Fix crappy booze?

Go to Amazon, put in " toasted oak spiral" add to jar, taste after a few days, try again in over time to see the change. 

I got some images spirits from a local distillery when they first opened and they sold ageing kits. It's fun to see just what it does to it. 

The stuff I have hanging out in my cabinet began as a carroway rye white spirit, I put it down with charred apple wood chips for 3 years. Went from a bit harsh to being some really damn good stuff. 

Your success with that stuff is not promised, but the spirals are pretty cheap. Try it out. 

For some interesting stuff, look up a YouTube channel "whiskey tribe"

Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

Also, as a Maryland Rye Guy. I'll never understand anyone in the Smokies or Appalachia who isn't doing Single Malt or at least Bourbon.

To get pedantic around what you're describing - "Bourbon" is arguably the lowest quality of all of the all-grain American whiskey styles. You're better off just getting "whiskey".

Bourbon is whiskey made from a mash of at least 51% corn. Generally, the more other grains are in it (malted barley, wheat, rye, etc.) the more smooth and flavorful it will be. If you have a spirit that is just "whiskey" that means that it is all grain (as opposed the moonshine above that uses sugar) without any one grain being dominant.

There is also no official designation of "single malt" in America yet. That description has been drafted, people are working hard to get it officially recognized, and it will eventually happen. But it is not yet an official TTB designation. Right now, there's only "malt whiskey" which is whiskey made from at least 51% malted barley.

People aren't pushing lazy, quick shine because of tradition. They're doing it because it's lazy and quick and they can make money faster rather than going through the time and effort of aging and storing. The story about "Great Grandpapi" is just marketing to sucker people in.

In reply to Beer Baron :

I agree completely, the lack of aging during prohibition was effectively because you wanted to move product because there was demand and you didn't want to be caught holding (I.E. aging) product. You had to move it, rack houses would've been stash houses that stick out like a sore thumb. 

46% barley, 37% rye 6% sorghum 11% corn for me. 

In reply to Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :

The big thing I want to see in American whiskeys, is to remove the mandate of "new charred oak". Not only is that hugely wasteful and bad environmental practice, it doesn't make the best whiskey. It means the barrel becomes a dominant flavor.

It stands in the way of making complex and long-aging whiskeys. Especially malt whiskey.

I think the best results come from 2nd and 3rd turn barrels.

Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) said:

 

This is a superior shot to methshine. 

I just got turned onto that a couple of weeks ago.  Holds up very nice especially at it's price point.

I've had real tax free moonshine, out of a mason jar,  made by real rednecks in a real home still set up. 

It was harsh to drink but didn't taste bad.  Just really strong, but I was like 17 so everything tasted strong then.

Totally agree, the moonshine is generally quick and lazy compared to aged spirits. 

Its all personal preference within the whiskey family. 

I've done a fair bit of tasting around, I keep finding that I dislike Burbon and prefer whiskey to it and generally prefer scotch to that. That said, there is such a wide range within scotch - especially as pertains to peat. There are days I am all about Laphroaig and there are days that the peat just turns me off. The constant is that burbon is generally too sweet to me.  

That said, give me a good cask strength whiskey and I am a very happy camper. 

Also, if you want something different, if you have never had Mezcal, get yourself some to try. I suggest Derrumbes Oaxaca as that is my current favorite. Think tequela with much more flavor that you can tell was produced using a terra cotta lined pit with fire and smoke. I just sip it neat. 

In reply to Apexcarver :

+1 on good mezcal and Beer Baron is spot on with regards to repetitive barrel use, especially if barreling different spirits in it, varying the sequence of what ages after what. 

Apexcarver said:

That said, there is such a wide range within scotch - especially as pertains to peat.

First, Yes. Second, not really.

The large majority of Scotch whisky is unpeated. There are over 150 distilleries in Scotland. I'd hazard that <20% of those are their flagship lines peated. Peat appears frequently in blended whiskies (e.g. Johnny Walker) because it doesn't take much to carry that flavor. It's an easy way to punch up how flavorful a whisky is when it isn't all malt (like Johnny Walker).

And I enjoy Mezcal quite a bit.

I'm looking forward to the next batch of malt whisky that we make going into our ex-bourbon casks. I suspect we're going to start a lifecycle of Bourbon -> Malt -> Rum -> ???

You could look into making some Bitters out of that, maybe. I made bitters for wedding favors this year and used 100 proof vodka for a neutral taste. But in my case I added a bunch of herbs and items for flavoring and came up with a very nice set of bitters that I use in making my old fashioneds. Mine has bitter orange, cacao, chicory and vanilla for flavors, oregon grape holly, angelica, and gentian root for the bittering components.

Beer Baron said:

RevRico said:

Is there anything I can do to make it taste better, without dropping the alcohol content? Because even with a mixer, it's undrinkable. Or should this just be used for parts cleaning?

There is (most likely) NOTHING you can do to make that taste better. Even cutting the alcohol content won't make it taste better, it will just have a diluted bad flavor.

It tastes bad because they did a quick and dirty distillation run of a hot and dirty fermentation. They left in a lot of heads and/or tails - compounds that taste gross and make you ill. Higher alcohols and the like. These are the things that give you a NASTY hangover.

