Is INSTANT WHISKEY a Beautiful Lie? | Ultrasonic “Aging” Experiments

Rapidly aging a delicious whisk(e)y is a dream of distillers around the world. Currently, there are several evolving technologies attempting to instantly age alcohol, but are the results amazing - a nightmare - or something in between? In this episode we get down and dirty with a simple Ultrasonic "Rapid Aging" experiment with 16 different samples in an ultrasonic cleaner. Just a bit of science with a sprinkle of glory to get the ball rolling - cuz there's a lot to explore here.
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Want more ultrasonic aging experiments? Check out this episode from The Thought Emporium where he experiments with ultrasonic "aging" and a bunch of non-whiskey things. • Instantly Age Alcohol ...
outro song by, DJ Quads - Millionaire

[@LeatherDaddy97]

Brianna is the final piece of the puzzle, we need her as a mainstay.

[@Zelmel]

She's great! Wasn't she a "whisky noob" not long ago?

[@LeatherDaddy97]

@@Zelmel yes she was. But she has become the chosen one

[@dungeonmasterv]

She did mooch the decanter after all. 🤣

[@thevictorianconservative1093]

But she needs to keep that innocence about everything! thats gonna be a helluva trick though, especially after a while

[@mateodonderis2455]

Agreed

[@taterskins1033]

Brianna makes me feel more at home with her input because, as a true noob, her assessments are a bit more relatable to me than either Rex’s or Daniel’s

[@jimglass5892]

So true, I have followed their best picks and unfortunately found that their flavor pallet is far far from mine.

[@bonolio]

Well Rex used to be the noob, so there was that dynamic. But Rex's fungfu has grown. I think Brianna would definitely add back that Master\Apprentice aspect to the show. (Plus I am low key kind of crushing on her a bit)

[@ksspang]

@@bonolio that's definitely the boat I'm in too

[@RecklessFables]

She's relatable.

[@TMHonfire102]

Thumbs up for Briana in the video!

[@Ryansrangereport]

Whoa look who the fuck it is lol.

[@TMHonfire102]

@@Ryansrangereport yea I lurk around a little lol

[@Ryansrangereport]

@@TMHonfire102 do you still have your HK45 ? I think that’s a random gun we both had at the same time. Is cokeman still alive ?

[@TMHonfire102]

@@Ryansrangereport yes he is alive and kicking, I still have mine and it has been 100% all this many years later.

[@johnfowler3873]

AND with the Rhinegeist t-shirt!

[@Ian_P]

Little does she know that she is being unconsciously trained in the art of becoming whiskey connoisseur for the distillery.

[@johnmcelwain5884]

Taste this leads to blending and field rep in time

[@michaelo5665]

Briana's quiet "for the right price" comment had me giggling. She low-key stole the episode from you this time Rex.

[@Mugwart1]

Haha! Yes, totally! :)

[@biscuitninja]

I said...,"that's not my fetish..." a little too loud and in public.... .... -_-

[@dysojerr]

I totally agree 🤣

[@dickymain8604]

I can't find it? Where in the video XD

[@EvanCurrie]

"The best kind of Whiskey is the Whiskey you like to drink..." "I kind of like this one." "You're fired." lol

[@poptarts5730]

He's threatened

[@DaMapleMoose]

He said it so fast

[@saint-cetacean]

Loved two things about this video: 1) Rex ranting 2) Brianna. Just everything about her. Absolutely makes every video she's in

[@macmasks]

I love that the Mooch is converting and training a new mooch. Love Brianna.

[@robertnichols4223]

Brianna is the perfect balance between Rex and Daniel. She needs to be in more episodes. Plus it's great to have her palate as a different reference point.

[@thevictorianconservative1093]

Came for whiskey, stayed for Brianna. She is so darling!

