First run in almost a year and first Plum 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)

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Oldvine Zin
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First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

I've been slacking lately and haven't turned the still on in almost a year.
Last fall I harvested all the plums off of the backyard tree, fermented them without added sugar and ended up with about 10 gals of juice. Thinking of doing the ala Cranky method left it in carboys until now. It developed a wild lacto infection that I'm not sure that added to the wonderful aromas coming off the still or the cause of such a low yield.
plum.JPG
Did a strip and spirit on the pot still, maybe I'll get a bottle or two out of this. Not a lot of yield but I guess that's the price to pay for doing fruit without added sugar, by the way so far it smells fantastic!!

Stay safe
OVZ
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Slivovitz »

How did it go?
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

Well plum without sugar is difficult, after cuts I ended up with a little over 1/2 gallon from 12 gallons of fermented plums.
It's now resting in a 1 gal bad mo barrel (thanks Otis). maybe in a year or two it might be drinkable.

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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Twisted Brick »

OVZ,

Looks good, OVZ. I wish I had a plum tree to ferment. Looking forward to the results.

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Last edited by Twisted Brick on Sat Aug 08, 2020 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by nerdybrewer »

Well the yield is what it is, wow that's hopefully going to be good in a couple years!
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Slivovitz »

I have 180lbs of no sugar no added yeast plums naturally fermenting in a barrel now.

Hoping to get 3 or 4 gallons refined from it.

I'm guessing it's 20 gallons of juice.

Any suggestions on running it for slivovitz?

Hoping to do 3 10 gallon runs and a final run if needed.
Last edited by Slivovitz on Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by dieselduo »

I use pectic enzymes that seem to bring out more flavor and also run a bit faster for the same reason
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by stillanoob »

I had pectinase on hand and didn't think of using it in the plum wash. I will next time for sure, that stuff is gelatinous and thick.

Below is a cut and paste from a post in from another thread, I though I would include it here as it is plum specific. Details can be found in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=94&t=48881&p=7626290#p7626290

I have a new favorite thing...

We ran the plum wash. First stripping run was 8 gallons of pretty clear wash. We ran it through a strainer, very little skin. Very good and quite drinkable. First 100 mL came out cloudy. Tossed that and the next 50 mL. Cleared up and we ran it down to around 5%. We ended up with about 2 1/4 gallons of low wines. The "hearts" of the stripping run was darn good, I can see why some folks do a single run on plum.

The last carboy was the mucky one that we had pressed through the strainer. It had a slight lacto looking infection but tasted fine. We ended up with about 3 more gallons and considering that it was a little thick we wanted to dilute it some as 3 gallons is a small charge for our still (nominal 12 gallons, good for 10). So we decided to toss it in with the now 6 gallons that was in the still. All went well for 1/2 gallon or so, although the low wines produced were nowhere near as good as the first run and of course of lower ABV. Once again we tossed about 100mL. Then the still puked. I must admit I didn't see that coming. We shut down and tried to clear it but weren't happy with what was coming out of the spout so we shut it down. In retrospect I think we should have taken all but a couple of gallons of the spent wash out of the boiler instead of using all that was left. Consulting an experienced professional distiller he said it may have been due to a situation similar to superboiling in a microwave.

We ended up with about 3 gallons of slightly cloudy low wines at 27%. We started on the spirit run. We collected in 50mL or so increments until the smell changed which was at about 150mL. As the ABV dropped to about 65% we started sniffing closely again and decided to knock it off at about 60%. It still smelled OK but there was a distinct change and we didn't want to be greedy. I still am struggling to be able to determine the tails cut although I feel like I am starting to get a handle on the heads cut. What we went with cut-wise is probably a little headsy but no headache this morning after getting a little buzz. And man, does it taste great! It is my wife's new favorite too and she is not a big spirits fan. Me, I'm in love. Beats the pants of the apple brandy white we made, although that is shaping up very nicely on oak.

It seems to me that oaking this plum brandy would cover up some of the subtle but distinctly plum notes. So I think I will leave it white. What do other folks do?
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Slivovitz »

When it comes to plum brandy, white is right. No Oak needed.

I've had Fresh Off The Still and aged for many years and I prefer it fresh. I think it's all personal preference though.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Hermanji »

Nice work. I’m just about to run my second season of Pálinka. Last night I had my first spew - hopefully my last. I overfilled the pot for the stripping run.

