Why does bourbon get cloudy

I got a bottle of Woodenville Whiskey Co. Enjoyed my first pour neat. Not bad, a little oakey perhaps. A few days later i poured myself a bit. I had a few sips and decided to drop an ice ball into it. The bourbon started getting cloudy, as the ice melted it became more cloudy, looking rather unappealing. For the record my ice is made with water run through a reverse osmosis setup then I boil the water twice before I make the ice, so it's not a ice problem.

I've never had this happen with any other bourbons, any thoughts? Your first problem is that you're adding ice. If the water you use to make your ice is not cloudy, you most likely have a bottle of Non-Chill Filtered whiskey. M1, there are some older threads on here that discuss the scientific underpinnings of this phenomenon in such excruciating detail that even those of us with science degrees had to drink in order to get through the explanations.

Bottom line: not bad whiskey or bad ice. It is related to non-chill filtering. The increase in alcohol content will cause the fatty acids, esters and proteins to re-dissolve and the cloudiness to disappear.

Many whiskeys are put through a process called chill filtration to ensure that they will never become cloudy. The chilled whisky is then passed through a series of compact metallic meshes or paper filters under pressure to filter out the clumps that form the cloudy haze. Now when you add water or ice at home, the molecules that would have un-dissolved and clumped together to make your whiskey cloudy, are no longer present to do so and your whiskey will remain glossy golden.

Therefore, if you want to ensure that your whiskey will never go cloudy, all you need to do is buy a whiskey that has been chill filtered. The only problem is that this has led to a huge debate about whether chill filtering whiskey strips it of some of its taste. Some argue that it does because the filtered out fatty acids, esters and proteins contained a lot of flavor, while others claim that chill filtered whiskeys taste the same as non-chill filtered whiskeys because when chill filtration is done carefully no flavors are lost.

The best way to decide would be to do your own test. I'm Josh Mitchell. I love whiskey and am working on increasing my whiskey tasting abilities and my collection.

But I wanted to know exactly how sitting in a barrel for years or How Whiskey Becomes Cloudy Whiskey is made up of water and ethanol, but it also contains natural fatty acids, esters and proteins. Chill Filtered Whiskey Will Not Become Cloudy Many whiskeys are put through a process called chill filtration to ensure that they will never become cloudy.

Continue Reading. Many non-chill filtered whiskies proclaim it on the label. But if you are uncertain, these easy tests can help determine if a whisky has been filtered for aesthetic reasons. Shake it Up: Swish the bottle and look closely as the whisky drips down the inside of the bottle neck. Tomaszewski says non-chill filtered whisky will often reveal cloudy residue. Fuggedaboutit: According to Tomaszewski, a non-chill filtered whisky allowed to sit out in a glass overnight will become opaque.

Put the Chill On: Place the bottle in the freezer.