[@RyanStonedonCanadianGaming]

"That taste like lube"

[@LeatherDaddy97]

@@RyanStonedonCanadianGaming i think she said glue

[@ethanwpope99]

Ryan StonedOnCanadianGaming Definitely said Glue lol Still funny nonetheless

[@GaviLazan]

I guess you hear what you want to hear 😂

[@Tunkkis]

@@LeatherDaddy97 Yes, hence Daniel's response of "Yeah, rubber".

[@billyclinton1885]

"I don't think anything's supposed to taste like that" LOL Brianna's the best

[@rogerpingleton9199]

Oh my god I laughed so hard when she said that!! Perfect ending!

[@HollywoodFTW]

Brianna is a great addition to these tastings. Also, the editing is great.

[@Zelmel]

I love Brianna's take as someone apparently much less experienced with whisk(e)y than you guys. The "tastes like cake just put in the oven" thing immediately clicked with me as someone who both loves whisk(e)y and bakes a lot.

[@naterunyon5608]

It just wouldn’t be a tribe video if it didn’t end with Rex’s hysterical laughter. I love it.

[@joshuaprice7306]

Rex reads comments..... Brianna appears. We see you Rex

[@KillCoWhiskeyMusings]

Has anyone else noticed that Rex has a habit of doing what a toddler might do if they had a credit card and what can only be called childlike curiosity about what happens to things when mixed together?

[@kjcorder]

He's making potions!

[@CynicalStorm]

s/o to Briana for repping the Rhinegeist.

[@XRarehunterX]

@@robschoenung9543 was wondering the same thing haha

[@CaptainTrivia]

I'm from Dayton but was wondering the same thing

[@blahblahsen1142]

"what's this last one, it's very Earthy?" "that is my urine sample, fun fact, still 50 proof by volume."

[@Athiril]

I got a rapid aging technique for you - you guys mentioned that the climate of Texas causes the liquid to move in and out of the wood more - so put the barrel on a heating and cooling cycle, while also pressuring it as it heats and depressurise as it cools. Magnetic stir bar in the barrel, or otherwise rolling/agitating the barrel for several minutes now and then should cut down the age time

[@DerpyRedneck]

That's actually a brilliant series of experiments!

[@MrNoochie7312]

Rex knew damn well what he was doing bringing Briana back on! I saw her in the thumbnail and clicked the link:) ! She needs at least one appearance per week...or 2!

[@ALLCAPSRAGE10]

Brianna's angle on tastings is a welcome addition, I think you guys should have her in more tasting videos

[@TheStoutbeard]

Mooch in training at the table

[@chrismcdaniel6035]

I always get a good laugh when she is on. "I think she out did us!" "get better"

[@blug407]

I use ultrasonic methods in some of my research as a way of ensuring that my solution can penetrate carbon samples that I generate from wood. My knowledge on it, at least, is that the ultrasonic bath helps break up colloids and particle mixtures, and may also help diffusion of the liquid into pore and diffusion out of the pores of the carbon. The same would likely go for the wood, so it’s interesting to see. We do find that on top of sonication we have to leave the sample overnight as the diffusion into the pores of our carbon is quite a slow process that likely isn’t enhanced by sonication, though I’m not a pro there. On temperature, you could see better mass transfer (transfer of solute from wood to spirit) at higher temp I think as the kinetics would probably improve though I’m not sure - thermodynamics might get weird. This is really cool to see that it actually has some impact though, great experiment!

[@keithworrell8171]

Does that mean you would have some effect of speeding up reactions with white spirits (no wood) to overcome bottle shock?

[@blug407]

@@keithworrell8171 eh, possibly? It’s really hard to say. From what I know (not much I’m more a wine person than a spirit person), bottle shock is mainly an oxidation thing but it’s pretty gradual. Sonication might more easily introduce oxygen to the liquid, and may encourage some more reaction that way, but I don’t think it would be quite enough. And if it was, you might overdo it. Hard to know, I mostly use sonicators nowadays to clean stubborn glassware before I haul out harsh chemicals. Works wonders there especially if the material is hydrophobic.

