Need some recommendations on what to do to this plain old grain alcohol

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jimyson

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Need some ideas. Some genius in the marketing department at work bought a bunch of cases of this to hand out to customers. They thought it was Kentucky Bourbon. Lol. It's obviously not Oaked and tasted like distilled grain alcohol would. Needless to say, they did not want to pass them out to customers so I got 6 bottles. I want to definitely oak them but wanted some ideas from you all. What should I do?View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1432348631.105020.jpg
 
Airlock fluid.




Or, buy one of those mini 1-liter barrels, and try to age into something that doesn't taste like crap.

1-Liter%2BAmerican%2BWhite%2BOak%2BBarrel.jpg


I never understood the white whiskey fad. The distiller avoids the costly barrel aging process and storage costs, and charges you a premium for it. Oh yeah, and it doesn't even taste good to boot.
 
If you got it free, I'd definitely use some for airlock fluid, if it's as flavorless as I think it is then you could use it for soaking vegetable/herb/spice/pepper additions, or making hop tinctures, or anything that would use neutral spirit as a solvent. Of course oaking wouldn't hurt either. You can buy very small barrels made for oaking spirits, so that's the route that I'd go.
 
Airlock fluid.




Or, buy one of those mini 1-liter barrels, and try to age into something that doesn't taste like crap.

1-Liter%2BAmerican%2BWhite%2BOak%2BBarrel.jpg


I never understood the white whiskey fad. The distiller avoids the costly barrel aging process and storage costs, and charges you a premium for it. Oh yeah, and it doesn't even taste good to boot.

He beat me to it.

And white whiskey my arse. It's grain vodka and nothing more.
 
Yup. Airlocks, vanilla extract, soaker for spices and such to add to brews, I dunno. It's basically vodka, so use it like you would vodka. A Moscow Mule is actually pretty refreshing as summer comes on. Just don't skimp on the ginger beer.
 
Airlock fluid.




Or, buy one of those mini 1-liter barrels, and try to age into something that doesn't taste like crap.

1-Liter%2BAmerican%2BWhite%2BOak%2BBarrel.jpg


I never understood the white whiskey fad. The distiller avoids the costly barrel aging process and storage costs, and charges you a premium for it. Oh yeah, and it doesn't even taste good to boot.

Be careful with these mini barrels. They're cute and make nice shelf decorations. The problem is the "angels' share" is very disproportionate. I got two "age your own whiskey" kits for Christmas a few years ago. Each came with a 2L barrel and 2 1L bottles of "white dog" (distilled grain spirits.) After about 1.5 years in the barrels, I netted only a little more that 1/2 L of nicely aged whiskey from the original 4L. :mad: It's damn good, but those were some really greedy angels. :drunk:

My recommendation is to age them in glass bottles on oak chips or spirals. Let those damn angels find someone else's booze to poach.

Brew on :mug:
 
And white whiskey my arse. It's grain vodka and nothing more.

Not in my book. Depending on how the ferment took place and where the cuts were made will differentiate a neutral from a flavorful spirit. If you find that it's nothing like vodka then it probably is a white dog and just need some oak and time.

I'd pour out an ounce or two and sip it neatly, then add enough heavy toast american oak beans/cubes to the bottle to take up the empty space; then just put it back in the box and tuck it away for 6 months. Do the same to another bottle only use heavy toast french oak beans. If you remember, swirl up the bottles every month or so, and get a sniff and sample from the bottle to see it's progression. You'd be amazed at how much the base spirit character will change with some oak added.
 
I'd pour out an ounce or two and sip it neatly, then add enough heavy toast american oak beans/cubes to the bottle to take up the empty space; then just put it back in the box and tuck it away for 6 months. Do the same to another bottle only use heavy toast french oak beans. If you remember, swirl up the bottles every month or so, and get a sniff and sample from the bottle to see it's progression. You'd be amazed at how much the base spirit character will change with some oak added.


I think this is the way I will go.
 
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