How Long To Oak Age Moonshine?

How To Make Homemade Whiskey – Follow these 5 steps: –

1. Add 20 -30 grams of oak chips or 8 oak cubes per quart of whiskey diluted to 55% abv in glass jar.
2. Place coffee filter over top of jar using an elastic band to keep in place, allow 1 -2 weeks for oxidation of volatile compounds to occur.
3. Sample whiskey every 2 weeks by watering down to 40 % abv using a hydrometer. If desired flavor is achieved proceed to step 4, otherwise let stand for an additional 2 weeks. Sample again until required flavor is obtained. Oaking can take up to 3 months depending on the amount of flavor and color want.
4. Place two coffee filters inside a funnel and poor the spirit into your aging container through the funnel and filter. This will remove wood chips and sediment from your whiskey. I use a 23 L glass carboy but you can also use an oak barrel but these are expensive.
5. Place a cork lightly in the top of the carboy and put your final product in a dark cool room.

Here’s a video that show’s the process of adding Oak chips to a batch of homemade whiskey.

How long does it take for moonshine to age?

How to Age Alcohol After Distillation Ageing alcohol takes time, but as the old saying goes – good things come to those who wait. Ask any distiller how to age alcohol and you will get a myriad of answers, advice, and suggestions – and they could all be correct because depending on what you are making and what your desired outcome is, your process will change.

Ageing Dark Spirits from a Pot Still Dark spirits such as whiskey, dark rum, and brandy, are typically oaked at approximately 63% ABV, however, you may oak at a lower ABV if preferred. Many home-distillers age their spirit on oak at a rate of 10g of oak per litre of spirit. Again, you may increase or decrease the amount of oak used depending on your preference, but it is important to remember that you will usually achieve better results using smaller amounts for a longer period.

The time left on oak will vary depending on the amount of oak used, especially if using a barrel. If you age your spirit in a glass container you will almost instantly see the colour start to come through, though it takes time for all the chemical changes to occur between the alcohol and the oak.

1. Try leaving the alcohol to age for at least three months (tough, we know!) and then take some out, dilute to drinking ABV and taste it.
2. You may find it’s acceptable to drink, however, try to age it for longer as you will see amazing changes happen at 6 months, 12 months, and even longer.
3. You can even try ageing multiple batches and then try blending portions together to create something entirely new.

Check out our article on to learn more about this. Ageing Neutral Alcohol for Flavouring When most people start home distilling, they usually begin with distilling a neutral alcohol to add flavourings to. While it may not be like a traditional dark spirit that requires a long time ageing on oak, ageing your neutral alcohol can improve its quality.

• The easiest thing you can do after distilling your neutral spirit is let it air out for 24 hours or so with just a towel covering it, this will allow some of the more volatile and harsher aromas to evaporate – this is also called the angel’s share.
• Once you have added the flavouring, you can let it sit for a while, anything from a few days to a week to get the best flavour from your spirit.

This allows the flavouring to properly mix and settle into the alcohol. Depending on the flavouring type, some could benefit from ageing on oak. Rums and whiskies for example can benefit from this. While we strive to lock in the best flavour profiles in our offerings, some people may want more oak of a particular kind, or just want to experiment.

• You can choose to age your neutral on the oak before, or after the flavouring has been added.
• Here you can also experiment with different amounts of oak at different times.
• When it comes to ageing both neutral and dark spirits, it’s important to try different times and methods to find something that works for you.

Through experimentation, we often find great ways to do things so our advice to you is to keep experimenting and also keep track of your different methods through ardent note taking – the last thing you want is to make the best batch you’ve ever made but forget what you did to get it there! : How to Age Alcohol After Distillation

How much oak does it take to age moonshine?

Directions: –

Grill the prepared chips in the oven or microwave. Notes of smell and flavor depend on the degree of burning. A light burning (when the first smoke appears) gives the beverage a hint of vanilla, fruits, and flowers. A medium burning (when there’s smoke and smell) gives the aroma of coconut, caramel, almond, and spices. A strong burning (when wood changes color) enriches the moonshine with a smoky taste with chocolate hints.

During the burning it is important not to burn the chips out. For the first time I recommend training on a small amount, in order not to spoil all wood.

1. Add the oak chips to the moonshine (45-50%) in proportion of 20-30 grams per liter and tightly seal it with a lid. Infuse it in a dark cold place for 3-6 months. With time its color will change. Take a sample each month, controlling organoleptic properties of the beverage. The duration of maturing process depends on the properties of the chosen wood and your taste and aroma preferences.
2. Pour the infused moonshine into another container, Filter it through a funnel with a strainer and/or with gauze/ cheesecloth, Mature it for 3-5 days in a dark cold place before drinking.

Moonshine of 9 months of maturity

How long to age moonshine with wood chips?

