Moonshine cognac on oak chips and oak bark. Principles of production of oak barrels for cognac. How to prepare oak chips for cognac

The barrel is a very important part of the production of cognac. Without a good, correct barrel, cognac is already a chatter. Usually cognac spirits stand in old, repeatedly used barrels, but sooner or later they wear out, and you have to buy new ones.

Cognac itself is a drink of very strict rules. The requirements are so severe that some winemakers give up everything, start making moonshine, and end up drinking too much. Those who age buy barrels from this factory: they are made of especially valuable oaks, undergo long-term natural processing, and all this combines centuries-old traditions. It's not like keeping cognac in a basin, in fact!

It is the barrel that gives the cognac its unique taste, and it is by insisting in it that the drink acquires those very beloved by tasters, but incomprehensible to others, notes of vanilla with the bitterness of katius.

1. The company is called Vicard, it is located in the city of Cognac, and it is a family-owned plant, like many businesses in France. In this case, this is the sixth generation of coopers.

2. There are several Bondarsky productions in the region, but this one is the largest, and we can say that most cognac houses keep their spirits in these barrels.

3. Are you wondering where does the kick start? The barrel starts with French oak, which is cut down with great respect, reverence, and only with special permission. You can't take any kind of oak: only a venerable old oak is suitable for a noble drink, their age, on average, is about two hundred years!

4. These oaks are bought at a special auction, a cubic meter of timber costs from 600 euros and more. And the company needs 15 thousand cubic meters annually for production.

5. Where to get so many old oaks? For this, the French are indescribably grateful to the British. The fact is that since the 16th century, the British planted a huge number of such oaks for use in building their fleet for numerous wars with France. The wars ended long ago, but the oaks remained. The British sell them at exorbitant prices at auctions, and the French make barrels, prepare cognac infused with English oaks, and quietly grin at themselves.

6. Almost the entire territory of the plant is occupied by such oak boards stacked in pallets, here they are called lamellas. Just think about these figures: ten hectares is allotted only for timber aging. According to the coopers themselves, this is the largest storage facility of this kind in the entire world.

7. Aging is very important to the barrel making process, so the tree "lives" outside for three long years. It is not covered with anything, it is constantly exposed to the sun, wind, rain and snow. It was conceived so, the tree lives its own life, gets wet from the showers and dries in the spring sun, absorbs moisture and gives it away. Wood pallets are very different from each other in color: the lightest were cut recently, while the dark ones were here a long time ago.

8. In order to make lamellas from tree trunks, they also need to be moistened. There is no way to wait three years here, so they put portable sprayers.

9. Let's go inside.

10. Here you can already feel the plant: some ingenious machines and devices. It is on them that the lamellas are cut.

11. Our factory guide shows you how many lamellas will be obtained from such a hemp. Figures: from five cubic meters of oak purchased at the auction, only one cubic meter of timber suitable for lamellas is obtained. And raw materials cost 600 euros per cubic meter, as you remember. In the production process, it becomes even more expensive: a cubic meter of lamellas, if I may say so, already costs 3 thousand euros. A precious piece of wood!

12. And now with a knife on her, without a twinge of conscience!

13. The process is semi-automated and almost goldsmith: in order not to make a mistake, the operator monitors everything with the help of video cameras, installed on the machine, and controls it with a joystick: saw here, do not saw here.

14. After cutting, one more control, whether there is any marriage.

15. And then - for drying, for three years.

16. I did not notice the production of hoops there, perhaps they are bought somewhere.

17. They are somewhat similar to bear traps.

18. The next process - the barrel needs to be assembled from the lamellas. For this, a separate machine was also invented. And the holes on the inside of the tree are not through, they are drilled literally a few millimeters, but this is the company's know-how: the range of aromas is better revealed.

19. How exactly the assembly process takes place, I think it is not necessary to explain, everything can be seen in the picture. With his legs wide apart, the man takes and collects the barrel.

20. Then it must be "tapped" with a hammer, fitting the lamellas tightly to each other.

21. Our barrel is almost ready, but it only seems. Processing an already assembled barrel is only half the battle.

22. Now it needs to be burned. There are gas burners under the barrels.

23. The firing time of each barrel is from 15 minutes to two hours. This process is needed to maximize the aroma emanating from the tree. The factory is said to have custom made barrels with 15 different flavors, including chocolate, almond and citrus. No extracts are added, the fire creates smells similar to our sense of smell. I cannot verify this, but there is no reason not to trust.

24. Everything seems to be ready, but this is only the middle of the process. In the third shop of the plant, the barrels are "sharpened", literally and figuratively.

