First peach brandy-

Many like to post about a first successful ferment (or first all grain mash), or first still built/bought or first good run of the still. Tell us about all of these great times here.
Pics are VERY welcome, we drool over pretty copper 8)

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
Bavis54
Swill Maker
Posts: 233
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:08 pm
Location: Appalachia

First peach brandy-

Post by Bavis54 »

Got lucky n ran upon an entire load of peaches-
Attachments
IMG_1234.jpg
semper fi
User avatar
bitter
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1999
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:51 pm
Location: Great White North

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by bitter »

Nice! Lucky Dog!
Pikey
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 2444
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2016 3:29 pm
Location: At the edge of the Wild Wood

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Pikey »

STREWTH Bavis :thumbup: 8)

Do keep us up to date :)
Shine0n
Distiller
Posts: 2488
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:00 am
Location: Eastern Virginia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Shine0n »

I'll head down there and get one of those drums full. Lol
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13038
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by NZChris »

That looks like a great start for a very nice peach schnapps.
Bavis54
Swill Maker
Posts: 233
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:08 pm
Location: Appalachia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Bavis54 »

So I finally got time to post update on brandy- I washed everything except 6 bushels- froze them. After washing I cut and destined every peach, then I put em in a clean 5 gal bucket and mashed and squashed with hands and meat tenderizer mallet. Everytime bucket got full I poured contents into a bucket with nylon paint strainer around it. I dumped the peach juice into clean 50 gal plastic barrel and the pulp and hulls into another. After two days of this I got 2 -50 gal drums of juice, they aren't completely full- they about 3/4 full. And I ended up with 2 barrels of pulp and hulls completly full. The peaches were very ripe when I got em and were full of juice. I took reading on the juice- I got 1.060 on the juice alone so I did not add any sugar. The pulp barrels I added about 3 gal of water- and 20 lb sugar to each barrel- they were so full I ended up dividing pulp into 3 barrels. I had so much I had get some more plastic barrels!! Anyhow after water n sugar I got 1.072 on the pulp barrels. I then added 6 packs of ec 118 to each barrel and covered with cheese cloth. Every barrel is fermenting nicely, the pulp barrels have a big cap on them, the juice doesn't but it's bubbling wonderfully. When it's done it's gonna be balls to the wall and have a distilling marathon.
semper fi
Bavis54
Swill Maker
Posts: 233
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:08 pm
Location: Appalachia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Bavis54 »

With a 20 gal boiler n 8 gal thumper I gna be super freakn busy-
semper fi
Shine0n
Distiller
Posts: 2488
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:00 am
Location: Eastern Virginia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Shine0n »

Sure wish I were in your shoes with all that goodness!
You may have to take some time off work to do all this OR I can just run down there and take some of it off your hands. Lol
Bavis54
Swill Maker
Posts: 233
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:08 pm
Location: Appalachia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Bavis54 »

The juice only ferment has been goin for 6 days now n it's slowed down. Once it reaches 1.00 do I need to let it clear fully?
semper fi
User avatar
nuntius01
Rumrunner
Posts: 705
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2017 4:51 pm
Location: upper midwest

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by nuntius01 »

where do u live. we're all headed down to help. you're gonna be running that for days. interested to see how the first run comes out.. youre going to have everyone lined up for a peach run.
I'm just the bank and the mule

post your still pics here
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 16&t=66917
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13038
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by NZChris »

It might go below 1.000, so wait until it stops dropping. It doesn't have to clear.
Bavis54
Swill Maker
Posts: 233
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:08 pm
Location: Appalachia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Bavis54 »

Still at 1.020- gotta let it finish-
Attachments
IMG_1243.jpg
IMG_1242.jpg
semper fi
Bavis54
Swill Maker
Posts: 233
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:08 pm
Location: Appalachia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Bavis54 »

1.000-.999 so it begins. I got 230-260 gal of peach beer, and 20 gal boiler n 6 gal thumper. The marathon starts tonight..
Attachments
IMG_1259.jpg
semper fi
User avatar
bitter
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1999
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:51 pm
Location: Great White North

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by bitter »

Wow that's going to be a lot of peach brandy!!!!!

B
RedwoodHillBilly

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by RedwoodHillBilly »

Bavis54 wrote:1.000-.999 so it begins. I got 230-260 gal of peach beer, and 20 gal boiler n 6 gal thumper. The marathon starts tonight..
Right on brother. And I thought that 55G ferments and strips was a lot of work. You will be rewarded in a couple of years. Best of luck.
Bavis54
Swill Maker
Posts: 233
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:08 pm
Location: Appalachia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Bavis54 »

Pulp in blue barrels, juice in white. All 5 barrels dried at 1.000 at the same time. Each night now I gonna try n get a boiler full ran. This is love man- doin this all nite n goin to werk at 5 am
Attachments
IMG_1261.jpg
IMG_1262.jpg
semper fi
User avatar
Plc Ryan
Novice
Posts: 84
Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 5:08 am
Location: Great white north