[@richardsaucier9823]

Brianna's facial expressions and the way she blends in with you two is priceless. Well done

[@brendanhorman884]

YESSS gurl, hit em with that Palo Santo! While wearing the Rhinegeist shirt! Beer people can be whisk(e)y people too!

[@Tetchreon]

"Campfire Vodka" I can kind of see some interesting mixed drink ideas for this. I'd give a bottle or two a shot.

[@Silverstiletto]

I was thinking the same thing. With some vanilla and chocolate flavors you could make a tasty smores shot.

[@nevadanate4957]

Maybe it would make a good Bloody Mary

[@stillcrazy4023]

Came for the whiskey. Hung with the boys. Stayed for Brianna.

[@DhumacKata]

It would be interesting if you ran the same experiment but let the ultrasonics run for 1 day vs 1 week vs 1 month.

[@mavrickmike16]

Dhugal Mac then put the best tasting ones in a small barrel to finish them off

[@adaymadaday7283]

Bruh, i think, if you overdo it, its gonna be a woodchip juice.

[@1NDYC3NT]

@@adaymadaday7283 don't know if we don't try

[@cmarshmellow]

Awesome video! That’s actually really cool how the machine thinned out the audio

[@canadianwhiskysmith6453]

Obviously, Daniel hasn't told his Aerosmith story often enough in the last year 😄

[@tickletaguchi4211]

Put an opened soda in the ultrasonic cleaner it is like the mentos experiment

[@kavyabhatt4441]

*Briana mooching the Canter in the end* Everyone in the Whiskey Tribe : "The Mooch is Strong with this one." 😂 Awesome video 🙌🥃

[@timothydahlman1158]

I also forgot to add that I am a new member. I very much apprciate that you all experiment so much with things like this. It is magnificent.

[@ericnix4396]

20:33 I laughed so hard my children thought I was hurting somehow 😂🤣😭

[@bluegrassboy2448]

I used to be shy in describing tasting and nose notes in whiskey, fearing I was saying the wrong thing. I'm glad Brianna has been included, for her style and unfiltered descriptors have given me confidence to say what I think I smell or taste and know I can't be wrong.

[@deanuemura8061]

Rex may fancy himself as “ice lord”, but has revealed his kryptonite to be wood and plastic bags...

[@jarednaicker6727]

Loving the channel, so glad I've stumbled onto it! Not sure if it's been suggested before, but to try freeze drying whiskies to see if any flavors get left behind and the difference in flavors between non alcoholic whiskies and their alcoholic counterparts. Keep up the great work!

[@rosscarballo3162]

Rex once again showing that he can be well-spoken and responsible when he needs to be, but that just makes the shenanigans all the sweeter 😆 Honestly, though the experiments were super interesting, and I hope to see you try more things, rapid aging or otherwise

[@doublewhisk]

She's awesome bring her back

[@donselman2123]

This was great! Definitely one of my favorites. Science and shenanigans! Brianna is a delight!

[@Sleepwalkyr]

I appreciate displaying all three "OH" faces in the thumbnail 👍🏽 Great video too. Love the chemistry as usual!

[@anonymousdevildog1406]

I'll always love how you two bring in her to be a third voice. Love you guys - but I'm new to all of this. Its nice to have a newer person perspective that isn't as experienced as you guys. I really want to try this at home.

[@libertyts]

A true laugh out loud, missus coming in asking "What the hell are you watching" episode. Loved it. I too had the same question at the start of the tastings, "What is Brianna doing here for this one?" By the end, she definitely belonged and value-added. Daniel giving the dad advice quietly in the background was beautiful. A really fun, engaging team, keep it up all!

