What’s all this then? It looks like lots of fun! (Because it is...)
In this kit, you’ll find a 1 litre (well – one and a bit litres) freshly toasted American White Oak barrel of medium to heavy char, and 2 x 50cl bottles of new-make spirit (made entirely from Malted Barley).
Directions: Put the new-make into the barrel (using the dinky little stainless steel funnel provided), wait for a few days or weeks (don't forget about them - the rate of evaporation is quite high), and enjoy! You'll get about three uses before the oak influence wanes, so you can fill 'er back up with more new-make, or something completely different, such as your favourite cocktail!
A few pointers:
First – you’ll need to give the tap a good old whack to ‘seat’ it in the barrel. Don’t go nuts and break the barrel, but ‘pushing it in’ isn’t enough.
Second – if the hoops around the barrel feel a bit loose, or there’s a bit of seepage from the cask ends when you fill it, you might want to bung a bit of hot water in before you fill it to help the wood expand and become watertight (liquor-tight?). Barrels are constructed without the use of any glue, and rely on the tension/compression of the staves against the other staves/hoops to keep them watertight.
Third – The fact that these barrels are made from Fresh Oak means that the first fill will be incredibly powerful in terms of Oak influence. You’ll be able to re-use the barrel at least two more times before the oak influence wanes.
Finally – The rate of evaporation from these puppies is quite large. The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, the surface area to volume ratio of the barrel is very high, and secondly, you’re probably not going to keep it at as low a temperature as you’d find in a warehouse in Scotland. You can expect to lose a fair old percentage per month if you’re keeping them at room temperature so keep an eye on them!
If you ever find yourself in need of some more new-make, you can simply buy more here.
When are you going to get some casks in as I really fancy trying this?
Will there be any change to the ABV after maturation?
Having used the cask a good few times the oak is nicely seasoned so going to try an experiment and whack some mulled cider in there until Christmas see how that turns out. Then another batch of new make spirit after that, should give it an interesting flavor.
Around 13 degrees, but it would need to be a constant temperature, as any fluctuation would lead to a loss of liquid. --The Chaps at Master of Malt
You say: expect to lose between 3% and 5% per month if you’re keeping them at room temperature. What would be the best temperature to keep it at? Thanks from L
