Oak Barrel Aging Kits

Make Your Own Whiskey At Home With Our Whiskey Making Kit

If you ever thought about getting make your own whiskey kits but thought it would be too complicated or time consuming, you’re in for a big surprise. At Red Head Barrels we have all the tools you need to become a master distiller right in the comfort of your own home—and it’s super easy to do. Whether you prefer a scotch whiskey making kit or would rather a single malt, rye, or something entirely different, we have whiskey making starter kits to suit your preferences.

The advantage of aging liquor in an oak barrel is that you can start with the least expensive wine, beer, whiskey, tequila, or even vodka, and the magic of the aging process will change the nature of the spirit. Over time, your alcohol will mature with distinct characteristics when you use a whiskey barrel making kit.

Our smaller barrels are specially designed for home distillers and reduce aging time to weeks compared to the years it takes in standard-size barrels. All of our whiskey barrel making kits allow you to see and taste the transformation of your liquor as it ages. Some only need two or four weeks to age while others can take between three and six months. By way of example, Crown Royal will age to Crown Royal Reserve in about two weeks using a 2 liter White American Oak barrel.

Most experts and drinkers agree that spirits move to the top shelf after aging in a barrel and you can experience this yourself when you use a home whiskey making kit from Red Head Barrels. Our whiskey making kits come in a variety of oak barrel sizes and with many types of flavor essences. We even have recipes and instructional videos to help you get a quality batch of liquor every time.

Make Your Own Whiskey Kits Are Fun, Easy, and Attractive

When you picture a distillery, it doesn’t seem like the type of operation that easily scales to the home bar or recreation room for the average hobbyist. But it absolutely does when you use the right whiskey barrel making kit. The whiskey making kits at Red Head Barrels feature White American Oak barrels handmade by our very own in-house coopers, barrel makers dedicated to excellence in this time-honored field.

Our whiskey making kits are not only easy to use, but beautifully handcrafted and compact, ranging in sizes from 1-20 liters. You can even get a personalized whiskey making kit artfully decorated with your family name or business logo on it. We also have barrel head wall hangings, coasters and other decorative items so you can create a barrel-themed bar area for a fun look. Each of our whiskey making kits include:

• 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 or 20 liter American White Oak barrel
• Bung
• Spigot
• Wooden stand
• 3 or more bottles of essence
• Paper funnel
• Complete Instructions

You’ll love the look of having a genuine American white oak barrel on your bar or counter. It’s not only attractive, but is the same wood used at most distilleries and wineries across the United States. Oak is a “pure wood” as opposed to pine or rubber trees which contain resin canals that can pass unappealing strong flavors to maturing spirits. We source our American White Oak from a variety of forests across the continental U.S., including California, Missouri and sometimes Kentucky.

American white oak departs flavor notes consisting of vanilla, caramel and coconut, the strength of which are affected by the char and other factors. At Red Head Oak Barrels, we begin and end with premium quality American White Oak. Our stock is made using a medium char, as we find this to be the most universal for aging spirits. It’s this attention to detail that ensures you’re not only going to get an end result that tastes great, but a process that is suitable for your home.

It’s easy to make your own top shelf liquor when you have a whiskey making kit. At Red Head Barrels, we have a number of flavor essences available as well as resources, recipes and how-to videos. We encourage you to experiment and let your creative muse guide you. Once you get comfortable making your own top shelf whiskey, you’ll be experimenting with cocktails, rum, even vodka and beer.

The Art and Science of Homemade Whiskey Kits

If you were actually a master distiller your whiskey making journey would begin by picking your grain or grains (corn, barley, wheat or rye) and cooking them at a high temperature to release the sugars. From there is gets turned into a mash and fermented, going from a sweet oatmeal mixture to a sour paste to a vapor while being heated in a sill. During that process it’s shocked with a cold water running around it. The vapor rises inside the still and is basically converted back to liquid. The final and longest step is the barrel aging and this is where your clear liquor takes on its color and flavor.

Luckily, you don’t have to go through all that. In fact, the professional whiskey making process is not for the home hobbyist and requires special licensing as well as equipment. But with a whiskey making kit from Red Head Barrels, you can still get top shelf results starting with a grain alcohol, vodka, bottom shelf whiskey, even wine.

All liquor, even the darkest of rums, start out clear. It’s the time in a barrel that brings about the rich amber and caramel colors. If you start out with a clear spirit, you can experience the color-changing process along with the enhancement of flavor notes over time.

