Walnut Brandy / Dio Palinka

[NZChris]

"Without distillation it taste medicinal and bitter...

My 18 month old nocino won't get drunk until someone contracts whatever disease it's a cure for. Nobody likes it. I'll try distilling some.

[Jimbo]

well, if the macerated brandy tastes like shite, you can still keep it around to get rid of a case of the worms or that pesky 'vaginal flux'

BLACK WALNUT - The dried and ground green hull of the Black Walnut has been used for centuries to expel various types of worms, including parasites that cause skin irritations such as ringworm. It oxygenates the blood, which also helps kill parasites. Black Walnut is very effective against tapeworms, pinworms. A vaginal wash with an infusion prepared from the leaves and shucks helps to eliminate the microorganisms causing vaginal flux.

[MichiganCornhusker]

I already like my walnut brandy, only 3 weeks old. Distilling half the batch right now. Cuts might be a carnival ride, collecting in 1/4 pint jars and each one smells uniquely different.
If anyone has had this Dandelion & Burdock soda, I would say that the walnut brandy comes in somewhere like that, same ballpark anyway. Definitely get the medicinal, but I like. (perhaps it will cure my toenail fungus!)

[Jimbo]

perhaps it will cure my toenail fungus!)

Maybe if you macerate your toes in the brandy glass for a while every night,.... should give an interesting new dimension to the flavor experience for your night cap then too?

[der wo]

I found, when cutting the green nuts in quarters it smells a bit like pee-pee.

[Odin]

Well, maybe you should follow the recipe and don't piss in your boiler, because this is an all out delicious drink that's actually hard to f*ck up.

Regards, Odin.

[MichiganCornhusker]

this is an all out delicious drink that's actually hard to f*ck up.

+1
I am very pleased with the way this is turning out.
I followed the recipe as written, and I wouldn't change anything. Super simple. I made about a gallon and a half because of the number of walnuts I had.
I strained it through coffee filters yesterday and tasted it today. I think this is going to be a winner for sure. I like the level of sweetness, the spices blend well and the color is virtually black.
I don't know how to describe the "medicinal" zing, but anyone who's smelled a walnut husk knows what they smell like.
I did add a pinch of lime zest and a pinch of lemon zest, just because I really like citrus flavors and I was making some lemon and lime cellos at the time. I don't taste the citrus outright, but I like to think it's in there.
Thanks for posting this up, Odin, I'm looking forward to seeing how this tastes in a few months.

[Jimbo]

but anyone who's smelled a walnut husk knows what they smell like.

I know what they smell like when you mow over a pile of them..... eh.... its not pleasant. But Ill reserve judgement until I have a chance to taste some. MCH youre my best hope for that. We need an excuse to get together for a brandy bender. The theme will be walnuts and cherrys.

[der wo]

Well, maybe you should follow the recipe and don't piss in your boiler, because this is an all out delicious drink that's actually hard to f*ck up.

I didn't say it's not delicious.
But I like the redistilled version more than only macerated. But I didn't try out your recipie with cinnamon and sugar. Next year.

[JellybeanCorncob]

Yous guys is funny!
After reading these new posts I got out my walnut brandy and gave it another try ( 10:30am yikes!).
The flavors have mellowed some after a couple of weeks, and the medicinal flavor is not quite so strong.
If this brandy keeps going in the right direction I may have a unique drink that can be savored on those cold California nights sitting around the fire pit in the backyard.
I do have a question. Would glycerin be an option for mellowing?
If so, how much for say a 750ml bottle?
Thanks and cheers!
J.C.

[Bigbob]

Going to bookmark this post after trying yours MichaganCornhusker! Even though it was young it was still very good. And talking with Odin about getting walnuts seemed like it was going to be a problem. Then today when I was at work talking about this recipe,my friend told me his relatives owns walnut orchard with English walnuts! So looking forward to next year to get this started!

