gorgeous oak chips...

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Gunpowder

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Sorry, it's just so damn good looking I had to share. These are white America oak chips soaking in top shelf bourbon (Knob Creek) been soaking for about two days, gonna leave them there for another couple of weeks. Going to make a nice addition to my red ale and my ipa.

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Um, seems a waste of good bourbon. I highly doubt you'll notice any difference in the end product between the Knob Creek and something like Old Crow.

Rick
 
Yes they were toasted... and waste of Bourbon my ass, I drink that when its done!
 
Um, seems a waste of good bourbon. I highly doubt you'll notice any difference in the end product between the Knob Creek and something like Old Crow.

Rick

I was going to say +1 to this ^^ ....

Yes they were toasted... and waste of Bourbon my ass, I drink that when its done!

But then I saw this ^^ and I reconsidered. Fair enough sir... fair enough. I have some oak cubes soaking in Scotch right now and was considering drinking the Scotch when they were done soaking. You just made my mind up for me.
 
I'm sure the bourbon would taste better before it had oak tannins and what not leeched into it, but whatever.

Rick

I don't think it can technically be called bourbon withOUT the oak tannins leached in it :D
 
How much did you have to use to soak that amount of oak chips? If it's only a few ounces I think it's worth a try. Maybe you won't notice between top shelf and something else, but a lot of cheap bourbon/whiskey is only like half whiskey anyhow...
 
Not much... I just put the oak chips in a spare test test tube, shook them until they all settled nicely, then poured the whiskey over them until they were covered completely. Maybe 2 shots worth.
 
I get Knob Creek for $25 a bottle and can tell you you'll notice a difference. I did a bourbon Porter with Makers and oak, and the same recipe with Knob Creek and Oak; the Knob Creek beer had a more noticeable bourbon flavor, and "cushioned" the malt quite a bit more than the Makers. I attribute this to the long aging of Knob Creek which leaves it loaded with Oak sugars.

But that's my experience, if I was paying 40 a bottle I'd stick to Makers.
 
Woah woah woah... Knob Creek is a decent bourbon (a little too sweet for me), but there's no way it's top shelf.

Treat yourself to a single barrel, something aged a little longer (10+ years), a true micro-distilled, or go for the gold and try some Pappy (I've never been able to try some!) or Stagg.

Hudson and Woodinville are great micros that I've been lucky enough to try, and I have some Elijah Craig 18 year single barrel that's smooth as hell.

I'm certainly no expert, but at that price point I prefer Makers 46, and to be honest my favorite everyday whiskey is Bulleit (their rye especially). Best value around.
 
Dumb question, but here it goes. Does soaking in Bourbon insure that the chips are sanitized? Might want to try this with a smaller portion of a Russian Imperial Stout that I just moved to secondary.

Seemed like the alcohol content may not be high enough to kill microbes...but still learning and looking for ideas.
 
Dumb question, but here it goes. Does soaking in Bourbon insure that the chips are sanitized? Might want to try this with a smaller portion of a Russian Imperial Stout that I just moved to secondary.

Seemed like the alcohol content may not be high enough to kill microbes...but still learning and looking for ideas.

Jamil says no, they recommend steaming first.

Give this a listen if you have the time:
http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/Brew-Strong/Brew-Strong-09-15-08-Wood-Aging
 
Got some pieces of a Makers Mark 46 barrel before xmas from a good friend. :D

First picture is of them as they arrived (the shorter piece is what I cut to get the three pieces in the second picture).
Second picture is after they've been sitting in an ounce, or two, of MM46 for several days. :D I cut the pieces off of the larger one (after sanding the outside), then toasted all sides that were not already. Poured enough MM46 to mostly cover the bottom of the container then placed the pieces in it. After tying the butchers twine to them of course (drilled the hole before toasting). :D Planning on dropping 1-3 of them into a batch of mead I made last year that needs more flavor added (or did last time I checked). Before I add them, I'll sample the batch though. If the mead has improved enough over the past several months, then I might just add one piece. Otherwise, up to all three could go in. I'm also thinking about adding some to the 15%+ barleywine when it goes to aging vessel. :rockin:

BTW, I seriously doubt anything harmful could survive a soak in 40%+ alcohol. Also, MM46 is 94 proof, so 47% ABV.

