The transport of new make spirits through American white oak

Taylor Scott; Jarrad Gollihue; Michael Sama; Michael Shaffer; Brad Berron

doi:10.58430/jib.v132i1.87

Authors

Taylor Scott University of Kentucky https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2044-7217
Jarrad Gollihue University of Kentucky https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7571-7477
Michael Sama University of Kentucky https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0971-7759
Michael Shaffer Suntory Global Spirits Inc
Brad Berron University of Kentucky https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4114-1697

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58430/jib.v132i1.87

Keywords:

diffusion, spirit transport, bourbon, maturation loss, barrel, oak wood

Abstract

Why was the work done: The reduction of maturation loss is a significant opportunity for increased revenue in aged spirits and varies through several factors. This work aims to better understand maturation loss by isolating and measuring spirit flow through wood.

How was the work done: Bourbon stave disks were fabricated by computer numeric control milling and loaded into a sealed module consisting of flanges holding the stave disk over a liquid filled pipe. The modules were filled with new make spirit at 50, 62.5 or 70% ABV, with either liquid or vapour contact with the stave disk. Further, the grain angle was measured for each sample. Samples were weighed each month to measure flux through the wood, with measurement of initial and final ABV and liquid mass to differentiate between ethanol or water loss.

What are the main findings: The initial alcohol content had a statistically significant (p value ≤ 0.05) effect on spirit diffusion, with the highest initial alcohol content exhibiting a 6.9 g reduction in total mass loss over the initial alcohol content. Based on the change in alcohol content, the change in mass loss is attributed to increased water uptake. Liquid versus vapour contact showed similar monthly rates of loss of mass and a statistically significant difference in total mass loss, though the magnitude of the difference is small (5.2 g, p value = 0.049), due to increased ethanol loss with liquid contact. Grain angle had no significant effect on spirit diffusion. A predicted average annual liquid loss of 1.2 ± 0.3% was calculated for non-leakage losses from a standard bourbon barrel (200L) matured in Kentucky.

Why is the work important: While the transport of water and alcohol through solid wood has been previously observed, this is the first study to investigate the diffusion of high proof alcohol through undamaged barrel staves. Maturation loss is a complex, unavoidable, and important aspect of ageing spirits, and this work establishes a lower level for maturation loss for spirit matured in Kentucky, USA.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. 2003. Gauging manual. Title 27 Code of Federal Regulations.

Baldwin S, Andreasen AA. 1974. Congener development in bourbon whisky matured at various proofs for twelve years. J Assoc Off Anal Chem 57:940-950.

Baronas R, Ivanauskas F, Juodeikienė I, Kajalavičius A. 2001. Modelling of moisture movement in wood during outdoor storage. Nonlinear Anal Model Control 6:3–14.

Boruff CS, Rittschof LA. 1959. Whiskey ageing, effects of barreling proof on the ageing of American whiskeys. J Agric Food Chem 7:630-633.

Chatonnet P, Dubourdieu D. 1998. Comparative study of the characteristics of American white oak (Quercus alba) and European oak (Quercus petraea and Q. robur) for production of barrels used in barrel ageing of wines. Am J Enol Vitic 49:79–85.

Conner J. 2014. Maturation, p 199-220. In Russell I, Stewart G (eds), Whisky: Technology, Production and Marketing, Elsevier Ltd.

del Alamo-Sanza M, Nevares I. 2018. Oak wine barrel as an active vessel: a critical review of past and current knowledge. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 58:2711-2726.

del Toro del Toro N, Fong Casas F, Ayan Rial J, Caridad Portuondo González M, Crespo Sariol H, Navarro Campa J, Yperman J, Vandamme D, Carleer R. 2019. Boltzmann-based empirical model to calculate volume loss during spirit ageing. Beverages 5(4),60.

Dussaut C, Colin J, Casalinho J, Teissier Du Cros R, Litoux-Desrues F, Abadie C, Perré P. 2024. Swelling of oak wood in alcoholic solutions: synergy and memory effects between water and ethanol. Wood Sci Technol 58:975–991.

English C. 2017. Using digital data to study whiskey flavor development at Buffalo Trace. SevenFiftyDaily.

Gallagher M, Kolachov P, Willkie HF. 1942. Whisky losses during ageing. Ind Eng Chem Res 34:992-995.

Gollihue J, Richmond M, Wheatley H, Pook VG, Nair M, Kagan IA, DeBolt S. 2018. Liberation of recalcitrant cell wall sugars from oak barrels into bourbon whiskey during ageing. Sci Rep 8:15899-12.

Hansmann C, Gindl W, Wimmer R, Teischinger A. 2002. Permeability of wood-a review. Wood Res 47:1-16.

Junqua R, Zeng L, Pons A. 2021. Oxygen gas transfer through oak barrels: a macroscopic approach. Oeno One 55:53–65.

Kang HY, Hart CA. 1997. Temperature effect on diffusion coefficient in drying wood. Wood Fiber Sci 29:325–332.

Kim D, Gollihue J, Poovathingal S, DeBolt S. 2024. Detailed three-dimensional analyses of tyloses in oak used for bourbon and wine barrels through x-ray computed tomography. Sci Rep 14:17044-10.

Mosedale JR, Puech JL. 1998. Wood maturation of distilled beverages. Trends Food Sci Technol 9:95–101.

Mosedale JR. 1995. Effects of oak wood on the maturation of alcoholic beverages with particular reference to whisky. Forestry 68:203–230.

Penvern H, Zhou M, Maillet B, Courtier-Murias D, Scheel M, Perrin J, Weitkamp T, Bardet S, Caré S, Coussot P. 2020. How bound water regulates wood drying. Phys Rev Appl 14.054051

Ruiz de Adana M, López LM, Sala JM. 2005. A Fickian model for calculating wine losses from oak casks depending on conditions in ageing facilities. Appl Therm Eng 25:709–718.

Siau JF. 1984. Transport Processes in Wood, Springer Series in Wood Science, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Singleton VL. 1995. Maturation of wines and spirits: comparisons, facts, and hypotheses. Am J Enol Vitic 46:98-115.