How I Obtain & Treat Wood For Aging Spirits

[@edwardmarquardt8176]

I would like to see more on this topic. Specifically the different types of wood you can use and what the best toast levels are for each type.

[@BESHYSBEES]

Soak times vs AVB, staves vs chips vs shavings, best wood combos, wood no no’s can you use saw dust to fast age? Too many questions I think lol the podcast sounds like a good idea 👍

[@rogerbarrett2237]

I believe I speak for all of the chasers when I say we would like to get deeper with your wood. LOL. In all seriousness I would love to have a more in depth video about it. Thanks Jesse

[@chrisparkin6894]

Absolutely!

[@whiskeywookie2758]

I agree we could all listen to you talk about your wood for hours! lol But yeah even if it was a podcast instead of making a video I think would be very informative to go a bit deeper into the different in and it's of your wood, toasting charring benefits of different wood types, used wood, virgin wood how are they different.

[@jimfryar1]

Yes!

[@s1k2k3m4]

I am fortunate enough to live in the tropics so I have access to another group of woods. Coffee, mango, water apple, guava. From the states I have used ones I’ve gotten online, mainly for smokers, apple, almond, cherry. I use some deeply toasted (unused) oak that I bought at a wine barrel factory in California, acacia chips given to me, and I have also harvested and processed my own crabapple wood. Lately the most popular wood is from my cinnamon tree. I peel the bark for spice first and the heartwood I split and toast. As a general rule I have lessened grams per liter I use for aging from about 58 g down to 30 to 35, and also I no longer char the wood but I give it a pretty strong toast. The coffee wood, acacia wood, the water Apple wood, guava woods are all the least distinctive, but with the coffee wood aged rum, after six months of aging I will take 18 days of infusion with varying levels of roasted coffee and sometimes a small length of vanilla bean. Overall, the best woods for my palate, even though they are very distinct from each other, are, white oak, cinnamon, and mango

[@markellis7961]

Dare I say it, but I’ve found the aging process is where most of the variables are in distilling. So yes please, more videos on this topic would be great.

[@islandlife7872]

Been followin' ye fer bout a year, thoroughly enjoys yer stuff. Me Grandfadder was a moonshiner, I have lots of land and live rurarly. Buyin' wood to flavour me cider n whiskey costs loads. I'd love to see a detailed, video on seasonin' , cookin' n' charrin' wood techniques. I cure wood and heat me gaf wit' wood stoves, so a complete video would be a grand laugh. Cheers Chasers! Keep chasin' the craft! edit: I'm Irish...sorry fer d tangely language format. Cheers Jessie! 😅

[@RobynSmithPhD]

I definitely WOOD love to hear a deep dive into spirits maturation! I find the complexity of the topic so interesting… there are so many factors at play that it really is an art rather than a science!

[@NormBaker.]

The problem with barrel oak is all the flavors are gone. Sugar maple is good. But most people don't know how to tell which are sugar maple. I usually use a hand torch or a gas stove to burn/char the wood.

[@radosawdudek4571]

When using staves from used barrels remember that external surface may have something on ityou probably won't want in your spirit - caked dust, rust from hoops or even mice urine. It's probably better to scrape off good amount of wood there.

[@ledzep331]

A little sandpaper would take the exterior layer off. Then toast it in an oven for an hour, and char it with a flame at 500c and put it in 60% alcohol for 6 months or more. Think that would defeat the mouse urine.

[@mrbrown3546]

I'll second removing the external wood. I get 'squares' from my butcher that are originally intended for smoking meats. Very sharp hatchet working one square at a time to size down and remove all the external wood for those reasons and you will find paint etc from marked barrels too.

[@radosawdudek4571]

@@ledzep331 Wouldn't that make your liquor full of charred mice urine, resin and sand from sandpaper? I use clean hatchet and bushcrafty skills like Mr. Smith below

[@darkmann12]

Podcast YES PLEASE! Even without the interesting stuff to do with home distillation, your voice is freaking awesome lol, I'd listen to it for hours!