[@maltymission]

SCIENCE! If they’d be doing this in chemistry class back in highschool, I’d be a straight A student. Brianna has all the traits of the wizard apprentice, looking, listening, learning, agreeing and preparing to take over control when ready. I like her 😁

[@loupsrecoverysvc]

You three work very well together on your videos. Bravo!

[@calmsea1604]

This is classic! We need more of this trio.

[@bigjoe8109]

Laphroig quarter cask is an example of the extreme flavours you can get from smaller barrels!

[@derricksanders7714]

My father was always big into whiskey but i never cared much for alcohol in general . I bought a few for him recently and gave them a shot. (Lagavulin 16, Elijah Craig small batch, Blue Label and a few more JW's. along with some other brands. At the same time I watched your videos and and fell in love with the culture. Your videos are great and genuinely make me laugh. Your dynamic is fantastic. I'm planning some tastings and virtual tastings with some friends now. Thank you for the great content and reviews

[@canadianwhiskysmith6453]

One of my local distilleries does a tiered aging. We have to age 3 years in Canada, so to help speed up oaking, they start everything in a baby barrel for a year. For year two, they bump it up to a mid-sized barrel. Then for year three, they combine to full-sized barrels. Gives things an interesting dynamic 🙂

[@gavinm9507]

This triple act is awesome! Also nice editing 👌

[@drjeckel6209]

I love your whiskey videos, y'all crack me up while completely filling me with curiosity and knowledge. Also, I love that Briana is wearing a Rhinegeist shirt, as they are local to me here in Cincinnati.

[@blah007001]

When I went to Fort Leonard Wood for basic training, ZZ Top did an MWR concert there, and the band that opened for them was Bowling for Soup. So they do indeed allow frosted tips on their stage.

[@blah007001]

@@windowdoog I didn't get it, I was in Basic. Leonard Wood got it.

[@wolftheshade7946]

Great video! just subbed. I have an interest in ultrasonic aging. One idea is to ultrasonic age it for longer for a taste that might be more similar to regular aging. Freshly toasting/charring might also help. Different alcohols might have different interactions just from different things used to make the alcohol and different flavored alcohols or added different flavors like fruit during the ultrasonic may also do something too. Also love that wolf poster!

[@JonWilsonPhysics]

Idea: do the 2hr sonic aging with really cheap ethanol. This will pull out the compounds that can be pulled out quickly by sonic aging. Toss the resulting liquid. Dry the wood. Then, use that same wood a second time with the new-make whiskey. The overpowering wood flavors will already be substantially extracted, but compounds that are slower to extract will still be available.

[@jefflaird5067]

I feel like scotch could be sonic aged for like 10 minutes just to get the color so they don't have to use food dye

[@bryansesco9671]

Brianna was hilarious ! Thanks for the entertainment. When the fog machine was fumigating she could of quoted Wizard of Oz, "I'm melting!" But you guys got her tanked, she's fortunate to have lived!

[@jek__]

Good science! Good controlling of your variables and discussion of the effects. And it's an example from people who know what they're doing on how to do this yourself, without being explicitly instructional. The camera cuts and facial zoom is a little much, but the information quality is top notch

[@theoptimisticmetalhead7787]

Brianna is THE BEST. Definitely gotta be in more stuff. She cracks me up. I love when she disagrees, that blast of confidence from her, "y'all are dumb, this is what I'm getting."

[@mojitojones2592]

I think this method of "aging" really has a lot of promise. Obviously nothing will beat patience and the normal aging process, but think of all the experiments that could be done with sonic aging. Rex only did two time frames with an arbitrary amount of wood. If a distillery really wanted to do this, they could test different wood to spirit ratios, a bunch of different time frames, using multiple types of wood, etc. I can see there being a lot of ways to expand on the flavors they were getting, and these experiments can be done in high quantity in a short amount of time. Then they could do what Daniel said and combine it with aging in small barrels. This video really caused me to nerd out, thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[@marioszlatinis7520]

I have used and ultrasonic cleaner in various experiments concerning both wood and botanical extraction, and one thing you also have to take into account is that even if you don’t turn up the heat, heat progressively builds up due to cavitation, so it’s hard to define extraction parameters and compare results with precision. But it does works really well for some applications. Oh, and don’t dip your fingers in the bath when it’s running 😂

[@douglasmacdougal5477]

LOL at 10:50 when Brianna is trying to get every last drop out of the glass...

