Got me barrel from the good ol USA done the business and I'm frothing at the mouth can't wait 30 days you gotta be kidding me still the best show by far
Yeah, the first one is the hardest to wait for. But, since you need to keep the barrel in constant rotation, it'll get easier after you dump the first aging and move onto your second. Cheers!
if you bottle the aged cocktail, do you have to keep it in the fridge because of the vermouth? how long will it last before the vermouth in it goes bad?
I've seen craft cocktail bars do this, to great effect. They keep it in cool dry place below 60 F while it's aging, and keep it in the barrel until it runs out. Pulling it out of the barrel will halt the aging effects, but it's fun to taste it again every few weeks. Interestingly, you'll get more pronounced barrel tastes when it's summer time and humid, since the barrel will breath with the rise and fall of day, like it does when aging whiskey.
Yes. I keep mine in the fridge. It makes diluting it a little harder when going to make a cocktail, but it keeps the drink from oxidizing too quickly. I've seen bars, good bars with quality cocktail programs, just have the barrel-aged and bottled cocktails on the shelf ready to pour. Which could be fine. I'm just not sure how long they keep them in stock. Perhaps they sell out of them fairly quickly and only have them up there for a day or two. But if you can make the room in your refrigerator, I'd recommend doing it that way. It won't last forever but you should be able to get some weeks out of it, assuming you don't drink it all first. Haha. Cheers!
Combining the vermouth with the high-proof spirit will help slow oxidation, and prevent bacterial spoilage. Oxidation is still somewhat of a concern, though, but there are steps you can take to abate it. The first step would be to buy a can of Wine Preserver, which contains nitrogen and argon gas; alternately, if you have access to bottled CO2 (you're a home brewer, etc.). The primary goal is to displace air using a non-oxidative gas at every step of the pouring and mixing processes. So, before you add your ingredients to a mixing glass, to the cask, or to a final bottle (if you're going to bottle), you should purge all of these containers with N+Ar or CO2. In fact, I'd skip the mixing glass as recommended in this video and just add all the ingredients directly to the oak cask, since it will reduce oxygen exposure and you can gently rock the cask to mix things up once it's bunged. If you do use a mixing glass, pour into it slowly and mix gently, unlike in this video in which everything is poured aggressively. Taking these steps should prevent the need for refrigerated storage, which may not be desirable anyway as it will slow down the reaction between the liquid and the wood, increasing the time you'll need to age the cocktail before it reaches your target taste. Refrigerators are low-humidity environments, so storing a barrel aging cocktail inside of one will also increase angel's share (loss of liquid volume) due to evaporation, versus storing at ambient temperature in a cool, dark place.
Not really. You want to keep the barrel full or close to full because the liquid is what keeps the barrel sealed, otherwise parts of the barrel will dry out and leak. I did that with my first barrel and it was a mess. The nice part about the 3 liters is that you’ll have a lot of barrel aged Manhattan when you’re done. Just take my recipe and multiply everything by 3.
Distinguished Spirits All good- thanks. Just had a thought-if I rotate the barrel during the aging process, will that help keep the wood moist and prevent the “mess?”
Basically spreadsheets and baker's conversion charts. The conversion charts say that 3 dashes is so many fractions of a teaspoon, so then I converted that to ounces, plugged in the ounce measurements for a single drink, scaled it up to a liter and had to tinker with it to get it to come out with fairly even numbers so that they could be measured without using a kitchen scale.
I don't think there would be much utility to it--although I'm sure you could if you forgot on the front end. It's somewhat like how soups get better overnight--they have more time to mesh and gel together, and you'd want to have the carrots in there before hand. In other words, the effects of rounding off harsh tones and soaking up those caramel and vanilla notes would be diminished--I.e., the bitters are barrel-aging, too.
Just finished my first attempt barrel aging with this Manhattan. I was wondering if it would be inadvisable to do a Kingston negroni with smith n cross in there next due to the lingering Manhattan flavors, or if I should just stick to rye and do a boulevardier. Any advice?
Yeah, you could really take it in whatever direction you want. The Negroni variation would be great. I usually like to do a drink with Benedictine in it right before I do a drink with Campari. I just find that the residual flavors of the Benedictine really pair well with Campari. But it’s not a requirement or something. I’d say, think of drinks you’d like to have and age those because you’ll have such large quantities of them.
@@DistinguishedSpirits thanks for the response! Went ahead with the s&c negroni as I've never used Benedictine before. I'll have to get some soon. Thanks for the channel too, it's my favorite online cocktail resource. Cheers.
Got me barrel from the good ol USA done the business and I'm frothing at the mouth can't wait 30 days you gotta be kidding me still the best show by far
Yeah, the first one is the hardest to wait for. But, since you need to keep the barrel in constant rotation, it'll get easier after you dump the first aging and move onto your second. Cheers!
if you bottle the aged cocktail, do you have to keep it in the fridge because of the vermouth? how long will it last before the vermouth in it goes bad?
Would like to know this as well!!!