[@sagoodman988]

Jesse, although I am not a woods seasoning expert (by documents), I have seasoned and burned wood to heat with for 45+ years. Seasoning will absolutely do as you described as in drying and ageing properly, but in my experience one year is sufficient. I have a friend that makes crafts out of old Bourbon/whisky barrels and is going to give me the leftovers. Would really like to know your thoughts on additional toasting or charring, and how long to leave it in a George Washington Rye whisky? As always thank you for your time and knowledge chasing the craft!

[@DrakkarCalethiel]

Different levels of toasting/charing and their influence on taste would be a nice topic to hear more about.

[@davedrewett2196]

Pecan is one I've tried and the pecan grown on my place gives cherry notes when roasted. It's something that I think is useful for a blending component. Also I've heard crab apple is very good. I'd be very interested to see what some of the different Southern beeches are like. These species are related to the oaks and chestnuts but are southern hemisphere. Also when we say French oak it's important to realise two species of oaks are used. Quercus petraea and Quercus robur. And since these species hybridise its most likely that hybrids are used in some places as well.

[@andredeswardt5717]

I want to harvest my own wood from the woods. Which part of the tree do I want to use. Do I only use the heart wood or can I use any part, excluding the bark of course.

[@bennoyce3700]

I’ve dabbled in the charred sugar maple mellowing, used Tennessee Jack Daniel’s smoking chips with additional toasting or charring (excellent flavor and coloring). I’ve got some sitting in med toasted pecan right now, let a dram breath the and all you smell is butter pecan (making me thirsty). Always looking for more info on woods!

[@dlumbers]

This is a topic I really want to learn more about. Thanks for covering it. Eagerly hoping for mor in-depth coverage on the topic. Appreciate all you do. Cheers.

[@mulletjocks]

Yes please. This is the seemingly simple step to master once youve jumped the hurdles of building the perfect still and perfecting the perfect washes... But when you get to this point its ANOTHER seemingly big hurdle! More more more please!

[@chaddesch4]

Probably your best segue yet.

[@andrewwilson8032]

Thx for the video Jesse. It was great chatting with you about this and anyone reading this should become a patron to keep this type of content going. Cheers!

[@thomasnaas2813]

Your suspicion that growing location for oak being important is spot on. The various oaks and hickories here in 'Little Egypt', (Southern Illinois), that grow in swampy conditions often have a strong odor of cat urine and skunkiness even after drying; people call it 'piss oak' The same trees in upland conditions will not have this smell and often the nuts and acorns are sweeter from these trees.

[@unOrigiNik]

Chur for making this. I've been making a manuka mead. Made the yeast with manuka seed cones and sprigs soaked in manuka honey and water for a week, then added it to manuka mead must and put a manuka stave in the demijohn. Never thought to use pahutukawa wood in my pahutukawa mead though

[@NormBaker.]

We have a lot of red oak here. I treat it before hand to remove all the excess tannin. The problem with barrel oak is all the flavors are gone.

[@andrewhare8124]

Not sure if this has been commented on. Mitre10 (NZ hardware store) sell wood chips for using in a smoker to flavor food. M10 sell bags of Jack Daniels wood chips from chipped up barrels. I have just started to use these and the chips do work very well

[@Kevin-nl4bs]

Definitely need a how to on toasting and charring process. When should the wood get boiled? Why does some wood give the spirit an ashy or campfire taste? It's terrible. Definitely need a deep dive on the whole topic.

[@ednac1626]

I am not a chaser, and cannot be, its illegal where i live but you are fun to listen to and its interesting on an intellectual level.

[@Clintotron]

Been waiting for this info!!!

[@CrapSandviche]

Yes!! MORE VIDS ON CHAR AND TOAST!!

[@Kviv92]

This video is a bit old, but I figured I would just throw this out there - if you ever want to give something more exotic a go, I've got some all natural Sea Grape wood that I've been using for a while now (cut from my own bush, of course!). Would love to send you some staves.

