Need a Grappa Recipe

Moderator: Site Moderator

Post Reply
captjack6
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2016 6:15 am

Need a Grappa Recipe

Post by captjack6 »

Hi I posted this in the welcome section but thought I night get more help here. I did a search for this but I need some help. I have froze 70lbs of Chardonnay grape skins and stems left after pressing, 50-60lbs of whole Muscatine grapes and 50 lbs. of loosely pressed Muscatine grapes. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I need help with a recipe. I am not sure about using the pressed Chardonnay skins and stems. Would it be worth using them?
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13062
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Need a Grappa Recipe

Post by NZChris »

That's a pretty random question :D Have you made any effort yourself, or do you want us to do it for you?

The stems will give it a grassy flavor. If you like that, leave them in, if you don't, take them out.

The more sugar you add, the less intense the flavor will be. No added sugar is an option. I aim for a brix about the same as the original grapes.

Use a good quality wine yeast and rehydrate it properly.

Press the chapeau down at least once a day for at least three days.

When it's finished, press it, (unless you can distil on the pomace) and run it twice using a Cognac style distillation.
captjack6
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 27
Joined: Fri Nov 18, 2016 6:15 am

Re: Need a Grappa Recipe

Post by captjack6 »

Thanks for your reply your suggestions help. These are uncharted waters for me just trying to figure out a starting point before I go too far and screw up my first attempt.
User avatar
Wino2Distill
Novice
Posts: 72
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2016 8:43 am

Re: Need a Grappa Recipe

Post by Wino2Distill »

Interesting.

I am going to try making a grappa with icewine pomace this year. I'm thinking there may be enough residual sugar in the pomace left over to not add sugar, we'll see...

I had a delicious home made grappe the other day. The maker added oak chips to the distillation and it really came out nice. In the kettle or the column I forgot to ask...

Let us know how yours came out.
Starting out with an Essential Pro Series II - 8 Gal Kettle
samdom70
Novice
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2023 2:35 am

Re: Need a Grappa Recipe

Post by samdom70 »

captjack6 wrote: Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:54 pm Hi I posted this in the welcome section but thought I night get more help here. I did a search for this but I need some help. I have froze 70lbs of Chardonnay grape skins and stems left after pressing, 50-60lbs of whole Muscatine grapes and 50 lbs. of loosely pressed Muscatine grapes. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I need help with a recipe. I am not sure about using the pressed Chardonnay skins and stems. Would it be worth using them?

I'm new to this also
Made my first Grappa this year. Very happy how it came out.
I made these notes, it worked very well for me.
If you don't have one, get an alchometer

I developed a formula, very easy step by step.
I have a Turbo500 still with a alembic copper dome lid.
After we pressed the grapes to make the wine, we placed the pressed grapes in a plastic 200 litre drum.
We added water and sugar to cover the pressed grapes.
About a kilo of sugar per litre of water.
The idea is to try and replace the liquid/sugar we pressed out of the grapes.
I reckon better more sugar than less. Saying that, I've too much sugar is not good for the flavour.
We used pressed grapes, no grape juice. If I was using the pressed grape juice I'd try no sugar or much less sugar.
The grapes will soak up the water.
You need to ferment this mix, 3 days to a week.
Stir grapes twice a day, add water or sugar water as required to make sure the grapes are covered and do not go dry.

When you're ready, this is how to still the Grappa.

Fill the still to the Max mark with grape and liquid.
In my opinion, you want this as grapey as possible, not too much liquid. Just enough so the grapes are wet and you can see the liquid.
Place the lid on and switch on the still.
After 35 minutes, the thermometer on the still outlet started to read over 50°c
I turn on the water to start cooling the condenser.
At about 55 minutes the temp reads 92°c
My boiler has 2 elements, I turned one off.
I discarded the first 150ml
I measured the ABV level and continued like this.
At 1 hour the ABV is 60%
1:30 50% ABV
2:30 40% ABV
2:45 30% ABV
3:00 25% ABV
I then started to collect the tail cut. Did this for 30 minutes.
At 3 hours 30 minutes I was done.

I made more batches the same way.
The tail cut can be added to the next cook or kept aside for blending, I did both.

The grappa came out great.
Per cook, I collected about 3.5 litres of Grappa
User avatar
NZChris
Master of Distillation
Posts: 13062
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 2:42 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: Need a Grappa Recipe

Post by NZChris »

I always double distil ours. Single run product isn't good enough for us.
samdom70
Novice
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2023 2:35 am

Re: Need a Grappa Recipe

Post by samdom70 »

NZChris wrote: Mon May 01, 2023 10:12 pm I always double distil ours. Single run product isn't good enough for us.
I brought the alembic top for the still.
Everything I read was positive for the flavour and results.
I might a double next year, what we made this year taste great.
User avatar
jonnys_spirit
Site Donor
Site Donor
Posts: 3630
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 7:58 am
Location: The Milky Way

Re: Need a Grappa Recipe

Post by jonnys_spirit »

Next season when I have pomace again I'm going to make some neutral and experiment further with treating it like a gin or a geist and macerate the skins in clean neutral, and redistil and/or place them in the vapor path. Last time I did this with a grappahead base made on pomace+sugar and it turned out really very well...

Cheers!
-j
————
i prefer my mash shaken, not stirred
————
Post Reply