# bourbon barrel honey



## FlowerPlanter (Aug 3, 2011)

It sounds good, I would buy it. Wonder how a mead made with this honey would taste. 

You may be on to something


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

I put honey in a 5 gallon new white oak wood barrel toasted on the inside.
The wood absorbs moisture from the honey and the barrel breathes and interacts with the environment.
The wood absorbed moisture from the honey making it very viscous (started to crystallize, hard to get back out), the barrel dripped honey after being conditioned (swelled to seal) for the entire time it held honey.
I abandoned the project and don't think honey has enough moisture (water content) and the tendency to crystallize makes it a poor liquid to condition in a wood barrel.


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## Sharpbees (Jun 26, 2012)

I would think you would need to turn it into Mead first then age it in the barrel. I haven't tried Mead or wine making so don't know much about it other than what little I have read.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If you can't put the honey in the barrel, you could try putting the barrel in the honey...

https://smile.amazon.com/Time-Oak-S...1482950393&sr=8-2&keywords=bourbon+flavor+oak


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

Michael Bush said:


> If you can't put the honey in the barrel, you could try putting the barrel in the honey...


please recall the lack of moisture issue and rapid crystallization issue.


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## DerTiefster (Oct 27, 2016)

clyderoad said:


> please recall the lack of moisture issue and rapid crystallization issue.


So, try this: Weigh the wood dry. Soak it in water or <whatever>. Weigh it afterward to see how much <whatever> it soaked up. Put it into a jar of honey that has water content low enough already that however much is in the wood (much of which will diffuse into the honey) won't bring the honey above its allowable water content.

vary the theme to suit the need. I'd suggest that the crystallization issue is water diffusing through the wood to the outer world, leaving honey-land forever. Putting wood chips/shavings into the honey doesn't provide an open path outside. This difference is, I think, what would motivate Bush's seemingly very practical suggestion. But if the wood soaked up a lot of water, some honey might gel/crystallize around it and not be cosmetically acceptable. Pre-soaking the wood might give better results, but not if too much water were to be added to the honey, allowing things to grow in the surface layer around the wood.


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

DerTiefster said:


> So, try this:


Maybe the OP will, or you will. 
As stated above I have abandoned the project, a number of years ago now, after multiple failures that found....(see above post).


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

The process I keep thinking about is partnering up with some lovely young star. Say, Taylor Swift. Although for our purposes, perhaps a female country singer with a hit about whiskey might be even better.

You can use pantyhose to strain honey, and I've seen regs that say they can be used, as long as they've been cleaned. So the idea would be for the lovely young star to provide panty hose she has worn, and use that to strain the honey.

No imagine that the honey was aged in whiskey barrels before straining thru her panty hose ... is this a best seller?


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

Phoebee said:


> The process I keep thinking about is partnering up with some lovely young star. Say, Taylor Swift. Although for our purposes, perhaps a female country singer with a hit about whiskey might be even better.
> 
> You can use pantyhose to strain honey, and I've seen regs that say they can be used, as long as they've been cleaned. So the idea would be for the lovely young star to provide panty hose she has worn, and use that to strain the honey.
> 
> No imagine that the honey was aged in whiskey barrels before straining thru her panty hose ... is this a best seller?


sounds to me like you should take a few deep breaths.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

Michael Bush said:


> If you can't put the honey in the barrel, you could try putting the barrel in the honey...
> 
> https://smile.amazon.com/Time-Oak-S...1482950393&sr=8-2&keywords=bourbon+flavor+oak



That's what I have used to age my corn-based alternative fuel product. You can also get toasted oak chip in a viriety of toast levels (light to dark) at any home brew and wine supply shops. 

I aged some mead on medium toasted oak and it did not come out very good. If you are going to try it, don't waste your money on an expensive barrel, put the barrel in the honey/mead as Mike suggests.




clyderoad said:


> please recall the lack of moisture issue and rapid crystallization issue.


I handful or two of toasted oak chips is a lot less wood than a barrel and would have a negligible effect on the honey.


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

Phoebee said:


> The process I keep thinking about is partnering up with some lovely young star. Say, Taylor Swift. Although for our purposes, perhaps a female country singer with a hit about whiskey might be even better.
> 
> You can use pantyhose to strain honey, and I've seen regs that say they can be used, as long as they've been cleaned. So the idea would be for the lovely young star to provide panty hose she has worn, and use that to strain the honey.
> 
> No imagine that the honey was aged in whiskey barrels before straining thru her panty hose ... is this a best seller?


