Blueberry/Sugar Wash

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Blueberry Man
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Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Blueberry Man »

Hello Everyone,

I posted details about myself in the Welcome board. Thanks for the Add and I am looking forward to learning from all of you.

I pressed 25 pounds of blueberries and created 2.5 gallons of blueberry juice. I then heated the juice up to 160 degrees for it to pasteurize. Yesterday I mixed 2 gallons of the juice with 4 gallons of well water and then added 18 pounds of sugar. My hydrometer reading was 1.150 sg or 20% ABV. I then added 6 campden tablets. This morning I pitched the Red Star Dady distillers yeast.

My first question is what would you all expect to distill from this 6 gallon batch of potential 20% ABV wash? If all of the sugar converts, I should get roughly 1.2 gallons of ethanol with the impurities of acetone and methanol.

Estimated Amount of fore shots?

Estimated Amount of Heads?

Estimated Amount of Hearts?

Estimated Amount of Tails?

I am using an Olizee 8 gallon Stainless water alcohol distiller with thumper. It has 1/2" hoses connecting the pot, thumper, and condenser. My heating source is an infrared hotplate or I can use my gas stove. I figured I'd try the hotplate first.

Thanks for your replies.
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Irishgnome
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Irishgnome »

Blueball man
Spoon-feeding will not get you far here. Read up and research is key!
Campen tablets are a bad idea IMO as well as using dady in a fruit wash.
The answers you seek are here.
Keep reading grasshopper!
Cheers
Irish
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Blueberry Man
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Blueberry Man »

Thanks, I'm still searching different topics and reading. Just trying to get ahead of the game before I try and distill in a few weeks.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Prairiepiss »

You do need to do some more research. And not just throw a bunch of stuff in a fermenter. Then ask questions.

If you pasteurized the juice why add the campden tablets. And you added way to many. They may hamper the yeast.

Not the best yeast for a fruit wash. But I’m sure if the canpden doesn’t kill them off they will work.

You added way way to much sugar. 20-% potential is way to much. You are going to stress the yeast into giving you crap. 14% potential should be a max. Closer to 10% is better. That is if you want a good tasting drop.

You make the yeast happy they will piss alcohol and fart CO2. You stress them they will just shit in your drink.

How much you get out of it we can’t tell you at this point. If it ferments out. You will have a whole lotta heads and tails because you stressed the yeast. And that isn’t something we can tell you anyway. I have a thread in the must read new distiller reading lounge just about that.

At this point the best thing you can do is add water to it to bring the sugar content down. And pray that it isn’t ruined already. Then get back on here and do a bunch of reading in the new distiller reading lounge.

Did I mention the must read new distiller reading lounge? It is a great place for the new distiller to read and gain a wealth of knowledge.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Irishgnome »

Blueberry Man wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 11:39 am Thanks, I'm still searching different topics and reading. Just trying to get ahead of the game before I try and distill in a few weeks.
Blueberry man:
For all fruit brandy, go with the KIS method. Keep It Simple!
With all the free berries you are getting, you do not need to add sugar or water.
If you guys use pesticides, then wash and add a good champaign/wine yeast (Best = Lalvin FC9, good alt = EC1118). If they are organic, just smash and let them ferment with the natural yeast on the fruit.
You are no longer making wine, so forget about the campen tabs. If you get an infection or mold on the top, do not worry you just need to scoop off the mold/infection and separate the juice before you run it through the still.
Allow the fruit to ferment at the lowest temperatures the yeast can handle. Once you get a few batches under your belt, let a few batches sit on the lees for a few weeks. This will help increase ester formation and give you a better product in the end.
Best of luck and Keep reading!
Cheers
Irish
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Saltbush Bill »

High ABV washes never end well......if you must use sugar keep the wash to 10-12%.......less would be even better.
If i had access to unlimited berrys I probably wouldnt use any sugar at all.
You are not making wine anymore so what you have learned about campden tabs and wine making hygene is not applicable here. As has been suggested....there are much better yeasts suitable for fruits.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by SassyFrass »

I wonder if a blueberry grappa could be made from the discarded pulp?

And I wouldn't allow any extra sugar near the fermenting must. Do 1 with sugar and 1 fruit juuce only, I'll bet the 100% fruit tastes much better

I know nothing about that extra stuff you put into you must. Camden tabs? Never used it, but if these guys say it ain't needed...dont use it.