Using Oak Chips & Whisky Profile Kits! I love scotchscotch scotch scotch.rum too, oh and bourbon as well. Actually I’m partial to the entirety of the brown spirit family. On the rocks, mixed with coke, mixed with ginger beer, its all good to me. Actually my love for the dark spirit has pushed me at times, no I’m not talking about borderline alcoholism or constant partying.

1. No I much prefer a quite one or two at home, where I can really begin to appreciate the merits and uhh, demerits of my fine brews.
2. This fun little past time however has made me wonder, made me think, almost forced me at times to seek out the best spirit I can, forced me to tinker and play with my spirits, developing and re-developing my favorite drink.

It is a never ending cycle but one that I love and I feel it is almost my duty to pass on the things I have learnt. Let me first start by saying don’t feel pressured reading this article, most people find that just using an essence is fine, so do I, its just on special occasions its nice to know you have something truly fantastic in the cabinet.

I have come across many a skeptic in my time, the snobby nosed ‘high class’ citizen who hear’s home brew and goes yuck! Its just nice to know you have something really capable of changing opinions. Apart from creating your own essence, there is basically two ways of modifying your spirit. Either oaking or tailoring with an assortment of extracts (profiling).

Lets start with the most simple and better known of the two, oaking. Oaking: Oaking is a relatively simple concept. It involves soaking your neutral filtered spirit on wood. But not just any wood, most oak chips come from old whisky or bourbon barrels, used by breweries for centuries to soak there own spirits on.

• In turn the barrels have absorbed the flavor from the spirit, this is what you are trying to obtain from them (except in the case of “American Oak” chips, which are simply from an American oak tree).
• Oaking you spirit will not only receive the flavor and receive the colour from the chips, but as you might have guessed, that woody and sometimes smoky flavor that is so prized in some of the top quality spirits.

The method is simple but varies slightly depending on the type of chip and the brand. In general it involves soaking 10gms-50gms of oak chips for every litre of spirit for about 1-3 weeks (dependant on taste). The longer you leave it the more flavor and woodiness it will impart.

You can often reuse the same chips once or twice after, just soak it for longer. Some people use the flavour just from the oak chips itself whilst others use it in conjunction with an essence, in an attempt to add an build on the flavour profile already present in the essence. If, and it will probably happen eventually, you leave it for to long and you find its like drinking bark, you can use more neutral spirit (unflavoured) and an essence to dim it down and smoothen it out.

Using Extracts: The best way to go about using extracts and flavour profiles is to obtain a whisky profiling kit. These kits come with all the basics that you need, plus some instructions and recipes and give you an easily to follow guide on what to do and how to go about it.

The kits come with 4 different whiskies base essences, which generally the 4 different major styles of whiskies (as reflected by the different regions of Scotland), Lowland, Highland, Irish and bourbon. The also come with a range of adjunct flavours used for exentuating certain flavour profiles in you drink.

These Are:

Oak cask (the main flavour which is present in most whiskys) Sweet vanillin (a sweet vanilla flavour with a slight sherry flavour) Peat Smoke (A strong almost pungent peat smoke flavour, a very prominent note in Scottish Whiskies) Astringent Notes ( A sharp bitter astringent flavour that helps to add some bite to the whisky) Fruity Esters (more prominent on the nose then anywhere else, they add a lot to the whisky bouquet) Cereal notes( often described as grainy, these flavour notes are a part of any grain and are contained in the whisky bases) Carob Notes ( a chocolate grain flavour that results from the use of some mildly roasted grains) Cedar Oak ( imparts a distinctive drier oak flavour, often found in Irish whisky styles) Distillers Caramel (purely for colour, imparts a warm golden hue) Glycerine (contribute to smoothness and mouth feel)

Using just this small list of flavours you can create almost any whisky, bourbon and add to many rums. What you do with them is up to you though! The only way your going to know what your spirit can be is to try it. It was with the best of intentions that we all started homebrewing.

Can you age moonshine in oak barrels?

There are many resources available to help distillers throughout the process of making aged moonshine, and these resources will help you to choose the right kind of barrel for the spirit of your choice. For bourbon, charred oak barrels are best, although a plain oak barrel is also sufficient.

Can you drink 20 year old moonshine?

So you’ve found a bottle of moonshine from yesteryear. Is it still fit to drink? This is a question I’ve asked myself recently. I heard different things coming from different sources, so I decided to do a little research on my own, and here’s the answer.

So, does moonshine go bad? In short, moonshine, like other plain spirits, does not really go bad. This means moonshine has an indefinite shelf life, unless you are dealing with a flavored option (which can spoil as a result of its high sugar density). Coming up, I’ll go over everything you need to know about moonshine and its shelf life so you can get the most out of your spirits.

