that toasted oak produces tree juice. I don't doubt that it tasted that way in your experiment, but I've read far too much to the contrary to accept that toasted oak is for the birds. That's why I've been trying to push you for details ... I'd like to understand where and why things went wrong. There are so many variables to consider including the initial quality of your distillate. So I'm really not trying to be an
$$hole here, I really want to learn something from what you've experienced ... before I drop toasted oak into my first rice whiskey ... it's been a long time coming. And aside from a few jars of oaked neutral I have sitting on the shelf, my experience with oak is nil, nada ... I'm on the steep part of the learning curve.:)

Regards,
--JB"

What I used was the JD BBQ chips you can buy at any grocery store. Dunno if you'd get the same results with other forms of oak or not. It wasn't so much the woodsy taste I didn't like, it was the bitterness. When I charred the chips, no more bitterness.