Hello! Thinking about fruit brandy/Eau-de-vie?

[DasBier]

Hello from Virginia! I am a longtime homebrewer (beer + wine) and never really gave distilling much of a thought as I don't care all that much for hard liquor.

However, after a few trips to Europe, I have gotten a liking for Kirschwasser and other fruit eau-de-vies (apricot, pear, plum), and reminded me of my german grandfather who'd swoon over those, and now I understand. Now, each time we go, I always bring back several bottles now as that stuff is crazy expensive at the ABC store as it is imported and a "specialty item."

Living in a rural area with lot of fruit stands made me think if I could learn to make eau de vies inexpensively come summer. I've been reading a lot here and elsewhere, but only see few threads on making fruit brandies, so I thought I'd ask some questions before starting:

So my question before I embark on building stills and all, is the yield for the effort and cost of the raw material. How many 750 mL bottles of 40% abv brandy can I get from a 5-gallon fermenter bucket full of mashed up peaches (maybe add a little sugar)?

Thanks in advance for feedback!

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

I approved your post. But this is not the place for questions. This is a welcome post.

Welcome!

I will give you an answer... but if youy want to know why... you'll have to take it to the proper forum.

If your lucky. 2 bottles. I wouldn't clear the shelf for more than 1 though.

Good luck.

[zach]

Welcome to the forum.

I've got a taste for eau de-vie after a trip to Europe.

In Romania the national drink is Tuica which is made from plums. I tried a few more made from cherries and and pears. In Italy I developed a taste for Grappa.

Forget the sugar, unless you like the sugar bite. You need about 25 to 30 lbs of fruit per 750 ml of final spirit at 50% after a double distillation and cuts.

Having a boiler that can handle the pulp from the fruit without burning is useful.

I've made both Grappa and Tuica with a boiler that has a triple ply bottom and an induction cooktop.

Unless I find free fruit, It's less expensive to purchase this brandy as I can find it for $20 to $35 in the liquor store.

[DasBier]

Thanks for the welcome ! Wow, I guess I will hold off on this endeavor then, unless the farm can sell me fruit by the bushel for super cheap (doubt I can find it free as mentioned by zach) . Then still spending a whole afternoon cleaning and pitting fruit sounds like a pita, and the need to double distill sounds like it's even more daunting. I guess I won't be foraying into this hobby for the time being.... Thanks again for the feedback (& sorry for posting a question here).

[cranky]

Welcome to HD DasBier

I know this is a welcome thread and shouldn't talk about certain things here but I don't want you to get discouraged before you ask your questions in a more appropriate place.

Don't get discouraged, making your own Eau-De-Vie can be very rewarding. It's true that if you have to pay retail it can be very expensive, some fruits will even be as high as 60 or 80 pounds to a finished bottle but if you look around there is often free or very cheep fruit to be had but it almost always takes a lot of time and effort. I find people with trees in their yard and often am viewed as doing them a favor by picking the fruit. Start looking for fruit trees when you drive around an make notes about where they are so you can come back when they start dropping and do the homeowner a favor. There is a website called Falling Fruit that can be helpful ( http://fallingfruit.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow ) there is also craigslist and other places you can find it.

One big problem people often run into is not being prepared when you find the free fruit so have a way to store the fruit or juice or ferment it so when you do find it you are ready.

[NZChris]

There are a lot of nice drinks that can be made using the same stills but without the equipment and effort required for making fruit schnapps. Start with something easy and work your way up to your loftier goals.

[DasBier]

Thanks for the welcome. Lots to think about....I guess I'll research a bit more where to find cheap fruit before I begin. As I said, not very interested in moonshine and whiskey (never cared for those).