Well done George!!! My girlfriend say's that I watch your videos that much, that why don't I invite you for Christmas. So if you want to come to Manchester, England for Christmas let me know hahaha :D
Congratulations on cracking 100K George. Your information and awesome videos are why we're all here bud, you earned this with all your hard work and dedication to helping all of us.
Congrats on 100k! I’ve been watching for a while and I can’t say enough how much I appreciate your expertise. Your knowledge has been a resource to my runs since I started and got my alcohol fuel license in 2016. Thanks again George!
Congratulations Mr. Duncan! Been following your channel for a while and just recently realized your a fellow Texan, yep, HEB gave it away lol. Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge with all of us. Wishing you continued success and happy distilling!
This is yet another great, informative & so enthusiastic video from U!! Thanks so much for making our hobby that little bit better with every presentation U make. The watching is as much fun as the doing, when it come to your channel. Congrats!! I wanted to share a little something with U so that maybe U could one day also explore... When the time came to re-charring my oldest 3L & 5L, I realised that the best tool I had for a steady flame was the small round wood burner on my Webber Kettle BBQ... So I went to town with trying only burning a specific wood with each of the barrels, Pine wood, & Eucalyptus. Both with a mixture of very dry to recently chopped wood... & the results? -OMG!!! All I can say is, U will never want to use a gas flame ever again. I’m enjoying the best bourbons, whiskeys & tequilas of all time. Cheers!!
Well Buddy it worked. I just came across one of your videos. And bought a still and followed your instructions. Well it did exactly what you said. Made my mash. Degassed and turbo cleared. It turned out perfect. First run and proud. Oh yeah added glycerin. Thank you. 61 and needed a hobby. Thanks man. Subscribed and a big time fan.
Audio was ""hissy", and staticy in the first and last few minutes of the video. Great info, I was wondering if you were going to mention the Angel's share, of course you did! Love the channel, and thanks so much for helping all of us. You deserve 1 million subs! Jayman...
Congratulations George. Great to see the 100k reached. Love your channel. A bit of mic crackle happening for a while in this video. Time for an upgrade. Haha. Cheers from Australia.
Another great video, George. Might I suggest paraffin canning wax as opposed to candle wax? It's probably more reliably food grade than candle wax. Found with canning supplies at your local grocery store. I'd love to see more on using chips in glass? Or, instead of throwing away you used up barrels, why not use the staves in glass? Hope you're all healed up and feeling better! Oh, and some people don't mind if something looks like ass - depending on the ass of course! ;)
This episode, like all of your other episodes, George, was fascinating and informative! Thanks so much! I am learning a lot from your channel. Congratulations on 106,000 subscribers! I am looking forward to retirement when I can start distilling as a hobby.
That groove is called the croz. Instead of wax you can use a length of ratann, wet the ratann and use a wood chisel that has a rounded edge to drive the ratann into the crop. That holds the lid or bottom tight to the staves.
George, really appreciate you. You are an amazing teacher ! Thank-you for all that you do, please do not stop, your videos are a highlight to my day :)
One point that may not have been fully made aware is the considerable amount of evaporation loss (Angel's share) which occurs in small barrels, especially over months of aging. Yes, I'm talking evaporation not leaking barrels. Example: a typical 5 liter or 1.32 gallon barrel will lose from 50 to 90% when aged for six months. Consider barrels as short term aging tools and not intended for aging much beyond couple of months. Usually, a month to six weeks in the barrel, then transfer to glass containers for long term aging.
That is a good question. Honestly, I don't know. Seems like it might, but remember that the aging is a combination of the oak, the chard interior, and the changes in barometric pressure which causes the spirits to move ever so slightly into the chard wood. Coating the barrel might change that. Personally, I gave up barrel aging in favor of using the chips of various woods. I think they do a good job with no loss.
@@skyhookspirits That's what I've been doing. I have two barrels, one of which I couldn't get to seal. I saw where one guy said the "Angel's share" was 50-90%. Looking at that figure, charred oak in a 1/ 2 gallon Mason jar looks pretty good. Plus I can see what it's going to look like. I've been pretty impressed with how fast 160 proof gets a nice color. Sometimes in as short as a week. I just leave it be though. That way it has a real depth of flavor and color when I start cutting. I have a decent supply of beeswax. I have one hive left, and the girls are always happy to make more.