Our whiskey making kits include everything you need to make your finest blend of spirits, aged to perfection in a matter of weeks. You can choose from any of our many flavor essences or mix and match to create your own personal blend. Our flavors include:

• Whiskey
• Brandy
• Rum
• Caramel
• Vanilla
• Toasted Oak
• Cinnamon
• Strawberry
• Raspberry

When you have a great whiskey making kit, the process is really straight forward:

1. Cure your wooden barrel. This will allow the oak to expand, eliminate any leaks and retain liquid. Curing is also necessary to get rid of any bacteria.
2. Fill the barrel about halfway with a neutral-flavored spirit such as vodka or grain alcohol.
3. Pour your flavor essence into the spirit barrel. Use one bottle of flavor essence for each liter of alcohol.
4. Fill the barrel the rest of the way and place the bung in the hole on top.
5. Avoid the temptation to open the barrel for two weeks.
6. Taste your liquor. If you like the favor, it’s time to start drinking. If you don’t want the flavor to change, pour the liquor into a bottle. If you would like to age it further, leave it in the barrel for another week, then taste again.

Liquor flavoring essences can be used to add any flavor to a neutral spirit. For example, you can add our best bourbon essence to vodka to produce a delicious aged bourbon in a fraction of the time it would typically take. We also offer scotch, brandy, rum, and whiskey flavor essences.

Our whiskey flavoring and other essences are made from the natural flavors and sugars found in stills before the distillation process, meaning you can flavor your neutral liquors with the natural taste of other liquors for a premium product in a matter of weeks – not months or years.

Curing your barrel is a crucial step because true barrels like ours are held together by pressure, not glue or nails. If you do not cure your barrel, the spigot will be loose and will leak until it swells from the spirit. Since the wood absorbs some of this curing it also helps make certain you lose less liquor the first few uses.

How to Find the Best DIY Whiskey Making Kits for Sale

Whether you are a seasoned spirit aging pro or just starting out, here at Red Head Oak Barrels, we offer a wide range of whiskey making kits and liquor flavoring essences to meet all your needs. We have many varieties of whiskey barrels for sale, from smaller one- and two- liter varieties that fit nicely on a small bar or counter, to sizes up to 20 liters. All of our oak barrels for sale are American-made by hand and can be customized for any occasion.

Our barrels also come infused with flavors, like tequila, rum and whiskey. Instead of curing the barrel with water, we use your choice of spirits. Your infused barrel can then be used to age the spirit, wine or beer of your choice for an interesting variety of flavor notes.

When people picture whiskey barrels for sale, they often envision the standard 53-gallon casks that professional distilleries use. For home use, large is in the range of 20 liters. There are many advantages to going with something smaller, like our two liter barrel. The aging process can be sped up about two to six times, depending on the size of the small barrel, meaning you get your own premium liquor to enjoy that much faster. Some advantages of going small:

• It’s fast. It takes under two months on average to age 750ml of liquor or wine. You can start tasting at 14 days (especially in the beginning) and call it finished when you say so!
• It’s flavorful. The increased proportion of the interior barrel surface area to stored volume makes for strong favor notes of vanilla, spice and oak in a short time.
• It’s flexible. The small volume makes it perfect for experimenting with new flavors and infusions without committing to a large quantity.

Spirits age the same way inside a small oak barrel as they do in a larger barrel—the only difference is time. Aging is simply a chemical reaction between the alcohol, the congeners produced during fermentation, oxidation, and the byproducts of the wooden barrel. These are affected by the alcohol content of the spirit, the level of charring in the oak barrel, humidity, the temperature in the aging area, the size of the barrel, and the length of time that aging takes place.

Anytime you distill a grain you get ethanol; whether it comes from wheat, rye, corn, sugar cane, or potatoes. It is an odorless, colorless alcohol typically at an 80 proof when you purchase at the liquor store. Distilleries will then add their flavorings, herbs and spices to get the taste they want.

Your Red Head Oak barrel can be used more than once to age spirits, but how many times varies depending on the type of liquor being aged. The flavor notes released by the oak decreases with each use. This is a general guideline on how many times barrels can be used before being replaced.

• Tequila: 10 times
• Rum: Seven times
• Whiskey or bourbon: Four times
• Wine: Once

There are many ways to add flavor and improve the taste of liquor. One of the best options is aging them with an authentic Whiskey Making Kit. When you age spirits in oak barrels, they take on flavors from the barrel – such as tannic and vanilla notes – that lend a subtle complexity to the taste of the spirits and can transform even the cheapest liquor on the shelf into a smooth, delicious, premium product. The porous oak aerates the liquor as well, further improving its smoothness and flavor. With a Red Head barrel aging kit, you can create your own high-quality, perfectly aged whiskey, bourbon, or rye in just a few weeks from the convenience and comfort of your own home.