I've seen craft cocktail bars do this, to great effect. They keep it in cool dry place below 60 F while it's aging, and keep it in the barrel until it runs out. Pulling it out of the barrel will halt the aging effects, but it's fun to taste it again every few weeks. Interestingly, you'll get more pronounced barrel tastes when it's summer time and humid, since the barrel will breath with the rise and fall of day, like it does when aging whiskey.
Yes. I keep mine in the fridge. It makes diluting it a little harder when going to make a cocktail, but it keeps the drink from oxidizing too quickly. I've seen bars, good bars with quality cocktail programs, just have the barrel-aged and bottled cocktails on the shelf ready to pour. Which could be fine. I'm just not sure how long they keep them in stock. Perhaps they sell out of them fairly quickly and only have them up there for a day or two. But if you can make the room in your refrigerator, I'd recommend doing it that way. It won't last forever but you should be able to get some weeks out of it, assuming you don't drink it all first. Haha. Cheers!
Check out my response to conradwasalski4200. The short answer: yes, store it in the refrigerator. Cheers!
Combining the vermouth with the high-proof spirit will help slow oxidation, and prevent bacterial spoilage. Oxidation is still somewhat of a concern, though, but there are steps you can take to abate it. The first step would be to buy a can of Wine Preserver, which contains nitrogen and argon gas; alternately, if you have access to bottled CO2 (you're a home brewer, etc.). The primary goal is to displace air using a non-oxidative gas at every step of the pouring and mixing processes.
So, before you add your ingredients to a mixing glass, to the cask, or to a final bottle (if you're going to bottle), you should purge all of these containers with N+Ar or CO2. In fact, I'd skip the mixing glass as recommended in this video and just add all the ingredients directly to the oak cask, since it will reduce oxygen exposure and you can gently rock the cask to mix things up once it's bunged. If you do use a mixing glass, pour into it slowly and mix gently, unlike in this video in which everything is poured aggressively. Taking these steps should prevent the need for refrigerated storage, which may not be desirable anyway as it will slow down the reaction between the liquid and the wood, increasing the time you'll need to age the cocktail before it reaches your target taste. Refrigerators are low-humidity environments, so storing a barrel aging cocktail inside of one will also increase angel's share (loss of liquid volume) due to evaporation, versus storing at ambient temperature in a cool, dark place.
I want that calibrated shot glass! Where did you find it? Thanks.
Oh man, I can't wait to do this!!
Haha. Absolutely. It's well worth it. Let me know how yours turns out!
I have a 3 liter barrel- if I make less than the full three liters, will the barrel aging process to work successfully?
Not really. You want to keep the barrel full or close to full because the liquid is what keeps the barrel sealed, otherwise parts of the barrel will dry out and leak. I did that with my first barrel and it was a mess. The nice part about the 3 liters is that you’ll have a lot of barrel aged Manhattan when you’re done. Just take my recipe and multiply everything by 3.
Distinguished Spirits All good- thanks. Just had a thought-if I rotate the barrel during the aging process, will that help keep the wood moist and prevent the “mess?”
It will help. You’ll just have to keep it turning pretty regularly.
Distinguished Spirits Got it- thanks!!
How did you figure out how much bitters to use?
Basically spreadsheets and baker's conversion charts. The conversion charts say that 3 dashes is so many fractions of a teaspoon, so then I converted that to ounces, plugged in the ounce measurements for a single drink, scaled it up to a liter and had to tinker with it to get it to come out with fairly even numbers so that they could be measured without using a kitchen scale.
Where do you get your labels from?
I make them. Cheers!
Distinguished Spirits Any chance I can’t buy a label
@ariva1011 The labels are available on my Patreon page. Check it out here: bit.ly/2tCEE1d Cheers!
@tubeamprule1 You can check out the labels on my Patreon page: bit.ly/2tCEE1d Cheers!
Can you add the bitters after the aging process?
I don't think there would be much utility to it--although I'm sure you could if you forgot on the front end. It's somewhat like how soups get better overnight--they have more time to mesh and gel together, and you'd want to have the carrots in there before hand.
In other words, the effects of rounding off harsh tones and soaking up those caramel and vanilla notes would be diminished--I.e., the bitters are barrel-aging, too.
Just finished my first attempt barrel aging with this Manhattan. I was wondering if it would be inadvisable to do a Kingston negroni with smith n cross in there next due to the lingering Manhattan flavors, or if I should just stick to rye and do a boulevardier. Any advice?
Yeah, you could really take it in whatever direction you want. The Negroni variation would be great. I usually like to do a drink with Benedictine in it right before I do a drink with Campari. I just find that the residual flavors of the Benedictine really pair well with Campari. But it’s not a requirement or something. I’d say, think of drinks you’d like to have and age those because you’ll have such large quantities of them.
@@DistinguishedSpirits thanks for the response! Went ahead with the s&c negroni as I've never used Benedictine before. I'll have to get some soon. Thanks for the channel too, it's my favorite online cocktail resource. Cheers.
For sure! You'll dig the Kingston Negroni. Check out the Barrel-Aged REDRUM video. It might be up your alley.
thoughts on using Rittenhouse?
Absolutely. It's 100-proof rye so it passes all the tests. Plus it makes a great "fresh" Manhattan. Cheers!