Keep reading to find out if your moonshine is still good (or whether you should just chuck it!).

How bad is 120 proof moonshine?

Is there 200 Proof Moonshine? – Contrary to what other people think, 200 proof moonshine exists. It’s probably the STRONGEST concentration, the HIGHEST PROOF of moonshine, and the HIGHEST PERCENTAGE of alcohol you’ll find out there. Though it doesn’t take the usual distilling process and simple tools to make this one.

1. Instead, there’s a lot of complexities that go on to get this really strong drink.
2. Would you dare drink a 200 proof moonshine? You’d probably say yes if you’re a daredevil.
3. Drinking 200 proof moonshine is NOT OKAY.
4. You’re practically drinking ethyl alcohol.
5. Remember, 200 proof moonshine has 100% alcohol content contained on it.

Drinking it pure would seriously burn your throat, That being said, be careful with moonshines that have 150 plus final alcohol content. On average, 100 to 120 proof is pretty much the level people can comfortably drink their moonshine. Any more than that? That’s something else.

Does moonshine taste better aged?

Aging Moonshine Can Enhance Its Taste – Aging your spirits can make a huge difference in the taste of your spirits. This is exactly why so many brewers store their products in barrels for years before offering it for sale on the market. Although it is a fact that the flavored spirit can be consumed right on the very same day it is distilled, many distillers suggest that you will benefit a lot if you let your spirit sit in the bottle for one month or more in a dark place which enhances its taste.

How do you prepare oak for aging?

How to Age Whiskey – There are two ways to age whiskey at home. The most traditional method of DIY whiskey aging is to purchase or build a charred white oak barrel. To prep a barrel to be used for aging, make sure to first fill it with warm water and leave it sit until the wood swells enough to prevent leaking between the staves.

• The hydration process could take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
• It’s very important that you do this to prevent your spirits from leaking out of the barrel when you initially fill it.
• Once hydrated, drain the water then fill it with clear, un-aged store-bought whiskey and leave it sit for a couple of weeks.

Remember, it’s illegal to distill your own alcohol for consumption without a distilled spirits permit. But no need to fret, there are plenty of un-aged whiskey options to be found at any liquor store. The easiest way to accomplish aging is to add charred American white oak sticks or shavings to a jar or bottle of spirits (such as the product picture to the right). The charred wood will naturally absorb and release spirits contained within the vessel, allowing the wood to impart its flavors to the spirit.

Can you drink 100 year old whiskey?

Can You Get Sick from Drinking Old Whiskey? – If you found an old bottle of whiskey in the back of a liquor cabinet and want to give it a try, have no fear: In general, old liquor will not make you sick like other expired items. The only risk it poses is delivering a dull taste and underwhelming drinking experience.

Is 50 year old whiskey still good?

50-year-old whisky is almost the holy grail in spirits terms. Very few casks of whisky will reach 50 years old and still be drinkable, representing a tiny, tiny fraction of a percent.

How long does moonshine have to sit?

What Does Apple Pie Moonshine Taste Like? – My recipe for apple pie moonshine makes a smaller batch than most, and we use mostly apple cider instead of an equal mix of cider and apple juice. As a result, it packs a heavier apple flavor, and has more viscosity. Because of all the spices we add it, it tastes a lot like apple pie in a glass, Since we use Everclear, a bit of vodka, and some spiced rum, it also packs a big punch in terms of alcohol. Luckily, as the apple pie moonshine sits, the less alcohol you can taste. But there is still a lot of liquor, so sip lowly and drink responsibly.

How can I age my moonshine at home?

How to Age Whiskey – There are two ways to age whiskey at home. The most traditional method of DIY whiskey aging is to purchase or build a charred white oak barrel. To prep a barrel to be used for aging, make sure to first fill it with warm water and leave it sit until the wood swells enough to prevent leaking between the staves.

The hydration process could take anywhere from a few hours to a few days. It’s very important that you do this to prevent your spirits from leaking out of the barrel when you initially fill it. Once hydrated, drain the water then fill it with clear, un-aged store-bought whiskey and leave it sit for a couple of weeks.

Remember, it’s illegal to distill your own alcohol for consumption without a distilled spirits permit. But no need to fret, there are plenty of un-aged whiskey options to be found at any liquor store. The easiest way to accomplish aging is to add charred American white oak sticks or shavings to a jar or bottle of spirits (such as the product picture to the right). The charred wood will naturally absorb and release spirits contained within the vessel, allowing the wood to impart its flavors to the spirit.

How long does it take for moonshine to ferment?

How Quickly Can You Make Moonshine? – The quickest you can properly make moonshine is about two weeks. However, you really should let mash ferment for at least a week itself, so the best moonshine will usually take closer to a month to complete. Moonshine recipes all have their own timelines, so this may vary depending on what you want to make.