[Odin]

Yous guys is funny!
After reading these new posts I got out my walnut brandy and gave it another try ( 10:30am yikes!).
The flavors have mellowed some after a couple of weeks, and the medicinal flavor is not quite so strong.
If this brandy keeps going in the right direction I may have a unique drink that can be savored on those cold California nights sitting around the fire pit in the backyard.
I do have a question. Would glycerin be an option for mellowing?
If so, how much for say a 750ml bottle?
Thanks and cheers!
J.C.

All you need is time. Give it 6 months and it is another drink, give it 1 1/2 years and it is as if you are in heaven.

Odin.

[bearriver]

I have a tiny nip of MCH's walnut brandy in my glass right now. It's a total winner.

Great job Odin, and MCH

[Odin]

Try to put the bottle away for Xmass and that's when you will be truelly impressed, Bear!

Regards, Odin.

[MichiganCornhusker]

I got a bottle set back for S3:16, it'll be damn near a year old then for y'all.

[thatguy1313]

How does this turn out with nuts like you would buy at the grocery store. I'd like to try this but don't have access to green walnuts around here. Pecans aplenty but no walnuts. Been experimenting with the pecans but not super impressed with anything I've come up with yet.

[MichiganCornhusker]

How does this turn out with nuts like you would buy at the grocery store.

I would say this is nothing like what would be made with ripe nuts. This is all about the smelly husk and the juicy immature nut. It really bears no resemblance to the taste of walnuts, but in a good way.

I finished making cuts on my re-distilled version of this. I wouldn't do the re-distilling with this recipe again. Maybe if I had used more walnuts per gallon or something, but I think way too much is lost in the re-distillation.
The re-distilled spirit is crystal clear, so there's that, and many of the flavors do carry over, definitely some cinnamon and some walnut husk zing, but as mentioned earlier, you just kinda wind up with an interesting flavored vodka. Might be interesting to use in a cocktail if I could come up with the right complementary ingredients, but as straight white spirit, eh. Just no comparison at all to the delicious, guns a blazin' sturm & drang of the brandy recipe.

[Jimbo]

as straight white spirit, eh. Just no comparison at all to the delicious, guns a blazin' sturm & drang of the brandy recipe.

You guys are making me twitchy to try this... Question. I see you say June early unripe walnuts. There are walnut trees around here, are July walnuts too late in the season to do this proper?

[MichiganCornhusker]

There are walnut trees around here, are July walnuts too late in the season to do this proper?

I would say they will still work. Grab some nuts and see if they're juicy. They should cut easily into quarters with a sharp knife. If shell hasn't started turning hard, and the guts aren't dry, I say go for it. I'd be surprised if they are too far gone already.

[Jimbo]

OK, Im gonna do it!

From Odins OP here...

...79 year old Hungarian former professor ...told me his best "palinka" was actually Dio Palinka or Walnut Brandy. And.. often it is made when the pulp got burned. That makes the palinka (as a fruit brandy) less tasty. But with the flavouring of the walnuts, you don't smell or taste that anymore.

Of course that gets the wheels turning on these 3 gallons of scorched S3:15. I put it through 2 passes of the charcoal filter..... more on that soon, in the other thread..... but this here may be the ticket for happily glugging down scorched likker???

Ill do 2 spins on this, one based on some 78% vodka I have, and some based on the S3:15, twice through a pot, once through a flute, twice through a 3' bed of charcoal and finished with a fine eau de green walnut shucks. WooOOoOT!

And he's off to gather unripe walnuts.