Best advice I can give you is slow down. Read all you can on here, multiple times. Especially about brandies and fruit musts. Fruit takes a lot longer to work than grain or molasses or sugar. Patience really is a virtue when it comes to making likker.
Just my $.02
Good luck in your endeavors.
SF

PS...did I mention you should read and research ALOT, before you ferment or distill.

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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by still_stirrin »

BlueberryMan,

Is this what your potstill looks like?
Olizee 8 gallon
Olizee 8 gallon
Be advised, the lid seals are silicone and is not recommended here (PTFE much preferred). Also, the “flake stand”, where the worm is, may be too small for the heat load of the boiler and its capacity. As a result, you’ll have to “turn over” the water regularly.

But, you can put some of your blueberry wine into the thumper when you run it and you’ll get a little boost in the berry flavor at the spout.

Better yet, reduce, or eliminate the sugar in your must and use only fruit juices. That will make a much richer berry flavor in the product. And as others have noted, don’t try to make a high alcohol ferment. A better approach is double or triple distillation of a lower %ABV must. You have less “off flavors” and purer fruit flavor even in a higher %ABV product.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Windy City »

Hey Blueberry Man
I have to agree with all the advice given.
Cranky’s spoon feeding is a great place to start so you can understand the fundamentals of this craft.
You have arrived at the best place with the best resources to learn this craft.
With a ton of reading/ education that is all free here for the taking, you will be able to make some great products.
Add that to your endless supply of blueberries and I am truly jealous :lol: :lol: (I love all things blueberry)
Cranky has another thread completely devoted to using fruit.
I would consider this a must read for you due to your great situation.
https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... lit=Fruity
Hope this helps and I wish you luck on your new endeavor
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Cranky"s spoon feeding for new and novice distillers
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=52975
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Prairiepiss »

For the record I still use campden tablets in my fruit ferments. But I may only use one maybe 2 if I do. But I also don’t boil the fruit juice before hand. That step alone would remove any need for using them.

If you are boiling the juice. You might as well boil it down to concentrate the sugars and not use any sugar in the ferment. I would shoot for 6 to 8% abv. And not get greedy.

And another but. But I would personally not boil it. Boiling the fruit juice before fermenting could cause the flavors to change. Really it’s just an unnecessary step wasting time and energy. When a couple campden tablets would do basically the same thing. A couple not 6. They aren’t a more is better thing. They are for sterilization. But in that sterilization you are trying to kill off bad yeast. But it doesn’t know which is god and which is bad. So it also kills off the good yeasties.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Blueberry Man »

Thanks Everyone. I'm still reading through all of the beginners post. I believe my eyes are starting to bleed. lol... From everything that I read above I need to revert back to just making good wine with straight juice and zero sugar. The wine that I've been making the past few years is very good. I learned that it tastes better between 8-12%. I only use juice for my wine. No water is added and I use Lavlin EC-118.

I'm going to slow down and read all the material and be ready to start distilling after August. I will freeze as many blueberries that will fit in four chest freezers. That should give me plenty of juice to practice with until I can figure out how to make a good product.

Still_Stirrin that is my beginner still. It was a Christmas gift from my parents. I'm sure I will want to upgrade as soon as I get a better understanding of the process. I did buy a fish aquarium pump to keep a constant flow of water to my condenser. I can add ice or cold water to my water reservoir to keep the water cool during the distillation process.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by cranky »

Mr P. he didn't boil he simply pasteurized to 160 which is much different than boiling.

While yes it could alter flavor some it won't alter it as much as boiling. Personally I would go for a gentle pasteurization before the compden myself. I've never been a fan of the stuff.

Blueberry Man I'm trying not to be negative but there are some issues,

the biggest problems I see are
Blueberry Man wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:45 am I mixed 2 gallons of the juice with 4 gallons of well water
Then you added a lot of sugar on top of it. all that water and sugar will take away most of the flavor, I doubt you will get much flavor in the final product at all.