25. There are half a dozen ingenious machines and devices here, I don't even know what exactly they do with the barrels and why.

26. Although here it is clear: this is a test drive. The barrel is set on something with wheels, and then shaken, turned, rumbled heartily. Moreover, the barrel is filled with water inside. So check each one !! For do you imagine a scandal if two-hundred-year-old alcohol is poured into it, and the bucket is leaking?

27. The plant makes 45 thousand barrels a year. Only 10 percent of them are used for cognac, the remaining 90 are wine.

28. Final touches ...

29. The barrel is closed on both sides, leaving only a hole with a tap or a plug in the middle: it is through it that alcohol will be poured, and from there it will be born again someday.

30. Each barrel is made for its own client. At the end of production, here, on a laser printer, the customer's logo is burned out. As you can see, the best cognac houses. I will tell you about three of them in a separate post.

31. Warehouse for finished products.

32. Well, that's all. Did you like it?

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In production, oak barrels made of boards of varying degrees of roasting are used for the same purposes, but in everyday life, buying it is quite expensive. Chips and, to a lesser extent, bark, which can be bought at any pharmacy, will be not entirely complete, but quite a worthy replacement. How to use it correctly and what to do with it in general - in our article.

What is the use of wood chips

The cost of a barrel is directly proportional to its volume. Very small - 5-liter - will cost an average of 4-5 thousand rubles, 50-liter - from 8 thousand, etc. But even this is not bad, with the regular preparation of cognac products, you can fork out, but the fact that the barrel is designed for a maximum of 10 dressings. After that, there is no longer any benefit from it - it will just be a storage container. You don't have to be a mathematician to figure out how much the pleasure will cost. Oak chips for cognac and whiskey are several times cheaper, especially since they can be found for free - in the nearest forest or in the country where oak trees grow.

You cannot use boards from logging enterprises - the wood goes through a stage of chemical treatment from beetles, decay and to increase the shelf life.

Even if we assume that the tree has not yet been processed, the dubious benefits of such an acquisition are obvious - dusty warehouses, oil and fuel oil from loaders neutralize all the useful properties of a tree.

The easiest way is to find a middle-aged tree in the nearest forest and cut off a branch from it (forgive us the Greenpeace employees and the environmental inspectorates). It will be a truly 100% natural product that only needs to be split into small pieces and prepared in advance.

There is an option to buy blanks in specialized stores - 50 grams on average cost 80-100 rubles. This amount of oak chips is enough to infuse 2.5-3 liters of future cognac.

Oak chips "Premium" (strong firing) cubes - the price is 112 rubles. for 50 gr.

Log or bark?

In extreme cases, you can use pharmacy bark, which is sold in all pharmacies. But this is exactly a backup option, since real cognac will not work on it. Before packaging, it is processed, as a result of which a large volume of tannins is lost. The finished drink will not have an intense aroma and color, and the aftertaste will be completely indistinct.

VIDEO: Harvesting technology at home

How to prepare oak chips for cognac

Do-it-yourself preparation of oak chips for cognac consists of several stages:

1. Cleaning

It is imperative that after collecting and cutting into pegs with a cross section of 5-7 mm, they are washed under running water from small particles, dust and litter. Rinse 3-4 times, between which it is dried.

1. Soak

The task of this stage is to clean the wood from the inside. You can just soak the pegs in water at room temperature for a day, or you can add baking soda at the rate of 1 tsp. for every liter of water. Soda in this case absorbs all those substances that the tree has managed to gain during its growth. They are soaked for an average of 2-3 days (changing the water every day), after which they are dried again. There is no need to wait until the water becomes clear. This may not work. But some of the substances will go away during the soaking process.

1. Digestion

It is a very important stage to avoid the “plinth” aftertaste of the finished drink. On the other hand, during the digestion process, the pores open as much as possible, respectively, with alcohol there will be a better composition.

To do this, put the pegs in cold water, bring to a boil, cover with a lid and leave on minimum heat for a quarter of an hour. Then they took out, cooled and dried.

1. Burning

Depending on the conditions in which oak chips for cognac are prepared, they can be roasted in the oven at a temperature of 160 ° C or over direct fire. The degree of roasting can be different - minimal, medium and intense. In the future, this affects the color and taste of the drink. We recommend that you do all 3 types and insist on each separately, in order to determine your preferences in the future.

• minimal roasting - golden wood - the taste will be vanilla with a slight bitterness;
• medium - brown - a distinct sound of almonds with caramel notes, the bitterness is felt more, but unobtrusively;
• intense - dark brown - in the future, you will feel the taste of freshly brewed tea and chocolate.

