In the creation of commercial bourbons and whiskeys, the aging process in a charred White Oak barrel has the ability to add many flavors and characteristics to alcohol solutions before being bottled and sold to consumers. In this process many of these alcohol solutions are given additional characteristics such as smoky flavors, a distinguishable color, and other traits that help make the samples more desirable. In our research work, we have taken ethanol solutions that range primarily from 45%-65% and aged them with a variety of American, French, and Hungarian White Oak wood chips and spirals that had different charring preparations. These solutions have been aged synthetically in the lab for a time period of four months. During these four months, the rotation of each solution from a temperature around -6 degrees Celsius to about 33 degrees Celsius occurred weekly. Through analysis with a GC/MS and a UV/Vis Spectrometer, we have been able to determine the initial entrance of chemicals, their concentration changes over time, and the development of a time interval system for specific chemicals as they age our solutions.

Effects of extreme temperatures on the aging of alcohol solutions containing charred oak

247th National Meeting (2014)

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