I have 150 l of wash. Simply de-stoned my plums and added enough water to cover. Stirred daily until the fruit cap sank. Now I will strip then do 2 spirits runs to 50% product.

Keeping it simple.

This year I will infuse my pálinka with a whole pear as this is my favourite flavour.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by cranky »

I never saw this post before, guess I was too tied up with the Apple Reaper.

I hope it turns out well for you OVZ :thumbup:

It's European plum time here once again and I have offers on 2 plum trees that I likely won't have time to pick :( plus my own plum that is producing well this year. Now I'm thinking of how I can carve out a few hours to go picking :roll:
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by stillanoob »

Hermanji wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 12:15 am I have 150 l of wash. Simply de-stoned my plums and added enough water to cover. Stirred daily until the fruit cap sank. Now I will strip then do 2 spirits runs to 50% product. .
I didn't know that the cap would eventually sink. It was still floating proud after about 7-10 days. We racked into glass and let it settle. I am still getting over brewing/cider making conventions VS distilling as I am always paranoid of infection. However, having the one infected carboy taste just fine is helping me get over that. Next year I will try just letting the cap fall. How long did that take?

I see also that you ran a little further down than we did, ABV-wise. We cut it off at 60% after there was a change in aroma. It still was pretty good but I am learning cuts and wanted to make the best we could.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Hermanji »

stillanoob wrote: I didn't know that the cap would eventually sink. It was still floating proud after about 7-10 days. We racked into glass and let it settle. I am still getting over brewing/cider making conventions VS distilling as I am always paranoid of infection. However, having the one infected carboy taste just fine is helping me get over that. Next year I will try just letting the cap fall. How long did that take?

I see also that you ran a little further down than we did, ABV-wise. We cut it off at 60% after there was a change in aroma. It still was pretty good but I am learning cuts and wanted to make the best we could.
The fruit cap sinks after CO2 production falls, so it’s a good indication that fermentation of the fruit is complete. It took mine about 4 weeks. Plum fermentation is a slower longer process if you rely on wild yeasts (I add nothing but plum and water). Last year it took much longer. My father-in-law has been doing this in Hungary for over 50 years and he leaves his for around 3 months!

Stirring daily keeps the fruit cap from drying out and fuzzing over with infections and allows it to reform. One day you go to stir it and the fruit doesn’t float back up. Infection growth is minimal but a little bit doesn’t hurt - some say certain infections lend a bit of depth to the flavour.

I ran down to 50% last year as I didn’t want to cut the finished product with water - I will try to take a bit more care with cuts this year so ABV may be a little different.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by stillanoob »

Hermanji, great information and thanks. I think I am too chicken to do a wild yeast ferment so far, maybe next year I will try with part of my batch. It is also a timing and logistical thing as I would rather have the plum out of the way before I start in on apples.

Just to be sure of what you are saying: When you say you ran down to 50% to avoid diluting with water do you mean that you measured the entire collection and ran until the whole volume was 50%? Or that it was at 50% coming out of the spout?
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Hermanji »

stillanoob wrote:Hermanji, great information and thanks. I think I am too chicken to do a wild yeast ferment so far, maybe next year I will try with part of my batch. It is also a timing and logistical thing as I would rather have the plum out of the way before I start in on apples.

Just to be sure of what you are saying: When you say you ran down to 50% to avoid diluting with water do you mean that you measured the entire collection and ran until the whole volume was 50%? Or that it was at 50% coming out of the spout?
I collected and mixed cuts. Foreshots got used as burner fuel. I collected heads in small jars, hearts in bigger jars and tails in smaller jars. I used my senses to decide these cuts but I also measured volume and ABV for the record (not very precisely I may add). I chose some heads and tails that I thought would taste good in the final product and added them to the hearts. I added enough tails to bring the whole product down to about 50%. I did the sums then double checked with the alcohol hydrometer.

The lowest ABV tails I used were 20%. Hearts were around 70-50%. But I wouldn’t make the cuts based on ABV, I only measured and recorded it so I could work out what the product will be.

This year I will use less tails but also less heads so I do expect the ABV of the product to be higher - it’s difficult not to be greedy sometimes!
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by stillanoob »

Thanks for the details. I didn't make the cuts based on ABV but when I noticed a distinct change in aroma, which worked out to about 60%. I probably should have kept a little more but I am still very much learning. This is only the third type of spirits I have made.

