"Does anyone know the advantages and/or disadvantages of aging a mash post fermentation for a long period of time (6 months or more) before distillation? I am interested in the impact of making whiskey and grape brandy in a pot still.

I have been making wine for years and once I press the grapes (mostly cabernet sauvignon) post fermentation I remove the last 5 gallons of the press run and put into a carboy for long term storage. This wine may be used for cooking, as a base to make vinegar, or to distill and make brandy. There is no question that aging a wine such as a cabernet sauvignon improves the body, mouth feel, etc. and I also enjoy the addition of oak when aged in a barrel. The question for everyone here is do any of these characteristics convert somehow into desired flavors in the final distillate?

I have yet to create a whiskey but in reading Smiley"s Making Pure Corn Whiskey he recommends distilling a mash "after vigorous primary fermentation" and "generally no more than 96 hours after adding the yeast". This is to prevent the yeast from creating the "dreaded esters" once the fermentable sugars have been consumed. I can easily halt the fermentation at whatever point I desire and then store the liquid from the mash for aging. One benefit is timing - I could ferment the mash and then when convenient run through the still. The question is whether or not there are advantages or disadvantages of aging in terms of the final whiskey product.

Thank you"

Thanks, do you halt the fermentation prior to completion to eliminate the "dreaded esters"? For my wines I am very selective with my yeasts and always ferment to completion unless doing an ice wine or port style. If the "dreaded esters" are of concern I figured I could add feints or low wines from a stripping run to raise the alcohol level beyond what the yeast strain can support. Do you think this is worthwhile or an exercise yielding little or no impact on the end product?

Thx

Great, thx for your input.