Blending Bourbons in a Barrel

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Hey guys, long time no post, obligatory excuses about being busy and what not

My wife and I are expecting our first kid in mid-November, so to commemorate the occasion (and to ensure wife has tasty liquor available after what I hear is a fairly painful ordeal) I bought a 2 liter oak barrel. My plan is to drink half when it's ready and save a the other half for when kid turns 21 (wax it, label, the whole bit). I'm going the spirits route for this project since I would have to keep beer in nearly perfect conditions for over two decades, whereas I'm assuming spirits would be more forgiving.

Bourbon seems like a great choice, but I don't have a clue on where to start. Would be better to get a nicer bourbon and do that 100%, or would blending a few be better? I thought about following this guide but I'm not sure I can get my hands on a bottle of anything mentioned in this video around my area.

How should that bottle be expected to change over 20 odd years, will it only get better or should I pay more attention to it other than keeping it out of the heat and direct sunlight? Any help/suggestions would be great.

PS Sorry if this isn't the best place for this, it's the best fit I could find.

 

[TravelingLight]

Sup neighbor! Chapin is right up the road from me. Congrats on the big news.

I'm not sure I fully understand you. Are you saying you got a 2L barrel (think I know exactly what you're talking about; my brother got me one last year), and you're going to add bourbon to it, let it age out, then bottle it in two bottles, drink one and keep one? Only thing I keep thinking of is extraction time in a barrel that small (exactly why I haven't gotten around to trying a small batch of beer in mine). It'll pull oak relatively quickly, IMO.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Hey thanks man!

Yeah that's right, I'm going to add bourbon (whatever kind(s) I settle on), let it age until it tastes right (planning on 20-30 days or so but I'll taste every few to see if it's good), then bottle into two bottles: one will be consumed reasonably quickly and the other will age for 21 years.

I'm not sure what a good mix would be to go into the barrel, or if it even matters much given it's long aging time.

 

[TallDan]

Not sure what you're trying to accomplish here. Bourbon, by definition, is already barrel aged. After spending it's time in the barrel, it's diluted and bottled. You're then going to take that finished product and put it back in a barrel?

 

[TravelingLight]

Hey thanks man!

Yeah that's right, I'm going to add bourbon (whatever kind(s) I settle on), let it age until it tastes right (planning on 20-30 days or so but I'll taste every few to see if it's good), then bottle into two bottles: one will be consumed reasonably quickly and the other will age for 21 years.

I'm not sure what a good mix would be to go into the barrel, or if it even matters much given it's long aging time.

Ahhh gotcha. I gotta agree with TallDan here. Not sure you could accomplish much? What if you put something clear in the barrel (shiiiiine??) and let that pull some oak? However, if you still wanted to go for it, I would go with two low to mid range bourbons, and blend those. I might would first titrate some samples before going in the barrel to find a nice ratio, then blend that into the barrel. I think that would give you more of a unique character than just putting one bourbon in there. But that's just my opinion.

BTW, come check us out in the SC midlands thread! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=601084

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

My understanding was adding bourbon (or any spirit) to a barrel for aging would mellow it out and improve the flavor with time up to a point. For example, the link below does it and allegedly take a good bourbon and makes it great after some time in the barrel.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM0MFjBUgpo[/ame]

This is probably something that's going to be almost entirely to taste, I was just looking for some general tips for mixing and storing that long.

Thanks for the link, I'll read through it for sure!

 

[Homercidal]

I don't think it works quite like that. Most bourbon is aged as much as the distiller deems necessary to sell their product. Some might age for the minimum and call it good, and some might go longer to get the flavor they want. They also have to choose when to make the "cuts" on the spirit during the distilling process, so that affects the quality as well.

You might improve a crappy bourbon by aging in a barrel for a bit, but you might also make it worse. You *could* age some white lightning (Strong neutral spirit like vodka) in a barrel and make a whiskey/bourbon. Remember the smaller the barrel the more barrel character you get due to an increased surface area to spirit ratio. The whiskey place I visited a few weeks ago ages one of their whiskies in 5 gallon barrels.

I'd try aging and tasting monthly and when it's where you want it, bottle it up and put away for that special day (if you can!) 2L isn't very big for a barrel.

Oh, and temperature and barometric pressure is supposed to affect movement of the spirits through the wood too. Much to read about!

 

[shelly_belly]

I bought a used 5 gal honey liquor barrel but wanted a bourbon flavor so I put 3.5 liters of black label Evan Williams in it. For 2 weeks I rolled it around once a day. When I reclaimed the bourbon it was way better than when it went in the barrel. It picked up a lot of oak flavor and also became smoother but the smoothing may have come from the honey liquor's influence. From what i've heard, bourbon quits improving for the most part once it's removed from the barrel.

 

[crane]

I bought a used 5 gal honey liquor barrel but wanted a bourbon flavor so I put 3.5 liters of black label Evan Williams in it. For 2 weeks I rolled it around once a day. When I reclaimed the bourbon it was way better than when it went in the barrel. It picked up a lot of oak flavor and also became smoother but the smoothing may have come from the honey liquor's influence. From what i've heard, bourbon quits improving for the most part once it's removed from the barrel.

I did something similar. Got a brand new unused 10 gallon barrel for wine making but wanted a bourbon flavor in it. I put several handles of Jim beam in it for a month or 2 and rolled it around occasionally. Best tasting Jim beam I've ever had.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Wow time sure does fly...

Just wanted to give a quick update on this in case anyone else was thinking about trying it too.

I went with a small 2L barrel. 75% was John E Fitzgerald Larceny and 25% was Bulleit (had on hand so I went with it), aged for about 30 days. Both bourbons are tasty on their own so I didn't expect the flavor to improve dramatically (it can only get so good right?), but it came out tasting better than the sum of its parts. The oak is obviously very strong but I wouldn't describe it as "too much." There's a pretty big hit of vanilla on the back end too which I'm really digging.

Overall it was a fun project but I can't say I put in two mid level bourbons and came out with Pappy on the other end. There's probably more that can be done here to make the end result more refined, but either way it'll be a cool thing to have on the shelf until boy turns 21. The plan for the bottle is to flush it with CO2, wax it, and keep it on the shelf out of direct sunlight. The way I see it even if it doesn't taste amazing after 21 years, it'll at least be a cool story.

As for the barrel, after the bourbon I aged a Manhattan for 30 days, followed by a Vieux Carre (since they're very similar) for about 30 days. While the bourbon's flavor changed but didn't massively improve its quality, the barrel did wonders for both cocktails. The flavors really blended together in both cases and is definitely far better than just mixing up a quick drink. The bitters, which are usually off-putting for me, were still noticeable but in a pleasant way. If you're in to cocktails even a little bit and have the means, give barrel aging a shot; you won't regret it.

Right now I've got an El Presidente aging. I figure most of the oakiness in the barrel is probably spent already so I could get away with a lighter rum cocktail. It's already coming along quite nicely, maybe even better than the Manhattan or Vieux Carre.

After the El Presidente I'll most likely retire it to a life of vinegar production.