Ummmmmm...ummmmmmmmmm...might be a small market for it...but, what to call it? I have a couple of ideas, but I'm not sure they wouldn't get moderated out...


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

Nabber86 said:


> I handful or two of toasted oak chips is a lot less wood than a barrel and would have a negligible effect on the honey.


give it a go then.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

I have a huge white oak trunk on the ground at the cabin, recently felled by a lumber poacher that a neighbor caught in the act. I had planned to char some to age some rum (I've done this before and it works a treat). But now I can't resist trying this with some honey.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

BadBeeKeeper said:


> Ummmmmm...ummmmmmmmmm...might be a small market for it...but, what to call it? I have a couple of ideas, but I'm not sure they wouldn't get moderated out...


"Whiskey Girl" comes to mind.


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## rolftonbees (Jul 10, 2014)

Why not put honey in your bourbon.


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## BadBeeKeeper (Jan 24, 2015)

rolftonbees said:


> Why not put honey in your bourbon.


There are a number of commercial brands that have been doing that lately, seems to be quite the fad. I've tried a couple, and they're not bad.

Personally, I'd rather just make meads and braggots. Although, I've been thinking about an anise spiced mead to be similar to Sambuca.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

rolftonbees said:


> Why not put honey in your bourbon.


That's an old cough and sore throat remedy, and it works pretty well.


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## Hops Brewster (Jun 17, 2014)

Phoebee said:


> The process I keep thinking about is partnering up with some lovely young star. Say, Taylor Swift. Although for our purposes, perhaps a female country singer with a hit about whiskey might be even better.
> 
> You can use pantyhose to strain honey, and I've seen regs that say they can be used, as long as they've been cleaned. So the idea would be for the lovely young star to provide panty hose she has worn, and use that to strain the honey.
> 
> No imagine that the honey was aged in whiskey barrels before straining thru her panty hose ... is this a best seller?


kinky!


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## Hops Brewster (Jun 17, 2014)

MB's suggestion of barrel chips in the honey may actually be practical. More than a few home brewers use bourbon barrel chips in their aged stouts. Home wineries use the same method, with new oak, and sometimes whiskey barrel chips. It costs a lot less than using a complete barrel, but lends good effect.

I have never tried oak or barrel chips in mead, but I hear it is quite good.

I think a few whiskey barrel chips in a bucket of honey would take on a bit of the bourbon character, and if not too many were used, the honey would not be desiccated beyond usefulness.


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## trapperdirk (Nov 3, 2013)

Just for kicks I put honey in a whiskey bottle that had not been washed after all the whiskey was gone. The little that remained imparted a hint of my favorite whiskey flavor to the honey.


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## Stephenpbird (May 22, 2011)

My family used to love a "hot toddy" Basically a tot of spirit, normally Whisky, something sweet(honey) and sour to give it a zing, then a little hot water and a little spice. They go down very well, so be careful if you try this recipe. 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jan/02/how-to-make-the-perfect-hot-toddy


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## psnolte (Sep 4, 2011)

Woodinville Whiskey, near Seattle, used to make a barrel aged honey with their old barrels. It's delicious. They don't make it anymore.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

My wife and I dropped into a liquor store to buy some wine last week. I wandered over into the hard stuff to look for interesting bottles for her bottle tree (my excuse, sticking to it). While there I noticed a couple of blends with honey, one a brandy, the other a Seagram's whiskey. 

I've got a 2-liter charred oak cask, already used twice to age white rum into dark. I ought to put a couple of liters of honey in it and see what happens. If nothing else, it will make a cute dispenser.

I have one of these (the 2-liter plain), sold by a local outfit that also likes to push the "bootleg" theme, although if you're just aging tax-paid booze, it really is not bootlegging. Even if it were, there is no law against putting honey in these, I think. The casks can be custom marked. They're expensive, but maybe there's a market for your honey in a cask, for really nice gifts.

http://1000oaksbarrel.com/oak-barrel-products/oak-barrels/oak-barrels/

Similar line: http://www.deepsouthbarrels.com/


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