whiskey or brandy by definition

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Bulletproof
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whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Bulletproof »

Slow night at work and my mind conjured up a delimma for me. I live in the USA and am wondering what this legally qualifies as... If i took an all grain bill to make a whiskey and threw some apple juice in the mash, that would no longer qualify it as a whiskey right? So would it then be qualified to be called a brandy? If such a feat were hypothetically possible that is. Thanks for your time.
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Tater
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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Tater »

id think it be a blended whiskey
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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Washashore »

I agree with Tater-- he beat me to the punch though.


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Cornfed50
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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Cornfed50 »

He is right. Its a blended whiskey. You dont call it brandy unless it is all derived from fruit or a wine base. I know that from wine making for 34 years. Most brandies are no stronger than about 80 proof or less depending on residual(sweetness) sugars. Aging on oak does wonders for brandy,too! Keep on trying something new thats what its all about. Who knows, when you get a winner you will be very happy and the efforts of your labor pay real dividends.Think about all the commercial distillers and brewers have sniffers and tasters and they follow the same recipe every day and still have a variance in their product. They blend and waste more than we drink. A good example jack and beam brands. I used to sell those and they blend and scrutinize it to death thru a panel of tasters every day. Cornfed
Dnderhead
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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Dnderhead »

I disagree blended whiskey is two or more whiskeys mixed.most in US comes in this category .
(bransky?)
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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Drunk-N-Smurf »

Apple jack Daniels? Lol
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Dnderhead
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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Dnderhead »

did a bit of research,,from what i came up with is "cut brandy"from what i understand it was made during war time..????? when fruit/grapes was scarce..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_brandy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Bulletproof
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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Bulletproof »

Thanks guys. That had me stumped. I was thinking 'branskey' myself lol. I tried variations of key words but couldn't come up with anything. Cut brandy has a pretty cool ring to it. I'm very close to getting my first run under my belt. Been reading for about a year now. I have most of the equipment. I think i'll keep this idea in the back of my head while i get under way. And thanks again for your input, now i'm going to see what i can learn about cut brandy. Preciate it. :D

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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Prairiepiss »

Flavored whiskey.
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Cornfed50
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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Cornfed50 »

I think Prairie is right. Its a dang ole flavored whiskey. Them hybrids can be called any thing except for bourbon or single malt i guess. Kind of like when moonshine was a bad thing for commercial distillers and now they all want to call their watered down white liquor moonshine. Its all about marketing to them and heritage to us purist and hobbyist alike! Cornfed
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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Odin »

... brandy flavored whiskey. Fill in the name of the fruit you use on the dots.

like: banana brandy flavored whiskey (o shit, one of those days again ... !)

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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by oliver90owner »

Whatever you might call it, I am not sure, but the point above about brandy being no more than 40%ABV (80% proof) is surely a standard followed by all (or at least most) spirit manufacturers - the reason being that at any higher alcohol content the liquor can be ignited as-is, so could be a burn-hazard to the drinker?
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Re: whiskey or brandy by definition

Post by Odin »

Not sure about the 40%. At least not over here in Europe. Originally brandy comes from "brandewijn" => "brandy wine" => brandy. It is a fortified wine. To make wine last longer part of it was distilled and added back to the wine. To up the abv. Nowadays it is pretty much the other way around. Brandy can still have like 20% of wine in it.

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