Help with fruit/sugar/water ratios

[Chuckleshine]

Hello all! (Hope this is the correct forum for this help)

It's my first time attempting distilling, and i need some help with a few things. I'm using chuckleberries, which are pretty obscure, so i can't find anything online in regards to recipes. I have 10kg of them. They are a cross between redcurrant and gooseberries. From my own research i've come up with a mash recipe that would be: 10kg Chuckleberries + 40L of water + 5kg of sugar. I'm hoping to make something with a high ABV. Do you think these ratios are ok? And when i blend up the berries, do i leave the pulp in the mash (i'll be using a cheesecloth to filter it when it goes into the still) for fermenting? I will be using a 3 pot still to distill it. And finally, is it pulp i add to the thumper to add flavour at the end?

Thanks for any help anyone can provide!

[NormandieStill]

First of all, it's not a mash if it's not grain. Fruits make a wash.

So you're making wine. If you're planning on making a brandy from it (I assume that's the goal) then you want to minimise the sugar additions as these will "water down" the flavour. My sloe brandy wash was just sloes and water (from memory, my notes were a little sketchy). Obviously you need a lot of fruit to make this work. If you want a more strongly flavoured product you might be better with a T+T recipe for a sugar wash and then making an infusion with the chuckleberries.

Edit to add: Take a look at this thread and the link in the first post. Maybe you'll get an idea of the quantity of fruit you need to make a brandy from your berries.

[Chuckleshine]

First of all, it's not a mash if it's not grain. Fruits make a wash.

So you're making wine. If you're planning on making a brandy from it (I assume that's the goal) then you want to minimise the sugar additions as these will "water down" the flavour. My sloe brandy wash was just sloes and water (from memory, my notes were a little sketchy). Obviously you need a lot of fruit to make this work. If you want a more strongly flavoured product you might be better with a T+T recipe for a sugar wash and then making an infusion with the chuckleberries.

Edit to add: Take a look at this thread and the link in the first post. Maybe you'll get an idea of the quantity of fruit you need to make a brandy from your berries.

Thank you!

Yeh, it's a brandy i'm looking for then. Wash not mash, gotcha. Appreciate the reply.

[Corn Cracker]

I had no idea dates had so much sugar. Very interesting

[Bushman]

I second what Normandiestill wrote. I would not add sugar to the mix!