Irish-American Whiskey

[scotty]

Im just laughing at myself becaust the thought occured to me that everything i think i know about ireland was taught to me by
John wayne
Maureen O Harra
Barry fitzgerald and
victor McLoughlin

oh yes ward bond the priest

yikes

[scotty]

It's a pity you're a long way from the West coast, otherwise I'd have suggested trying to lay your hands on a sweet red wine cask from a winery to capture that genuine old-style Irish PPS taste.
But it seems like you're well on top of the mashbill. I agree with IWC, the wood might be your problem. Teabagging chips isn't going to bring about the result you want. As IWC said, laying your hands on a small oak cask and seasoning it with wine might be the best way forward.
Do let us know what you do and how it goes. This is a fascinating process.

Im in process of making a new still and some vodka.
some pictures here
http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d199/ ... s/?start=0

in a week my friends from new mexico will be coming south for the winter.
we will go to the grain supplier in Tampa and get about 30 pounds of malted barley for a single grain mash.((15 gallons)
i have been studying about enzymes and starch conversion temperatures for months. i have both alpha and beta amylase to help the process. i have an instruction sheet that i made from the information and will test it. the barrel is something i may be able to get because old goats in florida drive motor homes all over the place. maybe i can bribe one of them-- the problem will most likely be that a small wine barrel will not be available except as new from local supplyers

http://www.brewhaus.com/Premium-Oak-Bar ... 3C101.aspx

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Just to let you know I think Oak has a slightly diferent purpose for whiskey than for say wine. I'm no expert in wine but I guessing you know all about that. But indulge me a moment both grape and oak produce tannins and I believe aditional wood tannins are seen as a positive taste profile in wine. Therefor oak helps to interact with the wine and develop it. I know very simplistic and I'm sure there is much more to it than that

However oak tannins are not desireable in Whiskey. By law American whiskey has to be martured in new oak barrels and cannot be reused. To counter act the tannins in fresh oar barrels they char the inside of the barrel. The char does a few things ... 1. it creates a barrier between the whiskey and the oak but at the same time allowing interaction. The charring also carmelises the wood and enhances the vanilla charachter that it can impart on the whiskey and even spicey notes. If your not in a position to charr at least mature some wine or cheap bourbon in the barrel first and that will hopefully draw out some of the stonger tasting tannins first.

best of luck wit hthe project and be sure to let us know how you get along

[scotty]

im thnking of buying a charred barrel

[DavidH]

In readin diferent threads i see i have found a group of avid collectors. I just asumed everyon wanted to distill the stuff.

We are not allowed to distil ourselves in Ireland, Scotty. Sad, isn't it? We would have more distillers on the forum otherwise.

[scotty]

i see you joined march 17th-- my father was born on march 17 and his mom gave him a middle name of fitzpatric--

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

i see you joined march 17th-- my father was born on march 17 and his mom gave him a middle name of fitzpatric--

We actually set up the Forum on March the 17th also. A little homage to everything Irish ... Irish Whiskey .. St Paddies day ... sure what better day to start

We stopped short of shamrocks, harps, little green people and be gorra ... top o the mornin to ya ... and all that craic

[DavidH]

We stopped short of shamrocks, harps, little green people and be gorra ... top o the mornin to ya ... and all that craic

Right. No green around here... oh, wait

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Certainly maturation in wood is the key to creating a drinkable whiskey.

European Oak (ex sherry) & American White Oak (ex bourbon) are the traditional casks used in Ireland.

Assuming you cannot get an European oak then a Bourbon barrel is the obvious choice for you.

Barrels generally are treated in two ways (1) sometimes lightly toasted or (2) charred. Charring is measured in degrees of charring,
You can have a 1-char, 2-char or 3-char (this being the depth of the char inside the barrel).

The char is very important as it filters the impurities in the whiskey and helps the taste develop due to the interaction between the wood & the spirit. The seasons also play a part in developing the taste with expansion in the summer and contraction in the winter (spirit moves in and out of the wood). Not to mention evaporation. So your local climate will also have a huge bearing on the final product.

If you cannot get a barrel you will have to experiment with seasoned oak cubes or staves.

