barrel-aging [Booze]

2013 Nov 8
Does anyone else do any barrel-aging of any kind?

This is not intended as a plug, but it coincidentally is. I make white oak, charred tablets for home barrel-aging. There. That's out of the way.

I started charring my own pieces of white oak because I saw someone else doing it on the internet. I thought, "Hell, I can do that." I bought a piece of kiln-dried white oak, cut it up into appropriate sized pieces, and took my weed torch to it. A guy's dream, I was workinging on my woodworking, alcoholism, and pyromania ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

My first experiment was with an old bottle of scotch that had been sitting in the back of my liquor cabinet because I didn't like the taste of it. After a month in a Mason jar with one of the aging tablets, it became more to my liking.

By aging, we mean that a liquor has been in a barrel for a particular period of time, but the reality is that what we're getting is a much smoother drink because of the charcoal filter effect. I can certainly attest to the fact that this works.

I was at a craft show in the spring and was sitting next to a maple syrup producer. We got to talking and she mentioned that she really missed the taste of the syrup her dad used to make over the open fire because some of the smoke got cooked into the syrup. Maybe I should try to do that with some syrup.

I gave it a try. Good lord, what a difference. It didn't do exactly what I had expected, though. Where I was trying to add some smoke flavour, what actually happened was that the charcoal filter effect from the tablet completely smoothed out the taste. I didn't want to use really good syrup on a test, so I got the cheapest, nastiest, can of grocery store maple syrup I could find. I've been using that as a sampler at shows now because it came out so well. That was just 2 weeks in a jar with one charred tablet.

You know that tingle you get at the back of your jaw when you taste maple syrup because it's so sweet and tangy? Yeah, well ... that's completely gone now. People were blown away by this. I'm not really a fan of maple syrup, but even I like this.

Anyway, I took the same tablet that I had aged the maple syrup with, put it back into the Mason jar and poured in a bottle of Wiser's vanilla spiced rum. That was 2 weeks ago. I just made a little mixed drink with some of it and it is amazing.

The other thing I did this summer was to age a bottle of port. I took a 10-year-old bottle of port and pretty much turned it into a 30-year-old bottle over a month. Again, one stick, in a Mason jar.

The aging process is highly accelerated because of the small quantity of liquor and large amount of surface area of char it is working with. Typically, this is done in a charred, oak barrel. Not everyone has access to or the space for one of those. My method works very well.

Now, this isn't for everyone. Some people like to experiment with their food, some are satisfied with what they can get from the LCBO.

I might try a tequila next. I might even try it with a batch of my vanilla to see what happens. Oh, I know what I was going to try. Barrel-aged beer. There are an awful lot of local micro-brews around now. Some are better than others. I wanted to see if this technique might help with some of the ones I am not fond of.

2013 Nov 9
Well, I haven't done barrel aging yet. I did however pick up some CC, and some Cedar, to see if that will affect it.

I do infusions rather. I've made limoncello, lemongrass vodka, mint bourbon (instant mint julep), pecan pie bourbon and apple pie bourbon. Not sure what to start next. Thinking gingerbread cookie vodka for the holidays.

2013 Nov 9
bacon bourbon

2013 Nov 9
Stop it. You're making me bourbon.
I mean, thirsty.

2013 Nov 13
Rizak, if you're going to plug something, you should at least tell people how to buy your charred oak slabs. And, you should really post a picture of one as well, so other do-it-yourself type folks can better borrow your groovy ideas.
;-)

2013 Nov 14
I found it a difficult topic to broach without the mention. If they wanted some, my contact info is always available through my profile.

However, since you've brought it up ...
www.foodiepages.ca

I really need to update my own website to include newer products.
rizak.ca/wp/

2015 Dec 8
@rizak, are you still selling charred oak ?

2015 Dec 8
I am. My website has changed, though.

reallyhorrible.ca

$5 for 4 tablets. That's the cheapest gift ever for a foodie.

BTW, these have gotten good reviews in the G&M food section and make an amazing smoky cream sauce when boiled lightly in milk.

2015 Dec 9
Oh good, Thanks for the reminder, I need to order some bitters

2015 Dec 10
Rizak, what's the weight of that pack of 4 charred oak sticks ? And you will deliver it personally for free ? To Cantley ? Seems like a lot of trouble. I can pick it up. Or go in with a friend and order several packs. Maybe some vanilla too.

2015 Dec 11
I consider the Ottawa area to be within 30 km of the Experimental Farm, where our research and development wing is situated, not far from the distribution hub, a bit out the door from our barracks and engineering campus.

Also, if you want me to drive to Winchester to deliver $5 worth of product, you're being a dick. ;)
It always seems to be people from Scarborough or Thornhill who think that the free local delivery (Ottawa area) selection applies to them.

I also have a pretty sophisticated system where I leave products in the cooler by my back door, you pick them up and leave me some money if you haven't paid for it online.

The bitters went like stink at the One of a Kind show in Toronto last week, and we're currently out of the cherry vanilla and our CANgostura. Toronto is a rye and bourbon town, apparently. Who knew? They'll be ready again early January. Everything else is available, though.

FYI, the pack of 4 sticks is probably something like 100g.

2015 Dec 13
Not barrel aging, but I have smoked salmon and corn in my oven at home using this oven bag that has wood chips in it.

I think the brand was Savu? and they were made in Sweden or iceland or somewhere very far.
It worked well for adding smoke taste to food,but I had to go out and an emergency came up and when I got back home, my whole house smelled like a campfire for a couple weeks.

The aging sticks sound like a neat product.

Maybe add some vinegar to have a smoky salad dressing? or to use when making a dip of some kind.

2015 Dec 13
I have some of Rizak's oak sticks in vodka. One of these infusions is on a 100W 40kHz ultrasound transducer, to see what effect that has.

I did the ultrasound for about 8 hours yesterday and have it on again now. The ultrasonically treated jar is noticeably darker than the others.

2015 Dec 14
Interesting. You can do something similar by using the syphon technique. Putting oil or vinegar or some other liquid with some aromatics or other flavour enhancers, then charging the syphon with nitrous oxide and give it a good shake. Release the pressure upright and the pressure will have done all the work in a minute or two instead of days or weeks. It doesn't work so well with the smoking, though. That just needs time.