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Plc Ryan »

That's dedication. Good luck brother.
User avatar
Still Life
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 1545
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 4:24 pm
Location: Great State Of Missouri

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Still Life »

Nice work, Bavis!
Bavis54
Swill Maker
Posts: 233
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:08 pm
Location: Appalachia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Bavis54 »

First strip run done- got a little over 2 gal of everything . I kept everything- heads hearts n tails.
semper fi
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13038
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by NZChris »

Bavis54 wrote:First strip run done- got a little over 2 gal of everything . I kept everything- heads hearts n tails.
That is the way to go with with peaches and running deep is good. There are no heads and tails on the stripping runs, so for describing my stripping runs, those words are not part of my vocabulary. Instead, I aim for an abv for the low wines. You are using a thumper, so my targets are not relevant for you.

BTW, I reckon my combined feints from my peach spirit run tasted better than my carefully selected heart cut. I haven't tasted either cut for a couple of years, but I suspect they will eventually get blended.
Shine0n
Distiller
Posts: 2488
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:00 am
Location: Eastern Virginia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Shine0n »

That's exactly what I said to him. Keep everything because you never know how they'll air out.
Although I did a one and done on all 3 of my runs with thumper because I was afraid of loosing too much flavor.

It's taken almost a year for the sweetness and flavors to develop to my liking but was good at 3 months too but now it's the fukn bomb
goose eye
Master of Distillation
Posts: 2846
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:19 am

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by goose eye »

Them testers are kinda iffy on juice like that.
Get you a refracktor.

You play in the sand box an not good with others make sure you got thangs sorted out cause your likker store dont never close.
Rage an frustration aint a good mixer with likker.





So im tole
Shine0n
Distiller
Posts: 2488
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:00 am
Location: Eastern Virginia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Shine0n »

What's up bubba, I know you got sumfin to tell about all those peahes! Lol
Ridgerunnr
Novice
Posts: 83
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:56 pm

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Ridgerunnr »

What are ya storing this in after distilling ?? I have a chest freezer stuffed with peaches lol. Gunna try em out
Shine0n
Distiller
Posts: 2488
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 6:00 am
Location: Eastern Virginia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Shine0n »

Lots of mason jars!!!

Get to thawing and pitting and straining, I sure wish our peaches were good this year but noooooo!

Start a thread and we'll talk you through it.

Hey Bavis, how's the brandy????????
Bavis54
Swill Maker
Posts: 233
Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2017 6:08 pm
Location: Appalachia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Bavis54 »

This is an old thread I started last yr after running into a deal on 41 boxes of too ripe peaches. I got so busy last summer with it never had time to update- when was all said n done I had two batches of brandy- the juice only ferments and the pulp and sugar ferments, I wanted to see the diff. Now over a year later I can’t tell the two apart. Ran both strip n spirit runs with fresh peach pulp in thumper . I diluted low wines to 50 abv with the peach wash before charging boiler. I kept some white n aged some with diff levels of oak. Between the two whites- u can’t tell diff. No way no how, if jars not marked I wouldn’t kno.. now the aged brandy is different. To me the best is the juice ferment aged with toasted oak for 6 months. But everything on oak after 6 months gets too oaky n no longer tastes like peach brandy. The pulp n sugar runs I oaked takes on more of bourbon taste way quicker - 3-4 months n it lost all peach taste. So in the long run there is something to be said for all the work n less product from no sugar- juice only runs. By far that’s my favorite of the batch.
When was all said n done I got 28 gallons of brandy after cuts n final blend. That sounds like a lot, but considering I ran over 250 gal wash, over a 2 week period it’s not.
Needless to say this yr I only did one small peach run.
semper fi
User avatar
Copperhead road
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 494
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2017 4:28 pm
Location: Brisvegas downunder OZ

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Copperhead road »

Thanx for the update, very interesting. :thumbup:
Never mistake kindness for weakness....
The Baker
Master of Distillation
Posts: 4656
Joined: Sun Aug 27, 2006 4:48 am
Location: Northern Victoria, Australia

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by The Baker »

Lotsa work pitting.

I would probably ferment with the stones in and strain them out (rack the liquid off them?) before distilling. Mash the fruit in the fermenter with a big piece of four-by-four?

Geoff
The Baker
User avatar
Copperhead road
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 494
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2017 4:28 pm
Location: Brisvegas downunder OZ

Re: First peach brandy-

Post by Copperhead road »

The Baker wrote:Lotsa work pitting.

I would probably ferment with the stones in and strain them out (rack the liquid off them?) before distilling. Mash the fruit in the fermenter with a big piece of four-by-four?

Geoff
I like to de-seed them.

I find that mashing them with an old stave splits some of the seeds open and gives you a bitter taste.
Never mistake kindness for weakness....
Post Reply