MM46_barrel_parts_dry.jpg


MM46_barrel_parts_soaked.jpg
 
Thanks. Will check it out tomorrow.

No problem. Like most of those podcasts, they ramble on quite a bit. I think the "soaking in booze" talk comes towards the end. But basically their point is that plenty of wild yeast/bacteria can thrive in oak, and you need stronger than 80 proof to kill them all. I think many people don't bother, but it's so quick and easy to steam them first so why not? Just toss them in a measuring cup or whatever in your microwave, throw in a splash of water, and zap it for a couple minutes.
 
Thanks! I live close to Napa, so thinking about sourcing some oak barrels to play with this. Should be a cheap way to play around with more flavors.

Appreciate the advice and pointer.
 
zachattack said:
Woah woah woah... Knob Creek is a decent bourbon (a little too sweet for me), but there's no way it's top shelf.

There's better whiskey for the money IMO.. Like this ;)

image-1624794495.jpg
 
Man, you're still workin on that bottle? How was it anyway? Gotta get myself another bottle and try it out.
 
Ya'll are obsessed, but in a good way. I wish I had the money to use top shelf burbon. :)

In my wee heavy, I use an ounce of light toast american oak chips. I spread them out over a small cookie sheet and warm up the oven to 250 and let them toast a little more for 20 mins or so to sanitize, then toss them into a jar with two mini bottles of johnny walker red and let it soak a week. Then, the wood goes in a grain bag in the primary for a week.

This makes for a mighty fine wee heavy that never lasts. In fact, it's high time I whip up another batch of it.
 
mikeysab said:
Man, you're still workin on that bottle? How was it anyway? Gotta get myself another bottle and try it out.

It is awesome, but actually I have to fight the wife for it. She says I have to get more when this is gone, so I've found a place to order it. She's not typically the type to sip whiskey but she does like this.
 
Woah woah woah... Knob Creek is a decent bourbon (a little too sweet for me), but there's no way it's top shelf.

Treat yourself to a single barrel, something aged a little longer (10+ years), a true micro-distilled, or go for the gold and try some Pappy (I've never been able to try some!) or Stagg.

Hudson and Woodinville are great micros that I've been lucky enough to try, and I have some Elijah Craig 18 year single barrel that's smooth as hell.

I'm certainly no expert, but at that price point I prefer Makers 46, and to be honest my favorite everyday whiskey is Bulleit (their rye especially). Best value around.

lol... Just because there are certainly better whiskeys than KC, that doesn't mean it's not top shelf. I think it's a damn fine whiskey.
 
lol... Just because there are certainly better whiskeys than KC, that doesn't mean it's not top shelf. I think it's a damn fine whiskey.

Well... I think "top shelf" is always going to be a pretty subjective term, so to each is own. I meant no offense.

But to me, top shelf and value are completely unrelated. In the wine world, they frequently talk about QPR, quality to price ratio. To you, Knob Creek may have a great QPR, for me I'd say Bulliet has a better QPR. That's obviously entirely up to the one doing the drinking!

But from where I'm sitting, the fact that it's relatively inexpensive and the fact that there are many better whiskeys out there absolutely means that it's not top shelf. Knob Creek is good, and it is certainly a great value to many people. Like I said, it's not my favorite, but that's almost irrelevant. You say it's a damn fine whiskey, which it may be, but compared to the grand scope of available bourbons it's really only midrange in both price and quality. And I guess I don't see how midrange translates to top shelf.

Like I said before I'm definitely not a whiskey expert or connoisseur, and I'm certainly not a whiskey snob. I've proudly chugged my way through a bottle of Old Granddad during a camping trip, just like I've proudly chugged my way through a 6 pack of High Life when the setting calls for it. But I guess I've never thought of a $25-30 bourbon as top shelf. If that's top shelf, then what's a $70 bottle of Stagg or a $2-300 bottle of Pappy?
 
Well, I strained & added the oak chips last night and drank the remaining whiskey, and it was every bit as delicious as I knew it would be :)
 
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