Learning how to make whiskey is a reasonably complex process. There can be legal issues with distilling ones own liquor, and the famous term ‘moonshine’ refers to illegally made liquor. Self-distilled liquor is famously of awful quality, but some hobbyists have been able to create their own stills and their own whiskey.
A whiskey making set up needs a method of cleaning grain, a way to mash it up, boil it and ferment it and a way of filtering the yeast. Buying all this stuff will cost big money. The other problem with having your own still is the ageing process of liquor. In order to be any good, a whiskey needs to be aged for at least two or three years in a barrel. This is a long time to wait, especially when oak barrels take up a fair bit of room. Not something that can be put in the rarely used spare bedroom. In most countries, distilling whiskey is illegal. It’s usually legal to make your own wine and beer, but liquors get slugged with a distillation tax. Therefore, it’s legal to make the stuff yourself, you just have to pay the government for your hard work.
How To Make Whiskey (Hypothetically)
Some people have come up with creative ways of making whiskey that avoids the need for complex distillation kits and lengthy aging processes. This person is on to some great ideas, and I will summarize his points below.
1. Use a neutral grain spirit, such as Everclear.
2. Buy untreated oak and chop it/strip it in to strips that will fit in a wine bottle.
3. Toast it in the oven for four hours in aluminium foil. The temperature should be somewhere between 250 and 520 degrees Fahrenheit. The different temperatures will result in different tastes in the end product. Around 400 degrees is a safe point.
4. Char the oak using a propane torch, then immediately dunk it in water to put the fire out. Repeat until all of the oak is charred.
5. Dilute the Everclear with a 1:1 ratio of water to Everclear. Put the diluted mixture in a wine bottle and insert a couple of oak strips.
6. Cork and leave in a cool dark room, such as a cellar.
7. Rotate a quarter turn every week. Leave it for a year. Try and stop yourself from opening it early.