Next year, if it is a good plum year, I plan on making quite a bit more and doing it differently. I have to say that I am still very pleased with what we got. I just got a line on a few more plums and I think I will make some wine for drinking with them as it won't be enough to make it worth running for spirits.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Slivovitz »

If you don't mind smearing of heads hearts and Tails a bit (which I don't) you can use a glass proofing parrot that I found on Amazon made of Pyrex for about $30. It worked wonderfully for monitoring alcohol by volume as I was running however I mainly used my sense of taste and smell.

I was only using the proofing parrot to help me learn flavor/smell/ABV on my first runs. Now I think I can guess or estimate based on what i learn in the future.

I will share what i learn running my 180 pounds of plum this weekend.

I think we can share knowledge for a really good palinka/slivovitz product next year.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by stillanoob »

Sliv, a commercial distiller I know says that worrying about smearing over 100mL or so with a pot still is a waste of time as he says smearing is what they do. I recently modified my set up to make it easier to use a parrot but haven't made one yet.

Agreed about continuing to build the plum information here and that it will make all of our products better. I am not going to do next year the same as this year for sure. I am still on the very steep part of the learning curve.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Slivovitz »

Buy this. Search "glass proofing parrot" on amazon.

Its affordable and it works very well! It
20200815_021958.jpg
8ncludes a 0 to 100% alcohol meter.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Hermanji »

Slivovitz wrote:Buy this. Search "glass proofing parrot" on amazon.

Its affordable and it works very well! It
20200815_021958.jpg
8ncludes a 0 to 100% alcohol meter.
This looks like a good product for my simple pot still set up. Maybe I’ll buy it for next time. Right now this second I’m stripping my plum wash. Spirit run tomorrow night.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Slivovitz »

I just put 4 gallons through mine and I love it
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

Well my tree produced about 4 plums this year, I think that I was over aggressive in and pruned at the wrong time of year :( But it had to be done.

On a better note a neighbor dropped of about 90LBS of free plums last night and offered me about 200LBS more :D
Free plums.JPG
Squished the stones out of the 90, ended up with half a brute of fruit. The first sugar reading was 17 brix if that holds that should give me a little under 10 % abv, I'm OK with that and will not add sugar.
firstPlums.JPG
Pitched some EC1118 yeast and hoping for the best.

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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by jonnys_spirit »

How much plum wine are you expecting from the 90#? About 5-6 gallons? 200# more sounds like a cool neighbor in my book!

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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by stillanoob »

OVZ, how do you squish the stones out?
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

jonnys_spirit wrote: Wed Sep 02, 2020 4:19 pm How much plum wine are you expecting from the 90#? About 5-6 gallons? 200# more sounds like a cool neighbor in my book!
As juicy as they were maybe about 8 gallons and yes hoping for the other 200 LBS
stillanoob wrote: Wed Sep 02, 2020 5:40 pm OVZ, how do you squish the stones out?
started slicing with a sharp knife but soon realized that just twisting with my hands would produce more juice and was easier. Still a labor of love to do this

Stat safe
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by stillanoob »

Oldvine Zin wrote: Wed Sep 02, 2020 5:55 pm started slicing with a sharp knife but soon realized that just twisting with my hands would produce more juice and was easier. Still a labor of love to do this

Stat safe
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Drat, I was hoping you had an easier way. That is what I did for about 7 five gallon buckets total this year, some for brandy and some for wine. It is indeed a labor of love. But well worth it.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Slivovitz »

I suggest you put all the fruit into the Container. Let it sit for about a week then when they soften enough use a mortar mixer to puree at all. The stones will fall to the bottom then if you want to add sugar or yeast or whatever you can do that. When you go to pour it into your boiler you simply strain out the stones and you're good to go. I just did the same thing with 180 lb of plums
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by Oldvine Zin »

Well no on a couple of points- I don't want to ferment the stones and add sugar no way

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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by cranky »

I'm kind of disappointment that my son had to cancel his medical appointment at UW in favor of a more important one at another hospital because it would have given me the opportunity to help you pick plums OVZ.

I know a lot of the slivovitz people don't remove the pits but I'm also personally not a fan of fermenting that way. I do it the same way as OVZ you can pretty much just grab a plum, squeeze it and take the pit out.
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Re: First run in almost a year and first Plum brandy

Post by jonnys_spirit »

What's the difference between fermenting on the stones or not? Some bitterness or a certain flavor?

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