[@flannel872]

Just a side note: oil from the chain of a chainsaw will contaminate the wood. These surfaces that contact the chain will need to be sufficiently removed from the raw stock before seasoning.

[@RobertIsaac]

My chainsaw only sees light use so i use canola oil as the lubricant. Makes it a little more food safe for this purpose, but still needs to be removed to avoid contamination.

[@davidanglin4979]

Yes and if you can find someone to get nerdy about the science behind the wood, even better! The science aspect of the entire hobby interests me as much as the final product does.

[@yoguimasterof69]

cask chemistry is awesome!

[@niallfm4409]

I would also love to see the podcasts on Spotify!!! Makes it so much easier to make time for a 40+ minute video when I can play it on a run or in the car on Spotify

[@StillIt]

Fill ya boots mate :) they always go over there too. open.spotify.com/show/39ItzOaQaDx5lfc9Kk0oyc

[@niallfm4409]

Thankyou so much! I've searched still it so many times and feel like a dope for not checking chase the craft. Keep doing what you're doing👍

[@larrybarker1784]

Yes let’s talk about seasoning the wood, and the charring. That would be great Jessy.

[@allenekern2505]

Your so right, we have white wood from the south to the north white oak in the states its all in the flavor of where it's from, Carmel more north ,vanilla more south if that helps

[@captain92morgan68]

I think discussion about toast levels/char levels would be super informative. Maybe light toast/light char, light toast/heavy char, heavy toast/light char, heavy toast/heavy char all used in the same base whiskey and see what happens

[@shortchanged.]

Glad to see ya still @ it. Hehe pun intended . I just decided to pull mine back out and age everything I make into whisky and today you post this sort of vid again .

[@Ambrovious]

Best ad transition ever...

[@yoguimasterof69]

Hi Jesse, great topic to cover in-depth. I found Matt Strickland's book a must to read for those that want to know about aging in more detail, with a great focus on woods. Thanks a lot! :)

[@Darrenola]

Awesome starting point. Love the information. Would really like to see more on both toasting/charring & seasoning.

[@BESHYSBEES]

Bunnings bbq sections have smoking chips n blocks cherry,apple,hickory etc etc

[@sandwhich1050]

My assumption for the type of woods that could be used, any type you would use to smoke food with, be it hickory, oak, maple, cherry, etc., etc., would work equally well in aging spirits. Would it give you a flavor you're after? No idea.

[@LarryChristy]

Toasting and charing video please. Maybe paired with different dumped ABV levels and how extract certain profiles.

[@timbritzjr4099]

Sugar Maple is my go-to wood for North West Bourbon ( I make ). Definitely has a sweeter finish and a great light maple flavor.

[@lionelgayford3184]

Definatly need more info on wood

[@dennisstahl7621]

I am interested in seeing more on seasoning , toasting and charring.

[@GREGB8801]

I’d love to hear some podcasts in general wood, containers for aging doesn’t matter

[@karlkarlsson6635]

I am exploring wood as well. Really appreciate the video

[@allfatherodin-officiallyun1107]

I got a bag of bbq smoke oak chips. Put a handful in a bottle of Russian Standard vodka for a month or three and now it has a delicious whisky flavor.

[@marty8583]

Love the idea of a podcast if you can arrange one .... really interesting aspect of the craft and would definitely like to see more content on the subject.

[@semtimmer9604]

Perfect timing!

[@russtycogg324]

Very nice per usual, Jesse.

[@billknoth3244]

I’ve had good luck using Jack Daniels “smoking chips”. Made from used Jack Daniels barrels

[@the_whiskeyshaman]

I would love a deep dive into the wood. Wow ok that was not what I meant. I’m drying out some pecan wood now hope to have it ready soon.

[@joshtaylor4285]

I'm glad you made this video! I just recently found your channel and I'm just starting this hobby! I was just wondering about this topic!

[@joshtaylor4285]

My town has a factory that makes wine and whiskey barrels, maybe my friend who works there can nab me some wood!

