Leaving bourbon in a glass overnight it becomes cloudy?

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Leaving bourbon in a glass overnight it becomes cloudy?

Unread postby billdozer1986 » Tue Dec 22, 2015 10:08 pm

I left a very small amount, maybe a quarter inch or less, of Ridgemont Reserve in a glass overnight and the next morning it was milky/muddy looking and when I tasted a little it was watery and bitter.

Why did this happen? Is this normal? Is this oxidation/evaporation? Does it indicate quality or the distilling process that was used?
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Re: Leaving bourbon in a glass overnight it becomes cloudy?

Unread postby Mike » Wed Dec 23, 2015 5:50 pm

I would suspect that the evaporation of the alcohol leaves the barrel residue behind....... you are tasting more of the barrel. Now, does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost over night. If your mother says don't chew it, do you chew it in spite?
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas
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Re: Leaving bourbon in a glass overnight it becomes cloudy?

Unread postby WhiskeyCollector » Wed Dec 23, 2015 10:03 pm

billdozer1986 wrote:I left a very small amount, maybe a quarter inch or less, of Ridgemont Reserve in a glass overnight and the next morning it was milky/muddy looking and when I tasted a little it was watery and bitter.

Why did this happen? Is this normal? Is this oxidation/evaporation? Does it indicate quality or the distilling process that was used?


When too much alcohol evaporates from whiskey it goes bad and becomes a bitter brown cloudy sludge. If you drink too much it will probably make you sick and not drunk.
That's how you know if an old unopened bottle is no longer drinkable, if the fill level is low and the whiskey is cloudy.
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Re: Leaving bourbon in a glass overnight it becomes cloudy?

Unread postby Squire » Fri Dec 25, 2015 1:36 pm

I learned the same lesson the hard way. Now I make a point of finishing it off before retiring.
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Re: Leaving bourbon in a glass overnight it becomes cloudy?

Unread postby mhatzung » Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:31 pm

Squire wrote:I learned the same lesson the hard way. Now I make a point of finishing it off before retiring.


The pour or the bottle? :shock:
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Re: Leaving bourbon in a glass overnight it becomes cloudy?

Unread postby Squire » Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:36 pm

Waste not want not.
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Re: Leaving bourbon in a glass overnight it becomes cloudy?

Unread postby Bourbonandcigars » Sun Oct 30, 2016 6:14 pm

Ethanol, aka alcohol, is a primary alcohol (a two carbon molecule with a hydroxyl group) and through the process of oxidation causes the bourbon to extract additional water molecules from the air to make either caboxylic acid or an aldehyde. The higher the alcohol content the slower this process is. This explains the turbidity (cloudiness) of the liquor and the change in its flavor.
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