[Odin]

... and he is late to gather them. Should be before June 20th ... Regards, Odin.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Update on this recipe: Confirmed Success.
I made some of this up back in June and it has been sitting quietly ever since. I took a sample to Jedfest and everyone who tried it really seemed to like it.
It makes for a very unique taste, somewhere between pepsi cola and medicine, but in a good way. Lots of spice from the cinnamon and clove, the walnuts making it taste like something from the apothecary.
I'll be doing this again next year for sure. I'm going to let this one age until then and see if I want to tweak any of the ingredients like the cinnamon or the sugar. For this first batch I followed the recipe to the letter, except for just a small pinch of lemon zest and another small pinch of lime zest, just because I happened to be zesting them the day I made the walnut recipe and couldn't resist. Thanks, Odin, for posting this unusual recipe, most enjoyable!

[Odin]

The trick to this recipe is ... make it in June ... drink it at Jule. "Jule" being Xmass. Give it rest. I have Mich's stach. And it gets better every week. It needs a minimum of 6 months of aging.

Odin.

[bearriver]

make it in June ...

June... I'm marking that on my calendar. There is a local U-Pick here with walnut trees.

You can't make enough of this stuff.

[screin]

Hey Guys,

I've met a Hungarian folk, who made some diopalinka. But he wasnt infused alcohol with green walnuts. He made a wash with green walnut and sugar.
It was very very good. I'd like to try to make it, now that walnut season is coming (southern hemisphere). What do you think what will be the best combination into the wash?
I know walnut doesn't really have sugar in it, so i have to use sugar. I was thinking, maybe 1kg walnut/0.5 kg dextrose, with ec1118, then double distillation in a pot still.

Any advice welcomed!

Thanks

[der wo]

maybe 1kg walnut/0.5 kg dextrose

How much water?

But I would not do that, because normally there is much much pektin in unripe fruits, what causes the yeast produce much methanol. I would mazerate them in alcohol and spice it fe with cinnamon as Odin does or distill it after mazeration, like I did often.

You could mash milled ripe walnuts kernels with sugar and water. But thats a total different taste and off-topic.

[MichiganCornhusker]

I have 3 versions of this, the original maceration, a rerun clear spirit, and a 50/50 blend of the two.
I have many people give me the thumbs up on the maceration. Haven't had anyone try it and not think it was very unusual and very tasty.

The clear rerun spirit has a surprising amount of the original spice and walnut character carry over. It's very good, but much more alcohol forward.

I have not tried to do a version of this from a walnut wash. This is a super easy recipe, as is, and I don't see any reason to reinvent this wheel.

[screin]

maybe 1kg walnut/0.5 kg dextrose

How much water?

.

I was thinking, doing a batch with:

18 liter water
5kg sugar
5kg green walnut
some pectinase and citric acid.

I want to put it into a 25 liter pot still. Was thinking about methanol, maybe I should cut the head later then. Any advices for me about it?

I have ordered too much walnut already, this is why I want to try this method. And of course I want to make the infusion one.

And also would love to try to still some infusioned walnut likker, but i want to ask some questions about it. Was reading the forum a lot but cant find it what to know about destilling infused stuff. Does it have a head? How much should I pour out? I have a 25 liter still, what is the minimum ammount I should put it in?

Thanks for your answers!

[der wo]

It's not possible to remove methanol with a larger heads cut. If you have a high methanol content in the wash, you will have much in the spirit. I can not say, if your fermented green nuts will hit a safety limit here. The poisoning with methanol is a very complicated story. If you drink at the same time ethanol (as you plan to do), you can stand much more methanol. The same amount of methanol fe in juice (can happen, if a machine was cleaned before with methanol) is much more poisoning than in spirits.

It's the first time I hear from fermenting green nuts. I'm not in doubt a fruit, which taste good macerated, could also taste good fermented.
Of course it's no traditional recipe, because there is no traditional recipe with adding sugar for fermentation. But who cares.

Infused stuff has heads only, if the used alcohol has heads, so hopefully not. There are no new heads produced while macerating.
Cut the nuts in quarters, take 500g per one liter 40%, macerate a month and distill it with the nuts in the boiler, or above the alcohol (if it's possible with your setup).

[screin]

Danke sehr, der wo!

I'm just going to infuse it then