fruit trees

[Longhairedcountryboy]

I have five of these apple trees and two of the pare trees. I haven't pruned them or treated the fruit in years. Most of the fruit falls before it is ripe and is in pretty bad shape from the bugs and birds. I was thinking maybe I could make some booze out of it, instead of it all going to waste. Will this be worth the effort, considering I wouldn't eat it. I mean, could I get good booze from bad fruit?

[TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY]

I can't tell what species of either one you have, but yes you can make good booze from slighly over ripe fruit. You might throw it in the freezer, as you collect it, till you get a seasons (read enough to make it worth your while) worth. Freezing also helps to break the pulp down so it mashes and ferments better. Depending one the density of the fruit, you might also try boiling it a little.

A friend of mine makes wine and enlightened me to this, so far it hlods true. He says he likes it to be damn near rotten. A tad extreme for my likeing, but he does make a good wine for sluggin down around a campfire. It also makes a good distallate as we recently learned. He wouldn't give up any of his reserves till he was satisfied I could do a good job distilling it.

Hope this adds a little encouragement for I am liking brandy more and more. Always drank bourbon and nothing else till I got into this hobby.

So many experiments and so little time.
BTW nice trees. Dont get to see many fruit trees in this part of the world, gotta drive to the western slope.

[Uncle Remus]

use em...hell I use anything I get my hands on if it's free.... ya got nothin to lose... and your gonna get some hootch.

[pothead]

I haven't trimmed or taken care of pear trees ever, and they are still perfect for booze(except that last years crop got robbed).

[Longhairedcountryboy]

Tater, or anyone thats used taters recipe,
Do you grind the apples up, seeds and all, or core them first?

[Tater]

I freeze pull stem out and grind.With apples just plan on more foreshots and heads.Taste till sweet taste stops and collect to 80 proof or taste goes.Id let ripen as much as possable freesing over ripe till i had enough to thaw grind and fermint.

[TRANSPLANTED HILLBILLY]

I think he means to pull the stem out.

[Longhairedcountryboy]

Yeh I got what he was saying. One more Q. Single or double run w/my pot still. I usually double run everything, grain or molasses, never done fruit.

[Tater]

yep ment stem. I single run if mixing sugar with fruit . If doing apples with no sugar youll have to run twice to get proof up.Maybe 3 times . but with all them apples all it cost ya is heat and time

[muckanic]

Re the "rotten" fruit, many cider makers insist the fruit sits on the ground for a while before use anyway. Also, take a whiff of some over-ripe material and what do you smell? - probably alcohol and assorted solvents rather than vinegar most of the time. It may not be wine or cider-standard, but as long as it doesn't possess volatile acidity you're in business for stilling. Finally, metabisulphite will clobber almost all wild yeast and bacteria. That in fact is the main decision - whether to ferment spontaneously or not, or possibly in combination with packet yeast.