Making a fruit Brandy

Information about fruit/vegetable type washes.

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Bushman
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Making a fruit Brandy

Post by Bushman »

I realized in answering a question asked in Cranky's apple Brandy I was taking it a little off topic so thought I would start a new one on calculating amounts for different fruit Brandy.

First we must look at a fruit chart to determine the sugar conversion:

fruit Chart

Taking blackberries from the fruit chart and using the following formula posted years ago by Dnderhead we can calculate our amounts for our recipe.
Postby Dnderhead » Thu Sep 22, 2011 11:20 pm

i guess your making 3 gal? if you look, blackberries are 8% sugar.a gal must be 10lb?
so if you used 3 gal. of berries 3x10=30 x.08=2.4 lb sugar.(in berries)
now each lb of sugar per gallon=7% so if you have 3lb in 3 gallons -2.4(for berries) =1.6 lb(sugar needed to make)=7% wash.then if you want add another 1/2 lb per gal.10.5%
so 3 lb of sugar brings you very close to 10% wash.i whould not go over this.
some wine nutrients whould help insure fermentation.
if you ferment on skins you will have more flavor.
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Re: Making a fruit Brandy

Post by thecroweater »

Yeah that chart is a rough guide only. Sugars can vary wildly due to numerous factors including variety, season,water, terroir temperature nutrients, how ripe it was at harvest and many more.
What this means is the sugar needs to be measured or guessed before deciding if to add any and how much.
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Re: Making a fruit Brandy

Post by Bushman »

thecroweater wrote:Yeah that chart is a rough guide only. Sugars can vary wildly due to numerous factors including variety, season,water, terroir temperature nutrients, how ripe it was at harvest and many more.
What this means is the sugar needs to be measured or guessed before deciding if to add any and how much.
True but it's a great starting point. Yesterday I picked blackberries that were sweeter than years past so I am guessing the sugar content was also higher.
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Re: Making a fruit Brandy

Post by Fraser »

+1 to croweater

I would only ever use any chart as a rough guide because of all the above stated variables. The only reliable numbers are going to be your own measurements for sugar content and pH. Any recipe is only going to be as good as the source material, which can differ enormously. Depending on the type of fruit you're using, you may also want to consider throwing in some pectinase (per it's defined use at the right time) for a better result.
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Re: Making a fruit Brandy

Post by Bushman »

I actually like the chart as a reference place to start then adjusting it using my refractometer.
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Re: Making a fruit Brandy

Post by Fraser »

Refractometers are a great tool. Anyone using fruit or juice should have one.
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Re: Making a fruit Brandy

Post by thecroweater »

I don't want to go wildly off topic but I actually gave up on pectinase a long time ago for brandy, its good for clearing fruit wines but I felt for distillation it increased my heads cut. I can see where it would help with certain fruits notorious for suspension and certain set ups where that might be an issue. Pectin is a polysacharide that enzymes like pectinase break down to simple sugars and not just ya normal sugars but a few we don't generally come across. Pectin is a precursor for methanol production, not a big deal as the amount compared to ethanol is negligible but some argue the breaking pectin down increases this and others say it reduces it. Its pretty hard to find a consensus on it here or on the web. I just stopped mainly because I found it unnecessary.
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Re: Making a fruit Brandy

Post by Fraser »

I'm considering using pectinase this year when I go to press out niagara grapes. They're a really really time consuming varietal to press out because they hold onto their juice in the press unlike say a chardonnay grape. Last year it easily took me 3 times longer to press out this particular grape than any others, so I confess it's out of desperation. I don't think I'd use it for clearing the wash, but to save time on the pressing and increase the juice yield I think I'll give it a try. I"m using this grape to make my gin because it's super hardy and relatively inexpensive compared to other wine grapes. But damn, it's hard to press out.
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Re: Making a fruit Brandy

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Well, all the blackberries on our local bush behind the house have been picked, rinsed and frozen on sheet pans, and stored in Zip-Lock bags. I probably have 4 Gallon bags full. I also have a bunch of our peaches that my wife didn't want to can because they didn't look like "class A" fruit, (she pressure canned up about 30 Quarts of them.) Nothing wrong with the ones she didn't can other than appearance, so I peeled and pitted her "culls" and froze them in Gallon Zip-Lock bags too. I have about 5 full Gallon bags of those in addition to the blackberries. Now I need some ideas for something to make out of this stuff I have. Should I ferment it and make Brandy? Schnapps? Something else? Looking for suggestions? Also, if I don't have enough of something, I can always take my truck up to the local fruit stand and supplement it with more of anything I would need to make a decent batch. I'm pretty flexible in amounts and processing capabilities since have several Fermenters, 3 different boilers, (8,13,26 Gal,) and a 3" Lyne Arm Pot Still head and a 4" Flute column, so I can adjust any good recipe to make it work. Thanks in advance.
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Re: Making a fruit Brandy

Post by Danespirit »

If you don't want to make a brandy, you could have another approach on it...make an Obstler, like it's called in German.
Basically, you ferment and distil it, without putting it on wood.
At the moment, I'm about to process some plums and some apples like that.
I just harvested them last weekend, so they are not ready fermented yet.

Your pot still, would be a fine tool to use for that.
Be aware of fruit ferments tend to give more heads.
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