If black markings appear on the tree, it cannot be used - such cognac simply cannot be drunk.

1. Storage

Store prepared pegs in an airtight container to preserve the flavor of the smoke. It is advisable to use oak chips for the moonshine as soon as they are cooked. In this case, all notes and accents of the fragrance will be preserved. The more the workpiece is stored, the less pronounced the organoleptic properties will be.

Making homemade cognac

In this case, we are not talking about imitating the taste of cognac, but about real brandy made from grape mash. Try to follow the instructions as closely as possible in order to get, if not a drink of French masters, at the exit, but very close to this.

For mash, you need to use sweet grape varieties - Isabella, Ladies finger, Lydia, etc. It should be ripe.

• grapes - 15 kg;
• sugar - 1.5;
• water - 2 liters.
• oak chips.

If sweet juicy southern grapes are used for mash, sugar is not needed at all. In this case, you get pure grape alcohol - an ideal base for brandy.

Preparation:

1. The grapes are removed from the bunch and crushed right along with the seeds.

1. The slurry is poured into a bottle and, if the grapes were not very juicy, sugar is added at the rate for every 10 liters of wort 1 kg of sand. Drinking water is also poured there, it is measured in advance at the rate of 1 liter per 7.5 kg. Cover with cotton cloth and send to a warm dark place for 4 days.

1. Stir the mash daily with wooden sticks so that the foamy cap of the mash does not collect - it blocks the oxygen, and the yeast cannot fully develop.

By the end of the first day, you can start stirring the mash to prevent souring.

1. On the fifth day, the mash will have all the signs of active fermentation - hissing, aroma, the pulp will all rise to the top. Now the slurry needs to be filtered, and the pieces of berries are well squeezed out.
2. Add sugar (a small amount) to the juice, mix with a wooden stick, pour into a bottle, leaving a third of the volume empty. Close with a water seal and send to a dark place for 35-40 days. The temperature of the mash during this time should be in the range of 19-27 ° C, for which it is convenient to use an aquarium heater.

1. When fermentation stops, the wort brightens, and the sediment falls to the bottom, you can filter and send for distillation.
2. Ideally, use an alambik (copper apparatus) for distillation, but in the absence of one, the usual one will do. It is poured into a distillation cube and run at maximum temperature, without taking off the tails and heads. Stop as soon as the strength of the raw material drops to 30 °.
3. The resulting crude is diluted with water to 8 °, and then put on the second distillation. Here the heads are already taken away (no more than 12%) and the tails are cut off - when the fortress decreases to 30 °.
4. In order to get pure wine alcohol, you can send it to the third distillation, for which the crude is diluted with water to 20 °. Again, heads (12%) and tails are taken after 45 °. The strength of the distillate is measured and diluted with water to 42 °.
5. Now it is the turn of the infusion on oak chips. On average, the infusion time should be at least six months, but the longer this process takes, the brighter and richer the taste will be. The maximum exposure time is 3 years.

1. Caramelization is an indispensable step for adding color to the finished drink. This is done at all production sites. Prepare caramel - 1 tbsp. sugar for 1 tbsp. water is boiled down to brown and added to the strained and filtered drink. Insist 10 days and bottled.

The cognac is ready, now it's tasting time.

VIDEO: How to make sugar color for homemade cognac

French cognac- a type of strong alcohol, the basis of the production of which is grapes. The unique tart taste and rich aroma of the drink put it at the top of the list of many types of alcoholic products loved by many.

And what is the effect of a magic glass! Having taken a small dose of a noble drink instantly warms up, he has pressure normalizes and the nervous system calms down... But not everyone can afford the original cognac, and there will be no sense in fakes.

How to cook "nectar" with your own hands in order to become the happy owner of the coveted bottle without causing damage to the family budget? We offer a recipe for cognac on oak bark at home. Are you surprised? Try the recipes below and you will see that cognac on oak bark it turns out no worse than its French grape "brother".

Before proceeding with the preparation of cognac on oak chips, we will carry out the stage of preparation of our improvised barrel, or rather, the element that replaces it - small blocks of oak bark... This magnificent tree grows everywhere in our area, in contrast to the delicate grapes, which require abundant sunshine and prolonged heat.

Correctly processed wood chips are also called “ chips". Cognac on oak chips is no less pleasant in taste than the eponymous aperitif on grape berries.

The first step will be a trip to a hardware store. There you can buy pegs 10 x 2 and 2 cm.

We take chips in the amount of 100 g - less of them are usually required, but let there be a supply, if you cannot "fry" them correctly the first time.