You nailed it again George. I live by the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg Tn and all the buildings and trees build that black stuff up on yhem from all the alcohol they produce there.. There have been dozens of people complain about the black stuff but they have investigated many times and found it to be non toxic and of zero threat to humans or wild life or the eco system.Jack Daniels has now hired a full time crew to keep yjat black soot stuff out of the public eye . I know its not harmful because those trees have been there since the distillery was founded in the 1700 i believe .. not one tree has died or became unhealthy as a result of this soot.. It doesnt bother me but there are those who would complain about it calling it unsightly .i yjink they just want something to bit** about personally lol
When you get together with Bearded, I hope you will make the famous "George's Saddelman's Cut". I've watched most of your videos and haven't been able to steal that recipe yet.
george,don't you realise why the old wineries etc were built on creeks or sim water courses.If you look carefully you can still find the reed plantings. They were picked and dried for a few days and then used between the leaking staves which expanded when wetted and thus sealed the leak. Yes the ends were sometimes repaired with paraffin wax ( unscented candles) by dripping the wax from the candle in the leak area of the 'groove" before replacing
George, hope you get my message. U have really open my eyes to many details, tks so much. I have a home made Copper reflux on a 1/2 barrel keg. Would love to cook in the house with electric. Thinking of buying a Digiboil kettle 35L . What are your thoughts on me turning this into wart, mash and wash tung. Making a new pot still top for it to distilling also. I know I could build one as you slowed in one of your videos. But would rather buy something cheep. Tks Roger
George, would you consider talking about barrel entry proof. I put 108 proof into a barrel and it seems to be evaporating at a faster pace than the 140 proof I put in another barrel of the same size. Thanks for all of the information you provide. I learn a lot from watching your videos.
I'm only going to use bee's wax because I'm a member of the British bee keepers association and can get my hands on it. Otherwise I can only get ikea tea candles in the city which are paraffin based which are carsonagenic (cancer causing) fumes or not! Nevertheless, you have great content and I would use it if I hadn't heared of such a thing and would be fine as fumes I would assume have burned away leaving wax.
George, I have recently been diagnosed with Hypoglycaemia, had to sell my still, stop brewing and stop drinking. I don’t stop making insulin after I eat (or drink) and I end up in an ambulance getting glucose shovelled into me. Might be a good topic for a video . Basically, the opposite of diabetes, so having so much hooch available was killing me. I would ask you to endorse moderation based on the past 2 months I’ve spent in hospital. Thank you my friend, from Australia George.
Australian George every diabetic is different, going high or low its still diabetes. If you stay away from anything that can damage your liver for 6 months it may start to recover, never back to 100% normal and eating or drinking the trigger compound can kill you very quickly! Fructose (fruit sugar) is the main culprit for causing Diabetes 50% of table sugar is Fructose. I cannot metabolise Fructose at all due to a genetic condition that effect 1:15000 most of us die as children due to the presence of Fructose in allmost all manifactured foods including baby milk!
George, enjoyable and informative as always. Is there any concern about what glues used to make a repair, like your broken barrel end cover? Should we look for white glue, epoxy, or aliphatic glues? Thanks in advance!
Well done reaching 100k subs George. I've seen other videos around the net showing people repurposing ultrasonic cleaners to rapidly age a spirit. They say this method is indistinguishable from the traditional method you show here. Could you let us know your thoughts on this. Many thanks for all the great videos.
HI George, Thanks for the Video, Why do use water to seal the barrel and not the whiskey? (Other than you don't want to risk loosing any of the whiskey) As the wood takes in the water to seal the barrel and you add the alcohol to store it, will you not dilute the alcohol level?
Hey George been secretly following you...thanks for all you provide..I have a 2 liter oak barrel...and now I have 19 staves..head and tail cap..and 6 metal rings....how can I put it back together correctly...ty for for help....