Liquor flavoring essences can be used to add any flavor to a neutral spirit. For example, you can add our best bourbon essence to vodka to produce a delicious aged bourbon in a fraction of the time it would typically take. We also offer scotch, brandy, rum, and whiskey flavor essences. Wondering what is in whiskey essence that makes it able to flavor your liquors so perfectly? Whiskey flavoring and other essences are made from the natural flavors and sugars found in stills before the distillation process, meaning you can flavor your neutral liquors with the natural taste of other liquors for a premium product in a matter of weeks – not months or years.

The Red Head Barrel Difference

Red Head Oak Barrels sells handmade American oak barrels specially designed for aging and mellowing rum, whiskey, bourbon, tequila, brandy, wine, beer and more. Proprietor Steve Mayes—AKA Red—experimented with barrel aging for many years before opening Red Head Oak Barrels in 2013.

A U.S. Navy Veteran, his business philosophy is to over-deliver and give his customers more than they expect. A Baton Rouge native living in Dallas for over 25 years, Red Head Barrels believes in “lagniappe,” an expression in Louisiana that means “a little extra.”

We have a variety of recipes and whiskey making kits so you can turn ordinary spirits into top shelf liquor for a fraction of the price. Make your own flavored Canadian, Kentucky, Tennessee, or Irish Whiskey, Bourbon, Scotch, Spiced Rums, and more at home for about $10 a fifth.

We have hundreds of 5 star reviews and stand behind every product we make. Call us with any questions you may have at 469-969-0449 or see our website for more information.

Our Rum Making Kits include high-quality essences that give you the opportunity to produce aged rum at home from any neutral rum. These essences are the perfect companion to our premium aging barrels, taking the aging process to a new level by adding the same natural flavor components you love in your favored rum and other liquors. Just start with a silver rum that has a no added flavor, and add your choice of rum flavor essence, and soon you’ll have a top-shelf aged rum you made yourself right at home for less money than you would spend on ready-made, store-bought products. These flavor essence rum accessories are super easy to use, requiring only one quick extra step to the process of using your aging barrel. Before you fill your barrel, mix the essence with the rum of your choice. Then, pour the mixture into the barrel and age it precisely as you would any other liquor. The compounds in the essence will complement the other naturally-occurring processes in the oak barrel, giving you a quality finished product that you’ll be pleased with, even if you are an extremely discerning drinker. The essence is the drink’s primary ingredient, ultimately determining its flavor, character, and quality. From whiskey and bourbon to brandy and rum, there are many essences available, each individually bottled with care to blend seamlessly with the concentration of the liquor. The more you experiment with essences, the better you will understand the different tastes. You’ll soon find out that there are countless ways to blend various flavors to create unique, finely-tuned drinks you’ll love to savor. Simply put, the essence is the heart and soul of the beverage.

Whether you are just starting out or are a seasoned pro at aging spirits, you can find everything you need at Red Head Barrels. Even if you bought your barrel somewhere else and only need the essences and other bourbon accessories, we have a wide range of products to suit your needs. Our essences are perfect for experimenting to find your favorite flavors – but don’t be surprised if you spend a lot of time experimenting with our wide variety of flavor possibilities! We offer diverse types of bourbon, five types of rum, and four different brandy flavors, so it’s never been more fun to flavor your own aged liquor at home. All you need to get started making the best tasting drinks ever are a few bottles of flavor essence, a few bottles of the neutral-flavored alcohol of your choice from your local liquor store, and one (or more) of our authentic oak aging barrels.

At Red Head Barrels, we have all the scotch accessories and products you need to flavor your own scotch. Our scotch aging kit includes one White American Oak Barrel (your choice of one-, two-, three-, five-, or 10-liter size); all the scotch accessories you need including the barrel stand, bung, spigot, funnel, and instructions; a Red Head Barrels shot glass; and the liquor flavor essence of your choice. scotch flavored liquor in just weeks for a fraction of what you’d pay in the store. Would you like to make your own unique blend of single malt or blended scotch for about $10 a fifth? Now you can, with our Scotch Making Kit and wide range of other accessories. In addition to our oak barrels, we also offer many scotch accessories including cigar barrels, custom stands, shot glasses, bottles, flasks, cleaning and maintenance supplies, flavor-infused barrels, replacement parts, and lots of great gift ideas for him and her. Don’t miss our Groomsmen Gift Pack! Take the guesswork out of buying gifts for the guys who stand up for you on your big day when you choose cigar and liquor flavoring gift packages or a barrel mug gift package. Or, if you are looking for the perfect gift for the groom himself, check out our 10-liter oak barrel kit he’ll love.