Fill oak blocks with water and let stand for a day. We change the water every 6 hours. This is necessary so that some of the tannins come out, otherwise the homemade one will come out bitter.

Next, we drain the water, prepare a soda solution (6 liters of water per teaspoon of soda). Soak for another hour. We wash the chips, lay them out so that they fall on Sun rays(or scatter near a heat source) and dry.

Next stage - heat treatment in the oven... Setting the temperature to 200º and periodically taking out the “product”, we control its color. Cognac on oak chips will have a slight vanilla flavor if you leave the shade light brown and no longer fry the chips. Other options:

• brown - the final drink will have almond notes;
• dark color - the aperitif will acquire the taste of dark chocolate.

But do not overcook, otherwise you will just get the taste of a scorched dish.

How to make homemade cognac on oak bark?

From moonshine

First the recipe for cognac from oak and moonshine is simple. The hardest part is preparation of chips.

You will need:

• chips (60 g);
• moonshine (liter).

Another ingredient - burnt sugar(caramel). Sugar is needed to give color to the homemade "twin brother" of the French great drink. A teaspoon dissolved in a little water and boiled until golden brown is enough. Our actions:

We put oak chips in a jar, fill them with high-quality ones, put them in a dark place. The infusion should be there for 3-6 months.

The main thing is done. Homemade cognac from vodka (moonshine) is ready, it remains to "tint" it. To do this, add to the infusion sugar syrup... Stir, let it stand for a couple of days. If you want to make the taste original, add a couple of cloves and 0.3 vanillin to the nectar.

Such cognac is prepared at home from:

• alcohol;
• moonshine;
• vodka.

Any alcohol will do, the main criterion is quality.

From vodka

Second cognac recipe- using pharmacy oak bark.

Cognac on oak bark, bought in a regular pharmacy, has excellent taste. In addition, you can be sure: it does not contain harmful impurities. What do you need?

• moonshine or (3 l);
• oak bark (3-4 tablespoons).

Take also a tablespoon of honey, 5 clove buds. You can add pepper (10 peas), oregano (a tablespoon), on the tip of a knife - vanillin. It would be nice to put a tablespoon of St. John's wort in the infusion.

We mix everything and put it in a dark place. So from vodka on oak bark, you can prepare an aperitif, very similar to cognac.

The duration of infusion is from 14 to 16 days. Next - a mandatory step filtration... To make homemade cognac prepared according to this recipe transparent, without sediment. filter it 3-4 times.

After straining, place the alcohol in fridge and stand for another 10 days. Now the result should satisfy you.

From alcohol

Third recipe: with the addition of dried fruits. Homemade cognac will be the fruit of our labors from alcohol with subtle notes of prunes.

Such cognac at home will require the purchase of a slightly larger assortment of ingredients, but the result will delight you with its novelty and pleasant taste.

• alcohol (3 liters, do not forget to dilute it to 400);
• oak bark (3 tablespoons);
• sugar (take 3 tablespoons and prepare a thick syrup, "fry" the sugar until brown);
• rose hips (you can take dried - 10-15 pieces);
• black pepper (4-5 peas);
• large leaf tea (black, teaspoon);
• St. John's wort (twig);
• prunes (1-2 pieces);
• raisins (tablespoon).

First, we soak the rosehip with oak bark in boiled water... Then we mix everything, put it in a glass jar and put it in a dark room for a week. After 7 days, we extract the prunes and raisins from the jar. We stand for a couple of weeks.

We filter through 2-3 layers of gauze. We bottle it, put it in the refrigerator for a week. The last stage of preparation is one more filtration.

Secrets of the oak bark

Why does a drink made without grapes look like cognac - an original product of French winemakers? The secret lies in properties of oak bark... It contains tannins, which give the characteristic light bitterness and astringency.

In addition, play a role aromatic acids- they make the fragrance complex and interesting. Lactones and phenolic compounds enhance their action. As a result, we get an aperitif with properties similar to those of real cognac.

Cognac snacks with oak bark

If you decide to prepare a strong alcoholic drink, do not forget to supplement it with good snacks... The latter are suitable:

• meat and fish dishes;
• fruits;
• chocolate (bitter).

We offered simple recipes for making an aperitif using chips... Everyone will be able to implement them in practice. The only thing that is required of a newly minted specialist is patience.

And labor will be rewarded! What is your opinion (ideally supported by personal experience) on this issue? Is it possible to get an aperitif at home that has the characteristics of cognac?