[@tedkiser6860]

Ive got seasoned beechwood wich is in the oak family. I will give it a shot

[@madjaffa]

Keen to hear about effects of char

[@mathewforsman5824]

Basically, you don't use any sort of softwood. Those are typically the ones with a janka hardness of lower than 1000 as a rule of thumb. Apply the same rule as smoking meats etc. I would like to see manuka used in a spirit. Maybe even a manuka honey bourbon, aged with manuka wood

[@joshuagarner6981]

Year per inch of thickness covered with good airflow.

[@Ansis99]

Hi! For speed runners I have an recipe! Use much more wood than Jesse - medium char, age about 1 to 3 month and than use activated coal with cotton filter and filter everything with motor setup about 1 hour. You will get something tasty something "whiskey like" mild and not bad. Of course this will not be whiskey! 🥂

[@mjdude03]

Have you ever thought of trying sassafras? I bet that would give you some really different flavors. I am not new to the channel but I am very new to distilling. I've only done one run with an air still. I am in the process of putting together my keg pot still. Thank you so much for everything you do for the hobby! You freaking rock dude!

[@thomasnaas2813]

The roots and inner bark are where most of the flavor in sassafras comes from, although the dried leaves are used in the southern US in gumbo and other stews. Sassafras contains small amounts of a known carcinogen, safrole.

[@gabriellindig]

I always wondered if you could accelerate aging by putting charred oak sticks and your whiskey in a large rock tumbler. I think it'd be an interesting experiment

[@LuckyLucF7]

This is a very interesting subject for me!

[@unclepapaw7699]

Gator charred American white oak from my back yard works for this Texas boy.

[@dukie1616]

Could you please do an episode where you use the same spirit then sampling it with as many different kinds of aging woods. And when it’s time do what you do so good taste each one and then describe it to us. Great Manscaped advert😂

[@themcclure]

That was about the best ad segue ever! 😂

[@scottmcneill6333]

Funny, I was actually wondering if you could re-use oak chips and whether you could soak them in like sherry to give your spirit that finished flavor. More please. Lol

[@lilinguhongo2621]

I'm also curious about the upcoming video he announced. Prepared a few small jars for that purpose...

[@benknotes9450]

In the same vein as distilled mead, could you maybe try distilling a homebrew ginger beer that has been purposely allowed to go higher in ABV?

[@TheBeauski11]

1000%!! That would be awesome!!

[@2SavedByChrist]

Please do more on all of this?

[@Auger3504]

What is your opinion of red oak? We have a lot of red oak growing in my part of the country. Has anybody tried to use toasted nuts with the staves to add flavor?

[@tomblankendaal3228]

Bearded did one on different kinds of wood. Very interesting and informative. I am very curious how same kind of wood, with same treatment reacts with a spirit of a single run. But proofed down to different levels.

[@jnc007]

All great info. Question: quantity? 1 gallon = 1 - 1”x1”x6” piece? Or 2 pieces or 6?

[@oso712]

Would love to find the proper wood set up for a sweater spirit

[@shanefulner]

Wondering that myself

[@erickaaustring4803]

I am deaf remember I was not good at reading the closed captioning but I will learn fast from you.

[@MajorHavoc214]

Luckily I live in eastern Oklahoma where we have the best conditions for white oak used for barrel making.

[@jimib9832]

Would love to here more about woods

[@chubbyschillis1065]

I recently tried a milk vodka in the uk and wondered if you have ever made it ? Im new to your channel and find it fascinating what you create.

[@albrough]

Yes please for more content!

[@motog4-75]

Would pear wood be like apple & cherry wood?