[@whyidontwant2723]

She is there Danial because we love her and the tribe demanded it.

[@kjcorder]

8 months later and she's on all the time! I love it

[@ApparitionFVT]

Hey y’all, new subscriber here and new member of the whiskey tribe. I’m SUPER new to the whiskey world and because of your vids (love them btw) I have decided to start my journey. Stopped at the store today and wanted to try a sweet scotch to begin. I asked the girl working for a cheap option in the 20 to 30 dollar range and she helped me ultimately choose Speyburn single malt scotch - Braden Orach. She said it was a 10 yr., come to find out the Braden Orach is actually a no age disclaimer (although they do have another type that is a 10 yr., maybe she was mixing them up). I will be sipping tonight (both without and with a dash of water) but hope I didn’t make a terrible choice for my first scotch. Hope for some replies from anyone on other options for the future, feedback, etc. Glad to be a member of the tribe 😊

[@AllanYacaman]

Sooo Good! Briana's always fun to watch with her funny faces ;D

[@Josh___d___G]

Got gifted my first bottle of whiskey for my 18th... so doing all my homework before opening it... and a little bit of extra... man I love these guys vids!

[@jackfrost2978]

I love that you guys did this test and report. I would recommend try sonic and sub sonic aging. And mixtures of all 3. Ultra sonic may work faster but I was expecting it to not have as great of an effect or for it to be dramatically harsher. I think sonic and sub sonic may take longer but give better end results. And still take far less time then traditional methods.

[@brockevans1558]

So, I'm a chemist. I think I have an idea for something never done on KZbin (maybe by anyone). There is a niche piece of chemistry equipment called a soxhlet extractor. It basically evaporates a solvent (alcohol) and condenses it. The alcohol then goes into an extraction vessel. After enough collects, it falls into a collection vessel and starts again. It will do this process over and over again until you turn it off. You could put white dog in the bottom and wood chips in the extraction vessel. What you get in the collection vessel after hours would theorhetically be an aged whiskey.

[@jamwheeler]

Daniel whispering "pace yourself" lol wise words of advise 9:43

[@MrJones-bg4sz]

LoL 😆 good catch.

[@toddellner5283]

It's not just ultrasonics. I have a whole bunch of old distillery manuals. These technologies were around back in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. Oxygenation, heat cycling, so on and so forth. They just weren't economical on a commercial scale. I've seen some analyses of speed-aged whiskies vs. traditionally aged ones. Over the years the profiles have gotten closer and closer. The big hurdle the latest patented method has is that it's gotten a lot more esterification than the older technologies

[@drjota1984]

Awesome video. Make Briana your regular Noob taster for this weird experiments. She brings humor, and a more casual imput. I'd dare to say you are the holy trinity of whisky videos in the Whiskey tribe: The Som, The Mooch and the Noob.

[@ExUSSailor]

I use oak chips in my mead. The last time I aged a batch over toasted oak chips, it gave my mead a wonderful bourbon-like flavor, and, color. I boiled the oak chips first, and, added them after fermentation, so, they were just part of the aging process. I think I left them in for about 3 months.

[@lukek.5773]

how did i miss this? i tagged you guys in a post on the FB page with this idea, so glad ya'll got around to it

[@winterburden]

Brianna can quietly take over this channel, wouldn't be mad.

[@zzzetsulive]

the old "whats that over there?!" perfect brianna

[@Cynycal]

She's so good with you guys, takes the whole thing to the next level.