@Ken Walker, I actually just rewatched an episode of Georges tonight by coincidence addressing this issue. In the vid ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kQaDYnZ7YU0.html (it is worth a watch so click the link and make sure you are subscribed) George suggests using 2 ounces by weight of medium toasted oak chips per gallon. So for 1/2 of a gallon, use 1 ounce of toasted chips. The amount is also dependent on time that the chips are left in the liquid and the flavor profile you are looking for. So start with the 2 ounces by weight per gallong, let sit for a week, sample and change / adjust in the future based on your preferences. I hope this helps you and #happyDistilling
@Bill Nelson I think by the very nature of filling it with hot water to seal the barrel is a rinse by definition. Any residual particulate that might have been in the barrel would be rinsed out of the it during this process IMO. It would never hurt to rinse it with hot water before filling it just making sure you give it time for most of the water to evaporate and leave the barrel before filling it with you special elixir. I hope this helps and #happyDistilling
been a while since i have gotten to just sit and watch your vid's. nice to see some new of the same past vid's. while watching, was wondering instead of the torch, what about wiping down the inside with high proof spirit and light it, keeping the water spray bottle or maybe the lid to smother out keeping in some of the smoke? look to see about getting a set up very soon and see if can do some of my own.
He used the fastferemnt for that, didn't he? I got mine on ebay - www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OEDYUZ0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
George I have two questions: One, what type of glue did you use to fix the barrel lid? Two, after you check for sealing by using hot water, do you let the barrel dry out before adding the liquor or can you fill the barrel while it's still wet? Thanks again. Always enjoy your videos.
Fill your barrel after emptying the soak water. Do not let it dry out. I would suggest using resorcinol resin glue. This is a two part resin glue that is very strong and waterproof. It is often used in Marine repairs. Should be able to get it from Lowes or West Marine.
George I need your help, I just bought a pot still, but I suspect it has a gas leak, what are the symptoms of that? I had the first 200 ml as 120 proof, the next 200 ml 100 the next 200 80 proof, and it kept dropping, I ended up with 1.5 litters 30 proof when I had a wash of 14% potential alcohol according my hydrometer, specific gravity formula applied. I was supposed to get 2.6 liters more or less of high proof alcohol, I suspect I have a gas leak, how can I confirm that, Can you please help me? Best regards
Also the condensers water temperature was always great, below half the vapor temperature (thermometer at the no return point of vapor) as you said on one of your videos.
I have a questions please. I have a 3-liter barrel that I have previously used to age bourbon. I now want to age some unaged rye whiskey. After re-charring my barrel, will the previous bourbon flavor carry over to the rye or does re-charring remove all previous flavors and return the barrel to "new" condition?
There will be carry over. It is best to have separate barrels for each type spirit, unless you want to experiment making a blend. Wonderful aspect of this hobby, we can do whatever we want.
Nice! What temperature Celsius do the water have when you put it in the barrel? I have a 20 L oak barrel 20 years old, never been used. I will start now :) Thanks.
@Svein M. Bortne, run your hot tap until it gets hot... anything from 35C up to 52C should do the trick. Just run hot tap for a few minutes and then fill your barrel or bucket as George describes. It is not necessary or suggested to artificially heat the water like in a microwave or on the stove top. Hot tap water works just fine. Hope this helps and #happyDistilling
@hippo, the material data safety sheet www.united-wax.com/wd/pi/20161024-120125_2_msds_paraffin_wax_uw.pdf effectively says that parafin wax in molten form can cause burns to the eyes or skin (daahhh) and breathing fumes from molten wax is not recommended as it can irritate your lungs, but ingestion of the wax posses no expected treat. You should verify this information yourself since I am not providing professional advice but am only providing personal and not professional guidance from my reading of the MSDS. I would think bees wax could be used just as effectively btw, and maybe provide an additional yum factor, especially if you know a local apiarist. I hope this helps and as always, #happyDistilling
@Kevin Robinette, do you know what your ABV was? Did you do gravity readings at the start and the end? Looking at your yield it seems reasonable. 10% ABV for 20 gallons would be 8 quarts direct so it seems that your yield is reasonable. Try washing and cleaning everything and do a rerun? Just some thoughts and I hope they help. #happyDistilling
Something is wrong with your audio George. It sounds like someone is ruffling a plastic bag while you're talking. It comes and goes and in some places its louder than others.