Pure ethyl alcohol (or as close as we can get) doesn't taste bad. It tastes vaguely sweet. I have some 96% ethanol in the back. I have tasted it at that strength, and - although I wouldn't recommend it - it doesn't taste bad at all. It's just physically uncomfortable to drink something that high alcohol.

The only way to make that good is to run it through a still again and strip out unwanted compounds.

Okay... there is ONE caveat to that - if the unpleasant flavor is sulfurous. If it tastes like match head or vaguely meaty. If *that* is the case, you can stick it in a cask (preferably with a fresh char) and let it sit for 2+ years, then it will become really good.

Actually... never mind. That's not going to be the problem. Those compounds occur in grain alcohols. See how it says it is made from "CANE & GRAIN". The order matters. That means that it is over 50% sugar wash. You're tasting byproducts of stressed yeast in hot and fast fermentation.

96%, isn't that basically Everclear? I don't think I've ever heard someone say it tastes sweet. Granted it's been quite a while since I've had some that wasn't in trash can punch, but it was not pleasant to take a shot of. 

A few years ago I did a lot of tasting single grain whiskeys to help me learn the flavors they added. This thread along with a very good scotch Floating Doc gave me made me think that I've always wanted to explore aging alcohol on wood. Because I'm me I chose some and cherry. 

First I toasted them at 380 degrees using this chart to determine what I was aiming for. 

I used Everclear because it's a neutral spirit but I could dilute it down to around 115 proof for aging. 

Our two bottles with 115ish Everclear. 

Our toasty pellets. 

And the magic has started. 

z31maniac said:

96%, isn't that basically Everclear? I don't think I've ever heard someone say it tastes sweet. Granted it's been quite a while since I've had some that wasn't in trash can punch, but it was not pleasant to take a shot of. 

Vodka produced in the United States has to be distilled to at least 191 proof (or is it 196?). It then gets diluted with water to bottling proof. So that is our undiluted base vodka spirit. I've started transfers with a siphon sometimes.

Ethanol has a flavor. The flavor of ethanol is vaguely sweet. It's tough to describe beyond that. It's sort of like glycerin, except that it is less dense and has even less body than water. Plus zero minerality.

At full proof, the physical sensation of burning is going to overwhelm that flavor. You definitely do NOT want to take shots of it. But getting some in your mouth while priming a siphon? A lot less unpleasant than gasoline.

In reply to Stampie :

The trouble with that sort of experiment and with using everclear - wood aging produces several different flavor changes, and you will only get one.

Firstly, you get additive flavors. The flavor of the wood imparted into the spirit. But there are two other reactions.

Subtractive flavors - compounds in the wood (particularly carbon in the char) bind with and remove/neutralize compounds in the spirit (most notably sulfurous compounds).

Transformative flavors - compounds in the wood combine with compounds in the spirit and become entirely new compounds with totally separate flavors. This tends to take a lot of time.

The latter two of these flavor reactions take a LOT longer than additive flavors. They also start with compounds in the base spirit that are less pleasant while it is young. This is why especially complex whiskies take so long to age. You're starting with a lot of not-pleasant compounds and giving things time for those to mellow into new flavors. Everclear is incredibly pure ethanol, and so does not have all of those complex compounds in it. You're really only extracting additive flavors.

Speaking of wood aging and additive flavors... what *does* work very well to age are moderately flavor positive white spirits. Tequila and Rum are the obvious ones. Those make a great base to take and add interesting wood flavors to in order to produce very interesting and quality spirits. You're only going for the additive flavors, so you can stick them in a sealed container with wood for a few weeks or months and get something tasty.

Gin *can* work this way, but it's a lot more hit or miss of what woods will play well with the botanicals in each gin.

For Rum, get your hands on some Amburana wood. You will thank me later.

Sitting on a hillside in Conception' Chile with two young local girls, they introduced me to Pisco; a moonshine/kerosine clear liquid.  Awful !!

I tried, they giggled.  Then they taught me Pisco Sours.  Mix Pisco, lime juice, egg white and it thins the mix.  
 

The fun ensued....

In reply to Beer Baron :

Yeah I'm not trying to make something wonderful.  I'm trying to pick up some flavors that happen with aging to educate myself.  I got that a little by tasting Koval Rye Whiskey and their white Rye.  I considered trying Barcardi 151 next.  I'll look for Amburana.

EDIT - NM just learned that no longer make it.  Maybe a rye vodka or another white rum.

2 pages of crappy booze talk an nobody mentions Malort?  This board needs a Chicago roadtrip!

In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter) :

If I go to Chicago I'm bring back crates of Koval not that crap.

Life's too short to drink garbage booze. 

I'm a fan of peaty single malt. So far Lagavulin 16 is my favorite.

For cheap scotch, ive found anCnoc to be pretty decent. Not peaty, more like Glenfiddich but costs less and tastes better.

In reply to ShawnG :

I've never been a scotch drinker because it's a bland grain.  I like my flavor to come from the grains.  Now the one I had Monday was Dalmore 12 year but from the 90s I think?  That's the first scotch that I really understood the smoky peat flavor.

In reply to Stampie :

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Went to a good home. 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

And I love you just a little more now.  Maybe a bit more.

In reply to Stampie :

Lucky me.

In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter)

My son started selling Malort in his bar earlier this week.  It's doing OK saleswise.  His is the only bar in this small town that has it. I haven't decided whether or not I like it yet.