[@clithero1]

I am having to keep shut one eye to even read or type in the comments after that video, excellent whiskey tasting video guys! Briana is awesome!

[@olep.4156]

Briana! She is once again such a good addition. Great video, and then she is the cherry on top. I kind of want to have a go at this being a trio, if the dynamics work out should this continue to happen.

[@kjcorder]

Is been 8 months and she's been in several tasting videos. Still feel the same? I do, she's great

[@Amocoru]

I've been subbed to this channel for so long and I can't remember the last time a video actually showed up in my feed. I came here to make sure I was still subscribed and I was. Realized the last video I saw was a month ago. Wtf KZbin.

[@kjcorder]

How has that changed in 8 months?

[@kellysalyer1972]

For 5 years when I used to work in Saudi Arabia, I would take fresh made sugar shine and "age" it on Jack Daniels whiskey barrel wood chips for a week to 2 weeks. I would leave it on my kitchen counter on the eastern side of my apartment so It would be exposed to heat early in the day and would be at a cooler room temp as the sun moved west. It wasn't real whiskey but it wasn't half bad.

[@StickyAnn]

Brianna makes for an awesome addition. I enjoy the trio of opinions.

[@TheHawkeyeful]

Love the Rhinegeist rep, Briana!

[@MrJaneails22x]

Briana is an excellent addition.

[@jordanschelts]

I am not even a huge fan of whiskey, but your videos are hilarious.

[@jeremiahleak9371]

Hello from Cincinnati! Love the Rhinegeist shirt.

[@danrickard1911]

Best tasting vid yet. Soo much fun.

[@Quartermaster_77]

Briana, your skills impress me!

[@creativejuices7156]

Funn'est ep ive seen so far, go Bri !!

[@shitmultiverse1404]

"this is unaged..." "so is this why it's so light in color?" "...this has not been aged at all" "ooooooooooooooh" megabrain

[@SanskarWagley]

Hope you guys do the experiment of proofing down via evaporation you mentioned in a recent Vault episode

[@MrMartinSchou]

The main advantage of ultrasonic aging is the speed of experimentation. These experiments took a few hours to get results out of, and you could easily change things like temperature as most devices have temperature control. If needs be you could place the devices in fridges or freezers and use rubbing alcohol instead of water for the outside liquid and control the temperature a lot more for experiments.

[@hopshlooken]

For quick aging; Step 1 is infusing the oak. Step 2 is oxidizing the tannins. I put 1 quart oak infused whiskey in a gallon container. Get air to it once a week and shake well. Takes it from astringent to smooth in a month.

[@jasonwolf6899]

I about shat myself laughing when Rex threw the Doritos into the ultra

[@GregBird]

@13:06 "That tastes like glue...." that face was priceless! heh

[@turlyblistershits]

Im so glad y'all finally did this

[@zyxsborja914]

Daniel - "half the things in existence he doesnt like" LOL, seems true. I've noticed how daniels right shoulder moves upward every time he taste whisky and tries to explain or describes something. He had the nerdy part of the review taken care off. Rex - game for everything which makes the channel exciting. He provides shenanigans which makes the channel funny. Join them together makes an awesome channel!!!!!!

[@Fishbone8891]

Smooth Ambler is amazing, I tried it one time at a bar because it had an elephant a I've never seen it before. Boy was I excited to taste it, it was so damn good! Highly recommend it if you can find it.

[@EB-xl6db]

When it comes to music, depends what I'm drinking and the mood I want to achieve. Metal, irish folk or punk, old punk, country, viking metal. All depends. Favorite sing alongs in my group would be Óró Sé do Bheatha Bhaile or Come Out Ye Black and Tans.

[@justnos]

Brianna with the Rhinegeist Brewery T-Shirt from Cincinnati, OH. I used to live a mile from that brewery and it's awesome to see how far they have traveled!

[@kpjdada]

Thanks for representing Cincinnati Brianna! Love the shirt.