A good book/chapter on maturation should help (or a visit to a friendly microdistillery)

Best of luck and keep us posted on your experiments.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

This topic has certainly grabbed the imagination

However I think the main problem here is the small volumes that are being created hence propper casking is not an option.

I seasoned a litre oak cask a while ago with sherry for 3 months and then matured a 3 year old cooley whiskey for 6 months. The whiskey certainly matured but the oak still over powered more than slightly.

I have planned to mature clear spirit but the cask dried out and it ha cracked a bit on one of the tops need to see if rehydrating will reseal it.

[scotty]

Well all this response has me realising that i must first try to understand a bit more about Irish Whiskeys in general.

I am going to buy a book on what irish whiskeys are available. as far as the actual aging i will have to try a small barrel althoug i can easily control the oaking by placing only a very small amount of chips into a gallon jug and removing them very quickly as soon as i see the stuff get a little bronze in color--i left the last bunch of chips in too long.
i really know that i wont be able to come up with somethin that would be called excellent but i will try to learn one style and tweak that if i can. i used vanilla and glycerine on my last batch and was told it was vey smooth with a faint wiff of vanilla.
the over oaking did in fact subside as the whiskey sat on the shelf for a few months.

i will now back out for a while because i have 26 pounds of bacon to smoke,slice and vac pack in the next few days-- I also want to run my vodka wash soon so i am free to go and purchase the grain for my next whiskey mash.


Just let me say how gratefull i am for the responses and friendliness. In a couple of weeks i should be mashing an all malted barley mash single malt . i will take pictures and document the thing from purchase of grain to aging and bottling.

right now i need to dis apear for a time-- I actually cant wait till i get to the point where i start posting again.

Meantime i will read as much as i can on this site and try to collect a book or two that is specifically dedicated to Irish whiskeys


meantime
thanks a million
SCOTTY

[scotty]

I'm posting just so i remain serious about this irish whiskey thing. we finished smoking, slicing and vac packing the bacon. Now we have to make our years supply of scrapple ((a pensylvania dutch thing))
My brewing partners have arrived in florida and we are planning a trip to Tampa to buy the barley for the single malt that we intend to mash in december sometime.
I am having a covered platform built outside my mobile home where we can run the still and other gizmos. It has 120 and 240 volt electric outlets now-- a sink will follow soon. The books are in transit . i cant wait to read up. ive been watching whiskey evaluations on you tube also.

This post will sort of comit me to keeping my word.
btw here is the bacon
if anyone cares to look

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... 8420231329

[Fionnán]

wait, JC, what's this about the use of sweet reds in PPS agin. As someone who happens to been working on a somewhat similar project within striking distance of napa, i'd be really interested. (if you didnt catch my earlier post, here's a brief intro to what we're doing: http://www.bogwatertoad.blogspot.com/)

[scotty]

We are doing 5 gallons of light lager beer next week. My new still is waiting for me to run the 14 gallons of sugar wash to make some gin and vodka.
Please forgive my continuous posting but i am determined to place myself in the position of having said i would do a single barley malt and have to keep my word.
I really dont expect replys. This thread is more of my sub conscious keeping me on track.

[GSC]

Scotty, a different question for you:

You are in Florida. It is difficult for one South of the Mason-Dixon Line to be a "Yank". More like a "Reb".

Unless of course, if you are a transplanted Yank.

[bredman]

I really dont expect replys. This thread is more of my sub conscious keeping me on track.

Keep 'em coming scotty, through you we can all live the dream.

[scotty]

Scotty, a different question for you:

You are in Florida. It is difficult for one South of the Mason-Dixon Line to be a "Yank". More like a "Reb".

Unless of course, if you are a transplanted Yank.

Im an american born second generation full blooded italian born in manhattan welfare hospital in 1941.

but i am a transplant. Actually these sothern folks are quite special. real down to earth country folks. i like it here

[scotty]

I really dont expect replys. This thread is more of my sub conscious keeping me on track.

Keep 'em coming scotty, through you we can all live the dream.

thanks for the boost. i am almost finished insulating the boiler on a new still. i will run a vodka/gin wash soon and will post photos.

i just made plans with my partner in crime to go to the city for some malt. we will make our third batch of irish style american whiskey. I fully intend to get a 5 to 8 liter chared barrel to age some of it properly. i will surely be pleased to show photographs of that too.


thanks again.
scotty