I wanted to get some feedback and ideas about aging in a 3 gal glass carboy. If I used an airlock would that let out the bad components in the liquor as it ages?

That's what I have been doing for a year and a half, with good results. My thought was to simulate a barrel. By allowing the carboy to breathe and leave it be in the basement to age. It would also take up less space.

You wouldn't be simulating a barrel, the way a barrel breaths is the likker goes in and out of the wood and brings the wood flavors out of the oak. Nowthen, if your likker is in glass there would be no real advantage to the airlock idea in my opinion. I think I understand what you are trying to do but remember it would also evaporate the etoh if you left it open to the air and with the airlock in place no air movement could happen anyway.

+1 on what Sir Hokey has said...

I age on glass with oak chips - every two weeks, I pop the seals on the containers a hot second, then seal back up, and agitate the snot outa it (Plz don't try tapin' it to a paint whirly and usin' a drill - bad idea ) and then back into the rack..

I get exceptional results every time I am willing to wait the six months it takes

Edited by user Friday, March 06, 2015 10:58:35 AM(UTC)  | Reason: after 35+ years in computers, I cannot speel

Howdy gents, I had the good fortune to go to the JD distillery once and the tour guide there said that the barrels can only be used once for their purposes. I know you and I could use it as many times as we want to but the way it was said was ---- liken it to a tea bag, it's just not the same after the first time. SO then what do they do with the barrels??? They sell them to Scotch makes (Glenlivet) and they say the used barrel gives that nice LIGHT amber look. There are also rum makers that buy the used ones, I think read once that Canadian whiskey makers buy them too.
You and I can use our 2-5 gallon barrel as many times as we want but I guess it's one of the secrets of the trade that tells them they can only use it once. They need that heavy burnt wood flavor so when they cut it down to 80 proof it still has the wood flavor in the finished product.

I have a 5gal Canadian Oak charred barrel and it's been in service for four years now. The first batch I put in the barrel was over Oked in a month but I put it back through the still and things turned out ok.

After each batch that goes into the barrel the wait time for the next batch takes a little longer than the last. It's takes a good 6 months now to age but the flavours the barrel give now are far better than the first couple of batches.

In a smaller barrel unlike a commercial size, the surface area to volume of liquor is larger causing the aging process to be quicker.

Government has laws that states a certain process for aging and that's why they only us a barrel once for Burban but that barrel gets used a second time for whiskey as an example.

A barrel is a great addition to a HomeBrewer's hardware but oak chips in a glass carboy will produce similar results with less work.

My barrel is alway full as it would grow mold if left empty. Salfur is needed to store it empty and five gallons is way too big. My next one will be 1 to 3 gallons.

You don't put high proof in a barrel becaus the more alcohol content in the barrel the quicker it will strip flavors out of the wood. Picture the alcohol as a cleaner, the less diluted it is the less cleaning power it has. I would shoot for 100 proof or less going into the barrel as a proof of 150 would probably come out of the barrel black to dark brown in two weeks with no time to age letting out those off flavors that a barrel does so nicely over time.

Edited by user Tuesday, March 17, 2015 4:33:18 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Just shake and take the top off to air it out once a week or once every other week.

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