I also don't see any added neutrinos mentioned. I'm guessing if the yeast make it past the compden it's going to struggle and stall at less than 10% so you won't be happy with the yield either unless your after a sweet wine. Personally I really enjoy a nice blueberry dessert wine but it sounds like you want blueberry brandy. If I recall correctly Tater has a good recipe for that in the tried and true section.
Last edited by cranky on Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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cranky
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by cranky »

Blueberry Man wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:39 pm straight juice and zero sugar. The wine that I've been making the past few years is very good. I learned that it tastes better between 8-12%. I only use juice for my wine. No water is added and I use Lavlin EC-118.
That is the perfect recipe for brandy too.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Prairiepiss »

Blueberry Man wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:39 pm The wine that I've been making the past few years is very good. I learned that it tastes better between 8-12%. I only use juice for my wine. No water is added and I use Lavlin EC-118.
That’s what you need to keep doing. Why mess up a good thing.

If it makes a good wine. It will make a good shine. :thumbup:
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by HuckFinn »

Although I am new as well, so I am not the person to listen to first, my understanding so far of yeast is that even though you can get sg to specific levels that allow for 20% ABV in a wash the problem is that as soon as you push over 10% normally (with a little give for sugar washes) the yield gets stressed by the long ABV journey it has to take and craps out a ton of odd flavors. These off flavors take seat so heavily in the wash that they really are impossible to get out.

My understanding (just look up turbo yeast here) is with the 20% ABV you likely would have to carbon filter a ton, re-distill multiple times, and once you have a neutral only maybe would it likely be drinkable.

Sadly, i started off with a similar mistake. I tried turbo yeast. As soon as i opened the fermenter, I knew it was game over and i threw it all out. My suggestion is start lower on the ABV (like 7%? but i don't really know where exactly). Maybe you can do an infusion while distilling or mix the distillate with it's flavors into a blueberry jar.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Blueberry Man »

Cranky, my blueberry wine is a desert wine. I add just enough acid blend to make it tart and then sweeten to taste before bottling. I have not had any negative reviews for the last three years. Now my first two years was a different story. I was trying to follow too many online recipes without understanding why I was adding the different ingredients. I finally read enough to understand what was needed and developed my own process.

Unfortunately, it looks as if I started my distilling career the same way. I'll screw up a few batches until I figure it out. Luckily all It will cost me is the cost of sugar and my time.

Last year a friend and I actually distilled some of the bad wine that I made and it was also terrible. So now I understand that you need good wine to make good brandy.

Thank you all again for your patience and guidance. I'm still reading through the spoon fed thread to increase my knowledge. I'm going to try not to ask any questions that have already been answered in past threads.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by Justinthunder »

This past summer I went on some back roads and collected a ton of choke cherries, crab apples and various other kinds of apples. I froze all them so they were mushy and soft when they defrosted. I then used a metal paint mixer and liquified it all. I then crushed them all in my fruit press and got about 5 gallons of juice. I then added 5 gallons of water and 3 gallons of apple juice and enough sugar until I had a sg of 1.070, I then pitched 2 packs of lavlin ec 1118 and let it ferment for about a month. I then distilled it in my pot still and aged a gallon of it with oak chips. vanilla bean and cinnamon for 2 months. that was back in october. I think it tastes unreal and my few friends do as well. My one friend took a 120 proof jar of white dog and said it was amazing. I prefer the aged stuff myself. This was my first batch of brandy and I just kinda winged it but it turned out fantastic
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by cranky »

Blueberry Man wrote: Tue Jan 19, 2021 5:50 pm Unfortunately, it looks as if I started my distilling career the same way. I'll screw up a few batches until I figure it out.
That's all part of the learning process, we not only need to learn what we are doing we also need to learn what we like. I have a feeling you'll get there very quickly.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by jog666 »

SassyFrass wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 12:51 pm I wonder if a blueberry grappa could be made from the discarded pulp?
I dont see why not. I made some killer blueberry wine a couple years ago.... wish I would had saved a bottle or two. After I racked the wine off the fruit, I dumped some sugar on it and let it work. 8% or so blueberry/sugar wash that I carried over 4 or 5 generations. A neighbor was getting a pack of them from the food bank and give them to us. After eating half, I would add them to the wash, kind of UJSSM like. That project got sidelined but the last time I checked on the stripped jars, they were doing good.
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Re: Blueberry/Sugar Wash

Post by SassyFrass »

Hmmm...might be something to experiment with later on this year.
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