Fan Spotlight: Yacht Captain Discovers Perfect Aging Formula

Deep South Barrels fans are (we believe) some of the most talented and interesting people around. While barrel-aging is easy enough for anyone to learn, not everyone takes the time to perfect the science of the process. Arlan Brown is one of those people who is genuinely fascinated by barrel-aging, and his years of experience as a yacht captain has given him unique insight into how to extract the ideal blend from his whiskey barrel.

Sour Mash Success Story

“I am on my 3^rd iteration of my recipe for ‘sour mash’ whiskey,” Arlan says.  “I am anxious to see how this batch turns out compared to the second one, because of the time that has elapsed between batches. The last batch was completed almost 8-10 months ago, and the barrel has been empty since that time.” Arlan knew that since the barrel had been empty for that stretch of time that he would need to “re-swell” the planks. It took almost two weeks of adding water to the barrel every day, to swell the planks of the barrel up so that there was no more leaking.

 “As a yacht captain, I have seen many wooden boats,” Arlan says.  “It is not good to keep them out of the water too long but when they have been out of the water for a longer period, they must be supported as they slip by very strong lines so as to keep them afloat, while the planks swell.  Lesson learned.”

“Last year, my wife and I visited the Jack Daniels Distillery, in Lynchburg, TN.  It was a great experience and one that I recommend all who are interested in making your own alcohol do.  Aside from the water, the ingredients, the filtering and the barrels used for aging, I learned one other fact that I came to realize makes perfect sense.  I was surprised by it.  The huge warehouses where the barrels are stacked for storage, are not protected from weather changes.  When it’s hot outside, it’s hot in the warehouse.  When it’s cold, it’s cold.  They say that it is their belief that as the barrels expand and contract with the weather changes, the barrel is “breathing” and the liquid inside penetrates the wood deeper in the summer and is squeezed out, in the winter, as the barrels contract.  Therefore, I put my barrel in the garage, for the duration of the aging process.  Lord knows, in the Houston weather, there will be plenty of “barrel breathing” going on.”

Arlan shared with us his recipe for sour mash whiskey: “George Dickel is a popular brand of sour mash.  Because of that, I purchased pure corn moonshine and am using that for my base.  It is 80 proof.  I use one of the little bottles of “Whisky” concentrate from DSB, for each liter of moonshine.  The last batch I let age for 3 months.  It was very good.  This time I am going to let it age for 6-8 months. I believe this to be a labor of love for me. I want to be patient.”

Of course, Arlan has experimented with some other liquors as well. He shared with us the results of barrel aging product versus some regular Jack Daniels whiskey. The picture below shows the richer color and gives an idea of the depth of flavor that comes with barrel-aging.

Ideal for Any Use

Arlan first encountered Deep South Barrels at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo a number of years ago, and subsequently received his first barrel as a birthday gift from a friend. “They make great gift items for anyone who wants to try their hand at making good adult beverages,” Arlan says. “You can make the product easily, without too much fuss, or you have the ability to make a product using a little more finesse.”

Thanks for sharing with us, Arlan! If you have a Deep South Barrels experience that you would like to let us know about for feature on our blog, let us know at [email protected]. Added by Christina on Feb. 27, 2015.