Useful videos

How to make cognac in 1 month, see the video below. Making homemade cognac on Dubrava oak bark is a simple and very detailed recipe:

The video below shows an imitation of cognac on the bark of an oak from moonshine. Very similar to the real one, look:

Watch a detailed step-by-step video recipe for a beautiful, aromatic, delicious analogue of cognac at home from alcohol with oak bark and other ingredients:

Try different recipes, including ours. Just as truth is born in a dispute, so a truly tasty drink is “born” only after the winemaker has empirically managed to find his own, original recipe... Maybe you add some ingredient in a minimal amount and your drink will become indistinguishable from French cognac. It is possible that it will turn out even better!

Let us know about the results of your creative experiments. And we will share with the rest of the readers.

Not all moonshiners have the opportunity to buy or store an oak barrel for the aging of alcoholic beverages. This problem is solved by infusing the distillate on a pharmacy oak bark or specially made wood chips, imitating the soaking and roasting of a barrel. We'll look at both options.

Any grain, fruit or sugar moonshine is suitable for infusion. Tannins contained in bark and wood, upon contact with ethyl alcohol, turn into environmentally friendly substances that change the color, taste and smell of even ordinary moonshine for the better. Depending on the characteristics of the wood and the aging time, notes of fruit, vanilla, flowers, chocolate appear in the drink.

Moonshine on oak bark

A simple and quick way to improve the distillate, which does not require much time and money. The result is a mild liqueur with a characteristic cognac scent.

Ingredients:

• moonshine (45-50%) - 3 liters;
• oak bark - 3 tablespoons;
• honey - 1 tablespoon;
• carnation - 5 buds;
• allspice - 10 peas;
• St. John's wort - 1 tablespoon;
• oregano - 1 tablespoon;
• vanillin and coriander - on the tip of a knife.

You can insist moonshine only on oak (bark), without adding the rest of the ingredients. But then the taste will be harsh, and the smell is too strong. I advise you to buy bark and other herbs at the pharmacy, where the quality is somehow controlled.

1. Put the spices and oak bark in a glass container, fill with moonshine, mix well and close tightly with a lid.

2. Insist for 14-16 days in a dark place at room temperature, shake every 3-4 days.

3. Filter the tincture through cheesecloth and a cotton filter. For complete transparency, 3-4 filtering may be required. Then pour into bottles for storage, hermetically seal with corks.

4. Before use, the ready-made oak moonshine should be kept for 10-12 days, then the taste will noticeably improve.

Oak bark tincture

Moonshine on oak wood (chips)

More successful imitation of distillate aging in barrels than the first method, but requires careful preliminary preparation and prolonged infusion. First, the wood must be freed from excess tannins that spoil the taste. This is done by soaking followed by heat treatment.

Chip harvesting technology:

1. Chop a dry log without bark into pegs 2 × 2 cm and up to 10 cm long (approximate dimensions).

2. Soak the resulting chips in cold water for a day, changing the water every 8 hours.

3. Pour the soaked oak pegs with an aqueous solution of soda (1 tablespoon of soda per 5 liters of water) and leave for 6 hours.

4. Drain the solution, rinse the chips well under running water.

5. Put the pieces into a saucepan, add water, bring to a boil and simmer for 45-50 minutes.

6. Drain the broth and rinse the wood again with cold water.

7. Dry the chips in the air (preferably in the attic) until they dry completely (at least two days).

8. Place the slices on a baking sheet and place in a preheated oven (140-160 ° C) for 2 hours until a slight blush appears.

9. Store the finished wood chips in a dry, warm place (should not be damp).

Oak wood can be replaced with apple or cherry wood. The method of obtaining chips does not change.

Infusion:

1. Fry the wood chips prepared earlier on the grill of the oven or microwave. Notes of smell and taste depend on the degree of firing. Light roasting (at the moment the first haze appears) gives the drink a subtle hue of vanilla, fruit and flowers. Medium roasting (smoke and smell appears) brings in the aroma of coconut, caramel, almonds, spices. Strong roasting (wood has begun to change color) saturates the moonshine with a smoky taste with chocolate shades (like Scotch whiskey).

During the roasting process, the main thing is not to burn the chips. For the first time, I advise you to practice on a small amount so as not to spoil all the wood.

2. Add oak chips to the moonshine (45-50%) at the rate of 20-30 grams per liter and close tightly with a lid. Insist in a cool, dark place for 3-6 months (on average). The color will gradually change. Take a sample every week, monitoring the organoleptic properties of the drink. The duration of exposure depends on the properties of the selected wood and your preferences in taste and aroma, sometimes even 15 days are enough.