Glamorize the Tedium

February 27^th, 2014

On TV shows like Mythbusters when they get to that point in the myth where they either have to do a task repeatedly or let something sit and do its thing over a long period of time, they go to a montage, or cut to something else for a bit. However they do it, they elide time. They don’t show you the stone rolling around in moss starter for the entire 30 days, they cut to one of the hosts talking about the myth, or working on a part of some other myth. Then, they can cut back to the original myth, nearly completed. It makes sense – no wants to watch the tedium.

Unfortunately, there are no jump cuts in reality. I had to go the long way. After the surprising change from the original Moonshine to the slightly golden, slightly oaky bourbon-type-substance of Week 1, I was expecting big things from Week 2. Not that I was expecting to open the spigot and see Eagle Rare pouring out, but the change, if any, from Week 1 was minimal, at best. Looks like the changes from here on out will be gradual. I can handle that. It’s like cooking – sometimes you just have to sit back and let the food do its thing. Sometimes you have to be patient.

Confession: I am terrible at being patient. Maybe this will be good for me.

March 9^th, 2014

Bourbon, or a small amount of lager?
Well, technically, neither, but let's go with bourbon.

Then again, maybe the changes will happen faster than I expect. At the end of Week 3, the color of the bourbon was still a light caramel. That hasn’t really changed much. The odor, however, has undergone a slight, but significant, change. The original moonshine had a very medicinal scent, like rubbing alcohol. In the first two weeks, I noticed that the oakiness was starting to develop, but was still a secondary odor to the medicinal odor of the moonshine, meaning that when you smelled the sample the first thing that hit your nose was that medicinal odor, and then there was a faint oak scent.

This week, when I drew off my sample, the first scent that hit my nose was oak. That oak was then quickly overpowered by rubbing alcohol, but the important thing that the first thing I smelled was oak. I’m only three weeks in, but between stuff I’ve read online and general common sense, I knew that any changes I saw would be incremental, and given that there was almost no change last week I wasn’t expecting much this week. So, to have the odors flip around like that, and to have it happen this quickly, was surprising to me.

The taste underwent a similar change, as I noticed the definite oak overtones immediately on my tongue. Once again, the medicinal flavor surged and overpowered the oak flavor, but it was definitely there. The bourbon is also ever so slightly less harsh to drink. Overall, I think this is showing signs of improvement.

March 13th, 2014

One thing I had been wondering about the barrel was whether or not I should be doing anything with the barrel physically. Even Sarah had asked me about it. Everything I had read, and what I understood about the barrel, gave the impression that all you did was poor something in the barrel let it sit there, and then poor something else out. If you take a tour of the winery, they will show you rows of large oak barrels that basically sit around or weeks or months or years.

This past Saturday my buddy Jim came over for breakfast. This is, of course, the same Jim who gave me the barrel, so I was excited speak with him about my progress. I showed him the jars of the moonshine I have used, and told him how harsh the moonshine was, how medicinal it smelled, and how what was coming out of my barrel was already improvement.

“Are you jostling it?” he asked.

“Jostling?”

“Yeah,” he said. “There’s no natural convection, so every day I picked mine up and just roll it back and forth a few times.” He demonstrated this by picking up my barrel and passing it from hand to hand, rolling it gently as he did so. “It increases the amount of liquid that is exposed to the surface of the oak.”

And there it was, the answer to the question we had been asking for the past couple of weeks, without even asking the question. After learning this, I began jostling my barrel, at least once a day. The few days I was able to jostle it leading up to this week’s tasting didn’t seem to affect the bourbon much, but hopefully over time the effects will be noticeable.

March 20th, 2014

I have noticed something. In my first taste test, I saw some pretty significant changes. In my second test, not so much. Then, in my third test I experienced another significant change. That was followed by the fourth test, in which I saw no significant change. Perhaps, it takes two weeks to see noticeable change, and so my odd-numbered tests will be the more interesting tests. If that holds true, this week should see some significant changes.

That does not hold true. The color is a little darker this week, but not drastically so. I know that I said earlier, that in reality we cannot jump cut and elide time, and while, in reality I went long way, this is a blog, so let’s skip some of the tedium. Week six is the halfway point, but other than that nothing significant to report. Weeks seven through ten are pretty much the same.

Slightly darker (take my word for it).

May 3rd, 2014

It’s the final count-I mean, tasting. It’s the final tasting. The color hasn’t changed much in the past few weeks, nor has the flavor, though I do have to say is radically different from where we started. I know the three month time frame is just a suggestion, and it could take less time or significantly more time to age, but I am confident that I can bottle this next week.

Next up: bottling!