[@Tarzisme]

Came for the wood now i just wanna know more about the oak/steel barrel thing

[@nigelwhite1483]

Perfect topic great to know I can use a lump of oak I cut off a tree up the horse field it would be hard but could you do a side by side test between chips ,chunks and staves to see which one works better I've learnt so much from you keep up the great work 👍nigel

[@rickseymour1972]

Hi Jesse, I've come across some reclaimed whisky barrels which are selling in the UK for approx 90NZD Are these worth getting, or are they more than likely to have been sat outside getting "aged" (fungal) and then breaking down ? BTW - found your channel a couple of weeks ago and can't wait to get started (once I'm prepared !). Some excellent content, so many many thanks

[@michellewilt4479]

"don't char it on a wooden bench you muppets" lol I legitimately laughed at that. But I would love to hear more about this. Preparing wood, aging spirits with wood, why certain woods, etc. It's such an overlooked topic, something taken as gospel among distillers, but it's something that isn't usually explained and never explained well when it is.

[@benjaminlipiecki8107]

Love you videos---you gave me the courage to try this hobby! How do tannins age; if my spirit starts to taste tannic, should I pull it off the wood and continue to let it age? Or will the bitter/astringency mellow over time?

[@schnuersenkelende]

I know the name of this channel is "still it" but could you also apply this to beer? What do you have to do differently?

[@StassBrewing]

Char video would be cool!

[@aquasitaday3269]

I work at a saw mill where we cut primarily oak and hickory and I've used white oak many times...... But what's your thoughts on hickory......I know it's always my go to for smoking meat but really would like some insight on ageing with it because I've looked around and can't seem to find anything

[@Madmick82]

Use some of the wood to finish the bench 😂 I use Australian Redgum. Bloody delicious.

[@nickmarkham3743]

So, does anyone know if Barrel Char in a Jar kits are any good for this task? They told me they don't season their wood, just oven dry and toast it. There's debate on whether this is enough, but most folks seem to lean into "yes, seasoning yourself is probably necessary"

[@Spartan1-1]

Can I use charcoal to age whiskey?

[@mikeball9900]

just after your box of wood. I'm new to this butt, i'm a thirty year cabinet maker and i know what wood tastes like hehe. i noticed that using several types of wood together is interesting. my first try was toasted white oak, walnut and some aromatic cedar shavings in sugar wash. i uv aged it for a couple weeks and it was fair. i'm going to try uv aging one wood at a time to see if I can pull what I want individually rather than all in at once. yes, uv aging does work hehehe. by the way, do you have any men's large hoodies? I was born with a ding ding hehe

[@mikeball9900]

and at the same time, do you have any unisex scapes? I'm a woman on thursdays and the man scape really bothers me hehehehe....

[@ziggarillo]

For me just an idea about surface area to volume and time equivalents to commercial products. ie:how long in a 1 gallon demijon

[@jaredking380]

i have access to a bunch of wineries around me , what flavor wine would you go for ?

[@AVIONN2]

you gotta try the sugar maple dude it does impart a flavor

[@erickaaustring4803]

Can I make it stays in barrel for no matter how long ?

[@bottshobart]

big fan of the channel and was wondering what grains you believe would be inspired by the taste of pie crust as my plan is to make a spirit with a mixed berry mash and a grain mash and my hopes are to have something representing mixed berry pie i was inspired by one of bearded and bored videos

[@j.salazar2288]

I have a black mulberry tree. Would that be a “Usable” type of wood??? I already use the mulberries for jam. Lol!

[@greenwaltb]

Is there any way possible that you can make a wash with liquid smoke or meme spirit

[@russdoggydog4590]

Can you please explain what made you buy the genio? When you use it? And did you compare to the istill? If so, what do you think of the istill?

[@MikeSmith-qt4pe]

I don't do any distilling, but I do make some meads occasionally and aging with some wood has crossed my mind. Is there anything you do to the wood before you add it to your product, like any sanitation - or maybe toast it (which should help kill any nasties) and then immediately use it?

[@oso712]

More wood videos please

[@dylanfry6078]

Alex at Puhoi organic distillery - holy cr@p that dude can make a good manuka whisky! (def worth checkin out if your in those parts)

[@keithbowers3980]

Lots of different oak trees in Georgia